You Guys!! Look What I Quilted Yesterday! My Math Quilt Is Ready for Binding!

Our so-called "winter storm" shut down the entire city of Charlotte for three whole days, y'all.  And apparently all it takes for me to get over my Quilter's Block is three unexpected days off from EVERYTHING, spent in my pajamas, in my studio, watching YouTube tutorials.  I started -- and finished -- quilting my first real quilt on my longarm machine.  This particular quilt has been a WIP (Work In Progress) for me for two and a half years, inspired by doodling that my son Lars did on graph paper in his 8th grade math notebook.  Hence the black math equations fabric and the name "Math Is Beautiful."  This was intended as a gift to that 8th grade math teacher, who taught Lars for both 7th and 8th grade and then taught my younger son, Anders, when he was in 8th grade.  I'm looking forward to finally delivering this to her sometime soon -- and yes, she will definitely still remember who we are.  My family is, um, VERY MEMORABLE.  Ahem.  So, YAY!

I Quilted This All By Myself On My Longarm Machine!

I ended up doing a full float for this quilt because I forgot that I was supposed to pin the bottom of the backing to the backing roller and then load the quilt top before pinning the other end of the backing to the takeup roller for a partial float.  So I just went with it, even though it kind of freaked me out that the quilt top was just going to be hanging off the front of my quilt frame with the batting.

Math Quilt Loaded, Full Float Method

I was really nervous about keeping things straight and square and smooth, but this was probably the ideal sort of quilt top for this method.  It was fairly small, crisply starched, and totally flat and square to begin with.  There were no bubbles to quilt out or wavy borders to correct for.  I used my vertical and horizontal channel locks to check positioning every time I advanced the quilt and it worked out just fine.  So, although I still think I prefer partial float for most projects, if only to minimize the quilt top's exposure to dust and dog fur, I've decided that the full float method is fine for quick projects like this one.  I'm glad I tried it, even though I tried it by mistake when I meant to do it the other way!

Quilting a Pantograph with Thoroughly Modern Millie

See?  After I advanced the quilt the first time there wasn't much hanging off the edge anymore, anyway.  

I am learning SO much.  After watching my videos, I was brave enough to completely rethread the machine rather than just tying onto the previous thread and pulling it through.  I used my TOWA gauge and tweaked my bobbin tension (it's a new bobbin case; I purchased one for each thread type because unlike my Berninas' pricey parts, an APQS bobbin case costs only $12!), and then I monkeyed around with my top tension until I had a nice, balanced stitch on the top and bottom.  No more fear of touching tension dials!  My APQS dealer said she didn't think the TOWA gauge was necessary, and she's probably right for most quilters, but I liked being able to set my bobbin tension to 150 and see what that looked like, and then set it to 180 and see what that looked like, and then put it right back down at 150 again if I wanted to rather than just going by feel.  It's a personality thing; I approach these things like it's a science project and I like being able to take measurements.  Also, the TOWA bobbin case tension gauge has won some kind of Deming Medal, and Deming is actually my maiden name so this contraption LITERALLY has my name on it!

TOWA Bobbin Case Tension Gauge

Because my Millie machine has the smaller L bobbin, that's the size TOWA gauge I bought.  I won't be able to use the TOWA gauge with my Bernina 750 bobbin case, but I'll bet I can use it with the bobbin cases for my Singer Featherweight machines if they need adjusting. 

Back to the Math Quilt -- I also allowed more excess batting and backing beyond the sides of the quilt top this time than I did on my two practice quilts so I could check tension and stitch quality on a piece of scrap fabric.  Seasoned longarm quilters have advised me to check stitch quality throughout the quilting process, not just at the beginning of the project, because any number of things can make it go out of whack unbeknownst to you and it's better to test and adjust throughout than to get to the end of your quilting and have to rip everything out!  So when I advance to custom quilting, I'll want to test and adjust with every thread change, maybe even with each new bobbin.   I'll keep that in mind from now on when I'm calculating how much batting and backing I need for each quilt top.

