Beginning and Ending for Machine Quilting - WE ALL SEW Video

Check out my new video tip on WE ALL SEW which was posted this week. I demonstrate how to pull up the bobbin thread and secure stitches for machine quilting with a walking foot and a free motion foot.  There is also a clever tip for toggling between tiny securing stitches and regular stitch length.  The tip works great with BERNINA machines.

WE ALL SEW BLOG VIDEO

"How to Make a Summer Book Tote"

"How to Make a Summer Book Tote" is my post on the BERNINA We All Sew Blog.  My friend and I made this tote for our grand daughters to carry their scriptures. The finished size is 13" x 7 1/2" and a perfect size for small books. Nicole said it is a "happy" bag because the colors make her feel happy.  The sewing and quilting instructions are on the We All Sew Blog:  http://weallsew.com/2015/05/08/how-to-make-a-summer-book-tote/ 

60 Degree Triangle Baby Quilt

Katie's Quilt

My niece, Katie, is expecting a baby girl in May and her mother showed me a picture of a quilt Katie wants for her modern nursery.  I decided it would be a fun quilt to make so I volunteered.  First I figured out the 60 degree triangle size (finished width 7") and then built the quilt in Adobe Illustrator.

Next I cut strips (6" x Width of Fabric).  I used my Marti Michell 60 Degree ruler to cut triangles on the 7" finished width line.  I also trimmed the bottom corners as Marti recommends. It makes sewing much easier and more accurate.

We started with five colors but discovered we needed three more for the look Katie had in mind.     Besides looking better, it was easier to do a random design with more colors!

After the quilt was pieced it was time to figure out how to quilt it.  I played around with different line options and finally decided the channel lines were my favorite. I used a quarter inch thick ruler to quilt the straight lines and didn't mark anything.  I stitched in the ditches to travel from one line to the next. Thank goodness for rulers - or my lines would not have been parallel or straight! 

Baptist Fan Template

My sister Janet Selck (Scrapsoftimequilts.com) designed and pieced this quick and easy pattern for her son and his bride.  It was so quick, so easy and so fun that we made four different quilts using this design. For the quilting on this quilt I used Teryl Loy's slotted fan ruler on my Innova long arm.  (Teryl's video demonstrates how to use the template.)  These blocks are eight inches so the 2" template was perfect. The first row took over an hour because my thread kept breaking and I was quilting slowly.  I changed the needle and the thread breakage problem went away.  I increased speed as I gained confidence and I quilted the last row in less than 20 minutes!

I have tried the slotted ruler using my Quilt Foot and my BERNINA 820.  It worked great on a sample block but I need to try it on a border and an actual quilt.