So you finished your quilt top and have decided to take it to a professional longarm quilter to finish. Is there anything you need to know or do before you call for that appointment? Yes – there are a few things to know that will make your experience with the longarm quilter very satisfying.
(1) If you are bringing your own backing fabric, be sure it is square and at least 6 to 8 inches longer and wider than your quilt top (this will allow 3 or 4 inches all around to be attached to the leaders on the longarm frame.
(2) If you have a pieced border – say it is a piano key type border with strips sewn together, then cut to the desired width for the outer border, be sure to run a line of stay stitching all around the border so that the seams don’t pull apart when the quilter is attaching the top to the frame. The stay stitching will hold the border in place.
(3) If your backing fabric is wrinkled, it is best if you press it – some wrinkles will come out when it is attached to the frame, but a few wrinkles may not.
(4) It is also a good idea to just look over the back of the quilt top to see if any seams are less than 1/4 inch – sometimes a seam is very narrow in a spot or two and may pull apart during quilting. There may also be an intersecting seam where the thread was not backstitched and I have seen them begin pulling apart. Once the quilt top is on the frame, it is impossible for the quilter to fix a seam. The quilter can try to anchor those areas under the quilting design if the work is hand guided, but there may still be a weak area on the quilt where the seam could come apart during use.
(5) One more important part of the quilt to be aware of before it leaves your hands is the borders. Be sure they are straight and flat – not wavy. Wavy borders can really be a problem for the quilter because it is very difficult to quilt that fullness in and you may get your quilt back with a pleat or two that will be a big disappointment to you. If you are not sure how to make proper borders, check out my website for the page on preparing quilt borders here. Until next time….happy quilting!
Perhaps you have a vintage quilt — you may have found it at a flea market or antique shop or even on the internet, or you may have been fortunate to inherit a vintage or antique quilt from a family member. What if there is damage on the quilt? What should you do about the damage? I have always been told that if the quilt has historical significance or is quite valuable, it is best to leave the quilt as is. Bridal tulle can be used to cover an area of damage so that if there is a tear, it does not get larger, carefully hand stitched around the damaged area, but otherwise repairs should not be made.
If you have a vintage quilt that is not historical or valuable, but there may be a piece of fabric that has worn out faster than the other fabrics, or there is a piece of fabric that has a tear in it, you can make a repair that will not change the aesthetics or integrity of the quilt. I purchased a beautiful 4 point star quilt on an online auction service. There were about 4 stars in which one of the four fabrics had worn out and there was a hole through those pieces to the batting. The quilt was most likely made in the 1940′s and I happen to collect vintage feedsacks. Since many of the fabrics in this quilt were from feedsack cloth, I made a cardboard template of the piece and cut a replacement patch from a feedsack fabric that matched the other fabrics quite well. I then hand appliqued the patch over the existing patch and now it is very difficult to find those repairs. I did not remove the old piece of patchwork fabric. In a couple places, there were some hanging threads that I carefully trimmed away, but otherwise the integrity of the block is still there resting underneath the replacement patch.
I enjoy looking at the quilt more now that it doesn’t look worn out, but remember, this quilt was not of historical significance and it was not a family heirloom — this was just a way for me to preserve a lovely vintage quilt that someone had worked very hard to make. I also have a quilt that my grandmother made for me 40 years ago. Many years ago, a puppy I had at the time, decided to chew on the quilt and made a hole in the muslin background. I took a piece of vintage muslin and made an “honesty patch” to cover the hole in the muslin. It is very obvious that there is a patch covering something on the quilt, but the repair will keep the quilt from further tearing.
Yesterday while I was thinking about an upcoming “quilt” trip to Indiana (A Gathering of Quilters),I had an urge to look at antique quilts and then remembered what a wonderful museum we have here in Michigan at the MSU Museum in Lansing. I decided to visit their website and was curious to see what exhibits might be coming up, but then wandered into the collections for a walk back in time. The collections are amazing and it wasn’t long before I realized I had been looking and reading for a couple of hours and hadn’t even seen half of the quilts. It was almost as good as visiting a museum on a cold winter day, although it isn’t quite as good as actually being able to see the quilts up close. I invite you to spend a little time at the museum enjoying some wonderful antique quilts here.