Extra Batting and Backing on Sides for Testing Stitch Quality

The other nice thing about that extra batting and backing at the sides is that it eliminated the problems I was having with the carriage of the quilting machine knocking into or getting hung up on my Grip Lite side tension clamps.  I bought aluminum rods from my APQS dealer that slide under the Velcro strips to lift the clamps out of the way, but they lift the edge where the clamp is holding onto the quilt backing, too.  With more excess backing, the actual quilt remained completely level all the way out to its edges and only the excess backing fabric is lifted with the clamps.  I had 7" of extra batting on each side and about 4 1/2" of extra batting this time and I wouldn't want less than that.  Next time I might like a couple more inches of batting for my test stitching area, though.  

Aluminum Rod Raises Grip Lite Clamps Away from Machine Carriage or Ruler Base

After hemming and hawing about it, I ended up choosing what I hoped would be a beginner-friendly edge-to-edge pantograph design for this quilt.  It's called Popcorn LG from Willow Leaf Studio.  I'm using Glide trilobal polyester quilting thread in Cool Grey 7, top and bobbin, and a black batting due to the dark colors in the quilt top.

Following a Paper Pantograph Pattern With Laser Light from Back Side of Machine

So, quilting pantograph patterns is not as easy as it looks!  It is VERY difficult to stay on the line.  That's because the quilting machine is riding on a carriage with wheels on the X and Y axes, so it moves much more easily vertically and horizontally than it does diagonally, when all the wheels are working together.  I'm tracing these nice, rounded popcorn shapes from the back of the machine and when I go around to look at what I've actually quilted, I have made weirdly squared off popcorns with strange little toe appendages:

First Row Quilted.  Square Popcorn With Strange Toe Thingys.

I discovered that I had to slow down and try harder to stay on the lines and quilt rounded shapes that look round instead of square.  I also learned that if I engage my core (abdominal) muscles and quilt with my entire upper body, that gives me much better control of the machine than when I'm only using my arms.  

Quilting Blind From Behind

But I'm far from mastering this pantograph thing.  There were a few moments where everything clicked and I felt really in control, but it took me awhile to get to that groove each time I started quilting a new row and I wasn't able to stay there until the end of the row.  I think it's like driving a car; it just takes a lot of practice before the car (or the quilting machine!) becomes like an extension of your body that you can control consistently and accurately without thinking about it.  I can definitely understand why computer robotics are becoming so popular with professional quilters for these edge to edge designs!

Busy Prints Camouflage Subpar Quilting

This is hardly award-winning quilting, but it's totally fine for this quilt.  All of the busy prints hide the quilting anyway, and I'll bet it will look great once it goes through the wash.  It had better look great after it goes through the wash, because I can't give it as a gift if it looks ugly!

Another thing I got right for the first time on this quilt was machine basting the sides properly.  Remember what happened to the sides of my first practice quilt?

Wonky Crooked Edges On First Practice Quilt

Well, this time I did more of a basting tack stitch every couple of inches rather than a line of regular stitching.  That kept everything straight and square while still allowing the quilt layers to shift slightly as the quilting stitches drew everything inward.  That first practice quilt was really densely quilted, too, like a heavily custom quilted quilt would be.  I'll bet basting and stabilizing between blocks throughout the WHOLE quilt prior to adding any custom fills would help on that kind of project, too.  

Tack-Basting With Single Stitch Function and Channel Locks

I engaged my channel locks and used the single stitch function to baste about 1/8" from the edge all the way across, keeping everything nice and straight.  And when the quilting was finished and I took it off the frame to trim the excess batting and backing away, it turns out that this is probably the most perfectly straight and square quilt I have ever made.  Even though it was a full float, and the quilt top was only secured with those tack-basting stitches!  I'm amazed!

It's Straight!  It's Square!  Hallelujah!

As you see above, that tension practice scrap just gets trimmed off after quilting is complete, and I'm able to salvage the extra backing fabric for other uses so it's not wasted at all.  I might even use that for the binding.

Look, Ma!  No Pleats Or Puckers!

I am SO IN LOVE with my quilting machine, y'all!  The actual quilting part of this quilt only took me a couple hours, once you subtract all of the time I spent researching and testing.  No more safety pin basting, no more pleats and puckers on the backs of my quilts, and so many more creative possibilities!  I can't wait to get the next quilt on my frame!!  

