BU Quilt Along Week 10

It's here, the finish!!  It's time to quilt our Here A Square, There A Square quilt!

First thing we need to do is measure our quilt top so we can get the correct backing and batting pieces. This one should measure about 66" x 78". 

Once measured we want to add a few inches all the way around. If you are taking it to a long armer, they want 4" extra around. This helps them when they are loading your quilt onto the machine, especially if things aren't completely square.

When I'm quilting at home I like to have 3" extra all the way around. I used 2 yards of 108" wide backing and queen sized batting

Quilting Prep

Piece your backing if you need to. I press my seam to one side so I don't have to worry about it pulling open a bit when it's getting quilted. The following instructions are for those that pin. If you are using basting spray you will follow the instructions on your basting spray bottle.

Give the backing a good press, then lay it out flat on your table or floor, wherever you will be basting it. Making sure it's nice and smooth, tape the backing down. 

Tape in the center of one end, then move to the opposite end and place tape in the center of that one. Making sure the fabric is still smooth, place a piece of tape on both sides of the middle you've just taped. Repeat on the opposite end.

Still making sure the fabric is nice and smooth place a piece of tape in the middle of one side, repeat on the other side, and continue as you did for both ends of the backing.

Laying your batting down on top of the backing, take the time to make sure it's nice and smooth. Repeat the same steps with the tape that you did with the backing fabric.

Now lay your quilt top out on top of the backing and batting. Smooth.

Once you are happy with how the quilt is laying begin to pin. I like to start in the middle and work my way out around the quilt. Keep your pins about 4" apart from each other, basically a hands width.

Curved pins and the Kwik Klip really help speed up the process of pinning a quilt. A cup of hot coffee, in a matching color, just makes more enjoyable.

Once you have pinned your quilt, carefully remove the tape.

Quilting set up

I'm not great at quilting my quilts, but I firmly believe in making it as easy for myself as I can. As with all things, everyone has what they like and what works for them. This is what works for me.

First I wrap my ironing board in garbage bags and tape them tight. Once the board is covered I lower it so it lines up with my desk and sewing table. The garbage bags help the quilt slide, and having everything at the same level keeps it moving smoothly, too.

I have an old teachers L shaped desk. My machine is on the lower part of the desk, that means the higher/longer side is available to hold the quilt.

I love the extra space this desk gives me...

...but I still need to scrunch, pull and shove.

There are many how tos for machine quilting on your domestic machine. For this quilt I am simply using my walking foot. It's less stress for me. I stitched in the ditch, using the navy around the hourglass blocks and inside the green square around the snowball block. I used a beautiful marching rose to stitch in the ditch of the snowball block.

Let me know how you are planning to quilt your Here A Square, There A Square quilt in the comments and don't forget to share your progress in the Quilt and Learn with Patterns By Jen Facebook page.

Happy Stitching!

Jen

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