Monday, February 14, 2011

Preparing for Quilting ....

Remember this that Tall Handsome made for me..... so I don't have to grovel on the floor...
(you can read it HERE)


I thought I would just show you my way of preparing a top for quilting

I have to tell you I was very nervous when I first decided to do this myself

Gather your supplies....

Masking tape
Bulldog clips
Quilt top, backing and wadding
Quilting Pins (the curve in them makes life a lot easier than ordinary safety pins)


just to show how quick and easy this is my starting time
aren't those gecko's cute?


starting with the backing.... give it a press


lay it on the table RIGHT SIDE DOWN
and clip to the sides where it reaches over the edge...
pull taught and clip on the other side


place tape on the edges that do not go over the edge of the table
pull taught and tape the other side


Place the wadding on
(you can give this a press too if you want - I don't)
smooth over using a ruler
going from the centre outwards


carefully remove the clips one at a time while you hold the fabric taught and reclip to include the wadding
do exactly the same all the way around
you do not remove the tape... just add more on the wadding layer


place the pressed quilt top RIGHT SIDE UP

ensure the quilt top fits within the backing and wadding
there should be a couple of inches on each side
(when you are doing your own quilting 2" is enough)


 don't forget to check on the sides that overhang....
it is a real pain to pin and then discover the backing is not big enough!!


smooth with a ruler from centre outwards
then clip and tape as with the backing and wadding

these next series show the difference it makes to smoothing properly

placed on top and smoothed out with the hand to get the quilt settled in the right place before starting with the ruler



  smoothed with the ruler
 you can see that bump on the bottom left
that is where the quilt is laying over a clip


taped and clipped taught


now you are ready to pin


just pop in and out
I pin at about 4 inch intervals


have in mind how you are going to quilt so that you can pin away from those lines
- on this quilt I was going in straight diagonal lines


I just put the pins in and then go over the whole top at the end closing the pins

once you have closed the pins just crouch down and look at it with your eyes at table height
you can quicky find that pin that isn't closed
before your finger does! 


 once it is all pinned you will need to take off the tape and clip... and then move the quilt carefully and stretch and tape any overhanging edges 

that is hard to explain but if you had this over the edge:


you need to move the (mostly pinned) quilt and stretch, smooth and tape these edges and pin them... in just the same way...

 this picture shows the pinned part and the not pinned part



soon it will all be pinned - 35 minutes


quilt as desired....

then of course the binding will be added


 I'd love to know if you have any good tips for quilting  

I found last week there is a special foot for quilting in the ditch - spreads out the seams so you don't go off seam so often
I never knew there was such a thing
I think I NEEEEEEEED it

Hoping you have a wonderful week

16 comments:

Barb said...

So enjoyed your tutorial on how you pin your quilts....what a lovely quilt too.

Maria said...

Great Tut. Love the colours of the quilt. I am off now to see if I can swim. Catch you later.

Melody said...

The yellow and purple looks great together. I'm so jealous of your fabulous table. Have fun.

Allie said...

Yep, I love your geckos! This is very similar to how I baste a quilt. It's beautiful, can't wait to see it finished!

Cheryll said...

That's pretty much the way I do it too. So ThAnKs for the TuT! Great table by the way!

Jeni said...

I am going to do a quilt tomorrow and after reading your blog ...very happy to try

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

Love your quilt Bubz....your table works so well...

Bev C said...

Hello Fiona,

You are so quick, can you do mine???
Love the doily in the previous post,so cute.
Happy quilting.
Bev.xoxo

marina said...

wonderful tutorial, I want one of those wonder tables!
Your quilt top too.

Dan McD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joy McD said...

Thanks for this tutorial! I've often wondered how people pin on a table when the quilt is bigger! Now I can try it for myself..
Are you talking about the walking foot for quilting in the ditch?
lv,
Joy

Serenata said...

A very good tutorial. Gorgeous colours in the quilt. I bet it is going to look stunning when finished.

Valspierssews said...

Loved seeing how to work on the table. My cutting table will be perfect. Smoothing seems to be the secret. I will have to work on that. Are you sure you didn't fudge the time? If you didn't I certainly have something to work towards. I am new at it and pretty slow.
Cheers,
Val

Teresa said...

Great post Fiona. I need a table like yours!!!

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Hi there Fiona...my Husband found you while he was looking for quilting tables. I went to a Debra Louie quilting class and she gave us an idea on something like this...now my Hubby can see how Tall Handsome did it...Thank you so much!

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

I have just come back to re-read this and love it! Bernina has a new foot that does what I think you are talking about! I have tried it and it is good...

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