But before I do that, I need to design, machine embroider, and attach a quilt label and then cut, sew, and hand finish the binding.  That will involve another educational delay, since I recently upgraded my Bernina embroidery design software to the newest version 8 and haven't played with it yet.  I'm upgrading from version 6, so I'm sure the interface is different and some of the tools are going to be moved around.  And I'm sick, too, which slows me down -- but only slightly.  I can't wait to show you guys this quilt once it's totally and completely finished at last, only two and a half years after I started it!  

Meanwhile, my replacement fabrics for the Cat Eyes on my Tabby Mountain quilt have arrived, and so has the backing fabric for that quilt.  That's going to be the SECOND real quilt on my longarm frame, since it will be quick to piece.  The less time it takes me to piece the quilt top, the braver I am about trying something new and risking disaster!

Tabby Mountain Quilt In Progress, Up Next for Quilting

I'm thinking that I will start by SID (stitching in the ditch) along all of the horizontal seams between rows with invisible thread, using a straight edge ruler.  Then I will roll it back up and SID all the diagonal seams between triangles, also with invisible thread, and then I can go back to the top again to play with ruler work and free motion fills using color matched threads.  That will be a really good skill builder to prepare me for the THIRD real quilt headed to my machine, my Paint Me A Story bear paw quilt:

Paint Me A Story Quilt Needs Custom Quilting

Okay.  Time to wrap up this blog post so I can design and embroider a quilt label.  Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Beginner Quilting Class Sample Finished and Delivered!

Good morning!  I hope you all enjoyed a restful, relaxing holiday weekend (Labor Day weekend here in the United States).  My teenage sons were both away on a Christian retreat all weekend, so my husband and I got a sneak peak at what that empty nest thing feels like.  

I finally finished up my beginner quilting class sample over the weekend:

Beginner Quilting Class Sample, 36" x 36"

Although it's a simple project, it was interesting how my thought process evolved throughout construction as I imagined teaching each step to someone who had never done it before, wanting to set those beginners up for success -- but with the time constraint of two full-day classes.

So we'll learn rotary cutting and piecing in the first class, and if they don't get their tops completely assembled by the end of the first class they can catch up for homework in between classes.  Then in the second class we'll learn to layer, baste, quilt, and bind.  It's a lot, I know.  What I decided to do for basting is to spray baste the quilt layers together with 505 (temporary spray adhesive that I had on hand because I use it to adhere stabilizer for machine embroidery projects) and to supplement that with sparser than usual pin basting, so students will be exposed to both methods, quilt layers will be secure through all the tugging and bunching and twisting under the machine, yet we won't eat up too much class time pinning.

Basted With 505 Adhesive Spray Plus 4 Safety Pins Per Block

The quilting design itself is pretty basic, all done with a walking foot.  

I wanted SO BADLY to add some free motion swirlies in the sashing and something fancy in the border, but free motion quilting is an entire journey of its own.  Way too much too much for beginners, especially since they will all have different sewing machines, they may not know how to lower their feed dogs, and they will not all have stitch regulators.  I don't want to discourage brand new quilters!

Walking Foot Quilting with Guide Bar Attached

Stitch in the ditch plus a few additional lines of quilting in each block (done with the guide bar attached to the walking foot), so no marking required.  Even so, I think I'll teach the binding FIRST on the second day, with a small layer cake sized sample quilt, so everyone's brain is fresh for the corner miters.  Then they can just focus on their quilting, knowing they have their binding samples to take home and remind them how to finish up.  Students can add additional lines of quilting if they feel like it and they have time.

When I bound the class sample with this cheerful cherry red stripe, I couldn't resist the challenge of pattern-matching the stripes at all of the diagonal seams.

Stripes Matched at Diagonal Binding Joins

Nice and invisible!  (I am not going to have beginners try to do that!).  I machine stitched the binding to the front of the quilt, briefly considered finishing it by machine, but ultimately decided to slipstitch the binding to the back of the quilt by hand.  

Binding Invisibly Hand Stitched to the Quilt Backing

Yes, it took several hours to do it that way, but that's the way I always do it, I like how it comes out, and I'm not interested in learning a new technique just so I can teach it.  I was able to stitch the binding down outside on the deck with Bernie, listening to the birds and classical music from the screen porch speakers.   Very relaxing!

