Australian_Homespun_2014-11

(The top and bottom edges of this join

don’t need to be separate for joining

the horizontal seams.)

17

Repeat Steps 13-16 to join

the remaining blocks in the

top and bottom rows.

Quilting between the blocks

18

Centre the 4 x 19in rectangle of

tulle over the quilting design on

the Pattern Sheet. Pin it in place and

trace the design onto the tulle with the

black permanent-marking pen. When

the ink is dry, double-check that the

markings are permanent by wiping over

them with a damp cloth.

19

Beginning with the top row of

blocks, place the tulle stencil over

a join, aligning the centre line with the

seam and positioning the outer

diamonds ½in from the top and bottom

edges. Pin the stencil in place and trace

over the design with the water-erasable

marking pen to give a dotted line.

Remove the stencil.

20

Thread the top of the machine

with thread to match the

background fabric and the bobbin with

thread to match the backing fabric; fi t

a size 80 quilting needle. Attach the

walking foot and set the stitch length

between 2.5 and 3.0.

21

Quilt along the lines you marked

in Step 19. If your machine has a

tie-off function, use it at the start and

end of each line of stitching; otherwise

start and finish with six small stitches

with a length of 0.5. Always quilt in the

same direction to prevent the fabric

having a twisted and puckered

appearance.

22

Sew a row of echo quilting on the

outer edge of the design ¼in from

the first row, starting level with the side

corners of the top and bottom diamonds.

To space this row, you can use the edge

of your walking foot; if the foot is too

wide to give ¼in spacing, try moving

the needle position.

23

Repeat Steps 19-22 to quilt

the remaining seams of the top

and bottom rows.

Middle rows

24

Repeat Step 19, but do not trace

the top and bottom diamonds.

Remove the tulle and use some safety

pins to hold the layers of the join

together – it’s not as stable as those

of the top and bottom rows.

25

Quilt the marked design, then

echo quilt on either side, starting

and finishing level with the top and

bottom points of the design. Repeat for

the other join in the centre row of blocks.

Joining the rows

26

Place the middle row on top

of the bottom row, right sides

MONICA’S BORDER CUTTING TIPS

Q Open out the border fabric and fold it in half, short edges matching on each side.

Fold it in half again to make it a manageable size for cutting. Remove the first

selvedge and cut the 7in-wide strips parallel to the selvedge. They can be trimmed

to length as needed.

Q Monica allowed extra fabric for fussy cutting the borders. Examine your border fabric

and see if there is a repeat design that stands out – the Riley Blake ‘Simply Sweet’

fabric that Monica used has prominent pink and red flowers running in straight lines

down the fabric. Monica centred these flowers on each of her border strips.

MONICA’S QUILT-AS-YOU-GO TIPS

Although the entire quilt could have been joined together using the first method

described here (with all three layers separate), as the quilt grows larger, it becomes

challenging as the bulk of two lots of folded back batting and batting tend to drag the

work away from the foot. The second method is easier to sew as you are only folding

back the batting and backing from the top section, thus joining and quilting the seam

at the same time. It’s very stable and easy to quilt over later. It’s only disadvantage is

that you can’t join both vertical and horizontal seams together this way as the layers

are no longer separate at the ends of the seams. I used a third method to add the

final border. The border and backing are attached together with the batting inserted

afterwards and no hand sewing is needed.

Step 16

Step 19

Step 21

Step 22

Step 24

Homespun 117

HSP1511_p115-119 BOM PART 10 PROJECT.indd 117 9/22/2014 10:21:12 AM

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