Tuesday Tip 8/30

Well, this has been a crazy week at Intown Quilters with employees out of town and sick while the customers seemed very keen to come visit us, so I totally forgot to post the latest Tuesday Tip until now.

This is the last of our August machine quilting tips. Generally, the tips relate equally to straight and free motion quilting, but the big fun is in free motion.

Make a game of it.  There are several things you can do to make quilting easier.

First, start and stop as seldom as possible.  This reduces the number of knots and trying off.  Plus it takes less time, makes the quilt stronger and gives you smoother lines.

Plan your pattern ahead of time. You can just do this mentally, sketch it on paper or actually mark the quilt top.  But plan it in a continuous manner.  Sometimes you will actually quilt part of a design in one direction and complete it on a second pass around or on the return. 

A quilting design (such as stippling) that does not cross previous quilting is more forgiving in that small puckers are not noticeable.  If lines cross, small puckers become stitched pleats.

With free motion, practice, practice, practice so you can sew forward, backward and sideways.  Use a clear free motion foot so you have a good view of where you are going and where you have been.

Have a good week folks!