Today's Quilter - UK (2020-03)

CREATIVE CORNER l free-motion quilting

thesebasicdesignstomakethendierenteachtime.Try

addingflowerpetalstoyourspiralsorlinesofpebbles

amongyourmussels.Recently,I havebeenstraightening

thelinesonmyfavouriteinterlockingrainbowdesignto

giveit a moremodernlook.Or,trytakinga motiffrom

thequilttopandusethisasyourFMQpattern,suchas

thefansI quiltedovertherecent Cleopatra’s Fan quilt

forToday’sQuilter, issue57.

A newwhiz-bangsewingmachineforquiltingis

wonderfulif youcanaordit,butmuchcanbeachieved

ona relativelyinexpensivemodel.Mystudentsalways

seemtoworryaboutgettingtheirquiltsthrougha small

machinethroat.However,I assurethemthatthisis

perfectlypossible,asthereisn’tasmuchbulktoa quilt

asyouthink.Justtrygraspingone,fromanedgetothe

centre,andyouwillseethatthereis nomoretoit than

a handful.Themainissueis notthesizeofthethroat

buttheamountofroomaroundyourmachinewhich

supportsyourquilt.Makesureyouhaveplentyofthis

topreventyourquilttuggingonewayortheotherand

pullingyourstitches.Mysewingtablebuttsuptomy

cuttingtableandI addanextrasupportspacebyplacing

myironingboardat thebackofmysewingmachine.

I wouldadvisedividingyourquiltingintosmall

chunks,asFMQcanbequiteintense.I trytodono

morethananhouranda halfat a time,thoughit is

sometimes dicult to stop as I’m having so much fun!

Walking footquilting

Straightlinequiltingdoesn’thavetomeanstraightlines!

Thismethodis moreoftenreferredtoas‘walkingfoot

quilting’thesedaysandit’samazinghowversatilethis

techniquecanbe.I oftensuggestthatmystudentsstart

withwavylinesratherthanstraightfortheirfirstquilt

• they’remoreforgivingthanstraightlinesespeciallyas
  thepiecinglinesonyourfirstquiltmightnotquiteline
  up!I liketousethisdesignonsmallprojects,quilting
  thelinesveryclosetogetherfora texturaleect.One
  ofmymostsuccessfulquilts,ano-centremedallion,
  wasfinishedwithonecontinuouscirclethatbeganin
  themiddleandthencontinueduntilthewholequilt
  wascovered.Theeectis amazing,butthe 12 hoursof
  tortureI spentdoingit werenoteasilyforgotten!If you
  arethinkingabouttryingthis,myadvicewouldbeto
  makeyourlinespacingmuchwiderthanI did(atleast
  aninchapart)andnottostartinthemiddleofthequilt.
  Startingo-centremeansyouwillsoonerbefreedfrom
  thetyrannyofthenever-endingcircleandcaninstead go
  backwardsandforwardsaroundthreesides.
  It’simportanttogetyourmachinetotherightheight
  toavoidshoulderandneckproblems.Mostpeoplesew
  withtheirmachinetoohighincomparisontotheirseat
  heightduetoputtingtheirmachineontopofa regular
  table.I usedtohikemyselfuponanocechairon
  topofsomanypillowsthatI hadtoplacea platform
  underthetablesoI couldreachthepedal.I nowhave
  mymachinesetintoa speciallowtableat justtheright
  heightandit’smadea hugedierencetomyquilting
  comfort.Myfinalpieceofadviceis touseanextension
  tableandsewingmachinegloves.I find these are
  essential to both types of quilting.

Interlocking rainbows

‘Square’yourrainbowsfor

a more modern look

Amazinglong-armquiltingby

TatyanaDuffieonthePinball

Wizard quilt from Jo’s new book