Yesterday I was working on a quilt project and I use a small travel iron for pressing as it takes up little space, gets very hot and does not turn off while it is sitting for a few minutes like my other irons. I went to unplug the iron when I was done for the day, accidentally bumping the iron and it fell plate down onto the carpet. Even though it was only on the carpet for a couple seconds, it melted the carpet and left a permanent reminder of my foolishness. Why hadn’t I put an old cotton rug on the floor beneath my cutting/pressing table? This was an expensive lesson learned. I will be putting a cotton rug under that table before I work there again. So, I thought I would share this with you in case you hadn’t thought of it already. It could save your carpet too.
Posted in Quilting
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Tagged iron, Quilting, sewing
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This isn’t really a quilt tip, but it may be able to help you find some quilting time when you don’t think you have it. Do you ever worry that you won’t have time to get dinner fixed for the family if you take a few hours for yourself to work on your current quilt project? Don’t forget the wonderful invention called the crockpot or slow cooker. It can be a lifesaver since you can take a few minutes in the morning to pull the ingredients together, put them in the pot, and turn on low. You won’t have to worry when you look at the clock sometime in the afternoon and realize you forgot to take the meat out of the freezer. I often add frozen meat to the crockpot and it cooks just fine – as long as it fits in the pot. Dishes I especially like to make in the slow cooker are corned beef with cabbage, onions and carrots. I add the vegetables to the slow cooker after my lunch break. I love to make pot roast in the slow cooker and also add the vegetables after a lunch break. Chili is great in the slow cooker just as chicken and dumplings are where the dumplings come from baking mix or refrigerator biscuits. I’d love to include some of your favorite recipes here if any of you would like to share.
You have found the perfect new quilt pattern…and now it’s time to go shopping for fabric (unless you have a wonderful stash from which you can shop). Do you ever have a difficult time choosing just the right fabrics – colors, prints, etc. that you like together? I have been asked how I choose my fabrics for a quilt by newer quilters from time to time. Did you know there are actually hints for choosing fabrics on almost every bolt of fabric? The first step in choosing your fabrics is to look for a focus fabric – a print that you especially like – you may know right away that it will be the main fabric in your quilt project, or maybe you aren’t sure yet where it will work in the quilt, but you love it. Look at the selvedge and find the line of color dots printed there. These dots show you all the colors that are included in your chosen print. You can use those color dots to help you select other fabrics for your project. If your first choice is a larger print, remember to also select small prints, tonals, stripes always add interest to a quilt and so do polkadots. The best way to look at your growing selection of fabrics is to stack them on top of each other and only look at the side of the bolts to see if the fabrics are pleasing to your eye. If something doesn’t feel right, pull one of the fabrics out and see if the others work better together. You can then choose a different fabric to replace the one you removed. Another thing to keep in mind is that you may find that a different fabric works best as the focus or main fabric, and sometimes the focus fabric ends up being pulled out of the project completely. Don’t let fabric selection intimidate you or stress you out. It should be a fun and exciting project. Don’t be afraid to ask a salesperson for assistance or even another customer for an opinion if you aren’t sure.
I often make my quilt binding longer than necessary just to be sure I have enough and to allow for any error that might occur, especially when I need part of another strip, but know most of it will be extra. When my quilt is complete, I roll up the leftover binding piece and put it into a zip lock bag with all the other leftovers I’ve collected. At a future time, if you make a scrappy quilt, you can stitch these binding pieces together to make a scrappy binding. I also use these pieces for binding pot holders, tote bags and other small projects.
Posted in Quilting
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Tagged Quilt Binding
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We have all managed to get some fusible adhesive on our iron while doing fusible applique. While there are probably several good methods for removing the fusible gunk from your iron, I like to iron over a dryer sheet which easily removes the gunk from the sole plate of my iron – easy and no damage to my iron. Just be sure to use a dry iron — no steam for this.
All quilters find themselves with leftover pieces of batting. We know that recycling benefits all of us. So…don’t throw away those strips of batting ever again. If the strips are small (3-5 inches wide) cut the strips up to fit your Swiffer mop. They make fabulous dusting pads. You can add a touch of dusting spray if you like, but they work great as they are. They cost nothing, so you have more money for fabric! Larger pieces of batting (6 inches or so) work great in flannel rag quilts and even larger pieces that can be cut to 8-12 inches can be added to orphan blocks we all have and make cute “trivets” for hot dishes at the table.
Stop by again — I’ll have more tips and information for you
