adventures of a quilting diva

Ever finish a quilt top and wonder how in the world you should quilt it? Leah Day of Day Style Designs has some tips just for you!

For auditioning a quilting design, first draw the outline of the blocks onto a piece of paper. You can make copies of this paper so you can try multiple designs without having to draw the blocks a million times.

Next play with the design! It’s really limitless. Start with simple shapes like outlining the pieces several times (echo quilting) and move on to more complex designs that ignore the seam “boundaries” entirely. You might have a certain theme or symbols you want to use in your quilt like leaves, fluer de lys, hearts, or celtic knots. The sky is the limit, and no, you don’t have to be great at drawing!

If your design is repetitive, like the star shape, all you have to design is what goes inside 1 diamond. Fold your paper and use a lightbox or bright window to transfer the design to the other diamonds for a full star shape. Oftentimes I just start with drawing half of my design, then fold the design in half and copy over so that it’s fully symmetrical.

Always check how your design will look by placing it under your actual quilt on top of a lightbox. Once you have a design you like, transfer it to the surface of your quilt using a water soluble blue PEN. Do not use chalk or chacopel pencils – they’re very difficult to remove. If your quilt is dark, use a soapstone or ceramic pencil to transfer the markings.

If you really get into making your own quilting motifs, you should consider using trapunto to make them stand out. This is a process where make your motifs puffier than the rest of your quilt. It may take a little longer, but the effect is very beautiful.

Now how could I pass on such wonderful advice without trying it out myself first? I have to say this is a lot of fun. I could really get into doodling quilt designs … and from drawing quilt designs it’s just a short step to quilting them. Here’s my first sample design.

For free motion quilting design ideas to get you started, check out Leah’s blog, 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs.

I almost didn’t post the star quilt for you today. I broke my needle a few days ago and didn’t have another right on hand to continue. Sometimes the strangest things get in the way of progress. It’s not like it was the last needle on earth.

What did motivate me to get another needle out was that I decided to post this quilt today and didn’t want to leave that last star hanging halfway on, halfway off. So here are my 19 hand-pieced stars for your viewing pleasure.

In case you’re curious, how exactly does one break a hand-sewing needle? (a good quality needle by the way) Very much like one breaks a needle on the machine. Too much pulling and tugging and … snap! Nickel-plated steel needle vs glazed cotton thread: Thread wins by KO!

Here’s the latest installment of the Star Quilt Saga:
Last week I went fabric shopping specifically for neutrals. I actually came out with exactly that … a bag full of neutral fabric … well, except for that one bright orange batik. I couldn’t resist.

Some of the neutrals are already in the quilt top: 2nd row from the top on the outsides of the gold/pink star and the yellow star on the ends.

My DH commented about this being a “normal” quilt. … Not that it’s “abnormal” (I checked to make sure), just that it looks like a quilt rather than the artistic-painted-beaded wall hangings I usually make. I actually like that comment, it made me laugh and it shows that he really does pay attention to what I’m doing with all that fabric.

Till next time. …

Two weeks now and I’m still star crazy (not stir crazy yet). Here’s what I’ve completed so far.

One week ago I took the Seven Sisters Workshop with Don Beld (quilt maker, historian, antique quilt collector, and founder of the Home of the Brave quilt project) at Citrus Belt Quilters. I especially like his rule that in hand-piecing there are no rules. Everyone was pleased to be able to finish one impeccably accurate star unit. I finished the pink on black star in class and have been working on the others since then.
When I started out I meant to use a lot of black fabric in the background, but I quickly tired of the feeling of sewing blind that I get even in good light when working with black fabric. Usually I just ignore it and pretend that I can actually see what I’m doing, but I want to take this quilt in a different direction instead and mix it up with some taupe and beige.
Above are a bunch of the diamonds that I’ve cut out in preparation for making more stars. I’m going to just keep making stars until I decide that I’ve made enough stars or maybe just plain had enough, whichever comes first.

… I am now a hand-piecer. Check it out!