Finished and Freshly Washed

I also decided to toss the finished quilt in the wash before handing it over to the shop, for a couple of reasons.  First, I wanted to remove the glue basting spray and fabric glue stick that I used when I pattern-matched my binding joins, as well as all of the starch I used throughout my construction process and any hand lotion, dust, or pet fur that may have accumulated on it.  Second, since this is a baby-sized quilt, I wanted it to be soft and snuggly, not stiff.  If we were really giving this to a baby, we would want to wash it to remove all the chemicals first.  Also, with very minimal quilting, it needed to go through the wash and shrink up slightly to get some texture and to accentuate the quilting lines.  And for beginners, when they wash their finished projects and they crinkle up like this, any wobbly quilt lines or tiny oopses will be obscured.  To me, a quilt is never REALLY finished until it comes out of the wash all soft and krinkled.

Now that the class sample is finished and delivered to the Bernina shop, I just need to compile my notes into a lesson plan while the details are still fresh in my mind, and write up a class description and supply list.  

Meanwhile, my longarm frame has been sitting empty and looking lonely.  Next time I escape to my studio, I'll be piecing the backing fabric for my Math is Beautiful quilt so I can load it onto my frame and start quilting it.  My APQS new owner class is coming up in two weeks, and I'd like to quilt an actual quilt on my longarm machine before I go.  

The Long-Neglected Math Quilt, Next On My Frame

And of course my sewing time is limited, now that the kids have gone back to school, all their activities are starting up again, church choir rehearsals have resumed.  My design business also tends to ramp up once summer vacations are over, school starts, and clients turn their focus from outdoors back to their interiors, planning projects to refresh their homes for holiday entertaining.

Happy stitching, and happy (almost!) Fall, y'all!  ;-)  Today I'm linking up with:

• ·       Let’s Bee Social at http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.ca/
• ·       Midweek Makers at http://quiltfabrication.com/
• ·       WIPs With Friends at www.mamaspark.blogspot.com 
• WOW WIP on Wednesday at www.estheraliu.blogspot.com
• ·       Finish It Up Friday at www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com
  ·       Whoop Whoop Fridays at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com
  ·       Off the Wall Friday at Creations: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/
  ·       Finished Or Not Friday at http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/

Adventures in Flat Lining, Underlining, Basting and Dart-Making

Same Silk Dupioni Fabric, Dresses on Left Underlined with Silk Organza

Okay, so we're looking at this photo from my little sister's wedding in 2003 or 2004.  The bride picked out a teal silk dupioni fabric from Fabric.com and each bridesmaid got to choose her own dress pattern and seamstress.  The girl with short blonde hair closest to the bride is yours truly, and my other sister is the bridesmaid standing right next to me.  My mom made both of our dresses, underlining them with silk organza, and the other two girls are both wearing lined dresses made from the exact same fabric but without the silk organza interlining between the silk dress fabric and the lining.  As you can see, the silk organza adds shape, structure, and body to the thin silk and greatly reduces its tendency to wrinkle.  Since my green silk shantung dress fabric is very similar to the silk dupioni bridesmaid dress fabric, I decided to underline my entire Victorian Christmas caroling costume in silk organza.  Not only will this help to reduce the wrinkling of a dress that I need to wear to at least six events within a two week time period, but it will also strengthen the seams and help support the weight of the skirt trims and ruffles.  One more reason to underline the dress with silk organza is that although I am making this costume, my mom is helping me every step of the way to make sure I end up with a wearable dress, and I wanted her to teach me how she did it!

We're starting with the bodice of the dress, so we cut out all of the pieces in the green silk, the ivory silk organza, and the green poly/cotton broadcloth shirting fabric that I selected for my bodice lining fabric.  I basted the green silk to the organza through the center of each piece along the grainline, then draped the two pieces over my thigh right-side-up to pin and hand baste all the way around each piece within the seam allowances.  The reason I drape the fabric pieces over my arm or leg is to allow for that slight turn of cloth once the pieces are seamed together. 

Hand Basting Silk Organza Underlining to Silk Shantung, Right Side Up

Sleeve Section After Basting Silk Organza Underlining, Right Side Up

Stack of Basted Bodice Pieces, Wrong Side (Silk Organza) Up

I should mention that there was a collar facing piece that was supposed to get fusible interfacing -- in that situation, the interfacing gets fused to the silk organza PRIOR to basting the organza to the fashion fabric.  This was important to me as well because, had I fused the interfacing to my silk shantung fashion fabric, it would have noticeably altered the sheen of the piece that was interfaced and it would no longer match the rest of the dress.  All of the markings go on the interfacing only, and from this point you follow the directions and treat each piece as though it were a single layer of fabric.

Now I should point out that what Simplicity is calling "lining fabric" on the back of the pattern envelope is, strictly speaking, actually used as an UNDERLINING fabric.  Typically a lining is constructed separately from the rest of the garment, functions to conceal the seam allowances and other construction details, and is attached at the hems and facings of the garment.  Underlining (also known as flat lining) does not conceal any of the garment's construction, since it is sewn into every seam along with the fashion fabric.  So my first step of the instructions was to -- ugh! -- hand baste all of the so-called lining pieces on top of my silk organza.  Very annoying!  Would I still have elected to underline with silk organza if I knew the "lining" fabric was really an underlining?  Probably not -- but I'm glad I didn't know, because I really, REALLY like the way the three fabric layers are working together for my dress bodice.

Inside an Antique Nineteenth Century Dress Bodice

Interestingly, I found this photo of the inside of a 19th century dress bodice on an antique clothing auction site.  I was intrigued to see that it was put together almost exactly the way my dress pattern does, with a sturdy muslin underlining or flat lining sewn into the seams, and boning that is stitched to the seam allowances of the side and back seams as well as to the seam allowances of the darts.  This is a LOT like what my dress will look like inside out -- except that my seam allowances are getting serged instead of bound or whatever they did to control fraying 150 years ago.  Pretty cool, isn't it?

Stitching the First Dart, 3/8" Seam Allowance

After underlining and marking all of the bodice pieces, I learned how to sew darts!  I took pictures and I have to write down what I did so I can remember for the next time I sew a pattern with darts, so feel free to skip this section if you are already a seasoned Dart Diva.

This pattern called for 3/8" seam allowances in the bodice darts, and fortunately my Bernina foot #1D is exactly 3/8" from the needle to the right edge of the foot.  I am using my machine's Dual Feed feature for this project, and I'm sure it's helping all of these layers to feed smoothly and evenly through the machine. 

I sewed the dart up from the bottom edge of the bodice, until my needle was even with the place where the cut fabric seam allowance ended and the folded bit of the dart began.



Marking the Stitching Line for the End of the Dart

At that point, with my needle down, I raised my presser foot, laid a ruler from the needle to the dot marking the end of the dart, and drew a line with a pencil.

Sewing Along the Line...

Then, when I got to the dot marking the end of the dart at the fold line, I took a stitch right on the fold line and left long thread tails to tie off by hand.

Ta-Da!  It's a Dart!

This is how far we've gotten on the dress bodice so far.  Unfortunately, there have been a lot of setbacks -- LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.  For instance, so many of the bodice pattern pieces were marked in multiple places to indicate a 3/8" seam allowance, and we thought that meant that ALL of the bodice seam allowances were to be 3/8".  Wrong!  The side seams, shoulder seams, and curved back seams are all 5/8".  By the time I realized this error, I had already sewn boning to the side seams' seam allowances and everything.  Had to carefully remove the boning, resew the seams, and then resew the boning.  But it was worth it because the fit is pretty good now:

 

We also lengthened all of the bodice pieces by 1/2" to fit me -- but forgot to lengthen the collar facing sections by the same amount.  So after cutting, fusing, hand basting, seaming, overcasting raw edges, we were ready to pin on those facings today and stitch them on but they did not fit.  No choice but to recut those pieces and start over again. 

 

 

 Doesn't that bodice make me look WEIRD in the back?!  That was the look, though -- wide, droopy shoulders and seams angled to make your waist seem as tiny as possible.

 

So tomorrow I will attach the front collar facing to the bodice and the bias tape stuff that goes along the bottom edge of the bodice.  I do have both sleeves made and ready to attach to the bodice, and they will go on next.  Then we have to make black fabric covered buttons and buttonholes and trim the bodice with ruffles, ribbon and trim.  Then on to the skirt!