Dream to Achieve Archives

‘Dream to Achieve’ – Binding the Quilt

September 16, 2015 by Nanny Leave a Comment

'Dream to Achieve' I'm Quilting Along With Nanny — ‘

Well here we are at the final step in our quiltalong ‘Dream to Achieve’ – Binding the Quilt!

So let’s get started!

Trim the quilt

Take your quilt, and trim to the edge of your sashing , checking the square of your corners. They should be pretty spot on as we have been checking along the way!

I use my square rule for the corner and then my long one to continue down the sides

2. Prepare the binding

Take your fabric for binding and cut it into 2.5″ strips selvedge to selvedge – you will get 8 cuts from your 0.5m

3. Join the binding strips

Take two strips and place as shown

Stitch along the line shown with my rule, trim and press.

Continue to join all strips in this manner and then press in half

4. Adding the binding

Take the end, open it and cut at 45 degree angle

Now, leaving about 6″ of binding free, and starting along one of the sides (not at a corner),stitch the binding to the wrong side of the quilt (this is to stitch your binding by machine – if you prefer to do it by hand you will stitch to the front)

When you reach the corner, stop 1/4″ from the end and turn and stitch out to the corner (I apologise that my machine light has reflected here but if you see the last stitch the stitches then go up at 45 degrees to the top right) Sort of like this ——–/ Remove from the machine.

Fold the binding up towards the machine (Your angled finish will help get this) The photo I took of that step is not clear enough so will use one from another quilt to demonstrate

Then fold the binding back down along the next side until the fold is level with the side just sewn (I have pinned it to take the photo)

Starting at the edge, you then stitch along this side up to the next corner and repeat.

5. Joining the ends of the binding

When you get about 8 – 10″ from the start, do some reverse stitches and finish off and remove from your machine.

The start is on the left. Open the start end

and lay the other end into the opening

Now mark where they meet – I will mark it with this pin so you can see as this fabric is tricky!

Take that end away from the quilt

Open it up and using your 45 degree on your rule

Mark along the rule

Then put another mark 0.5″ to the left of the first mark (this is the seam allowance)

Cut along that line – the one closest to the end (you will still have the first line on your binding)

Now join the ends, finger press, fold in half and it will fit perfectly!! Complete sewing the binding.

6. Press

Press the binding away from the quilt.

7. Finish the Binding

Fold the binding to the front of the quilt so that it just passes the stitching. To work out how far over the stitching to put the edge, pop a pin in where you are going to stitch close to the edge and it should show just next to the binding on the back.

At the corner, fold right through

and then fold the next side up forming a mitre – You will find it easier to handstitch a little stitch in the corner to hold it for you rather than pinning

Stitching close to the edge, work your way around the quilt. When you reach a corner, leave your needle down, lift your presser foot and turn the quilt. Lower your presser foot and continue.

Repeat until binding is complete.

Nanny note: Don’t worry if your stitching isn’t perfectly positioned on the back – this is something that improves with practice and like I have said before, just step away a bit and it will not even be noticeable!!

Congratulations!! That is your quilt finished! What an achievement!! It shows that you just need to Dream to Achieve!

Don’t forget to give your new quilt a name – I’m calling mine ‘Butterfly Dreams’ ! I will include this on my label when I find its new home!

Thank you for joining me in this Quiltalong. I hope you have enjoyed making your quilt and that you will share a photo . I would also like to thank our sponsors Alan’s Pen Making and A1 Craft and Quilting for providing the gift packs along the way!

What to next?

Until next time

Nanny xx

‘Dream to Achieve’ Gift Pack 5 & 6 Winners!

September 10, 2015 by Nanny Leave a Comment

Hi!

Life has been so hectic of late that I have fallen behind, so today I will be posting the final two Gift Pack Draws – are you the ‘Dream to Achieve’ Gift Pack 5 & 6 winners?

As these are the last of our Gift Packs, I would like to once again give a huge ‘Thank You’ to both Alan and Norma – your generosity has let us have fun along the way as we ‘Dream to Achieve’ and I truly value your support of our very small venture . I know that the winners of the gift packs have all appreciated the contents and I hope that your new followers will now spread the word of your wonderful Aussie businesses! (If anyone hasn’t yet checked them out, you can just click on the logos at the top of the post to be taken to their pages and YES they will post internationally!!)

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Gift Pack 5

From A1 Craft and Quilting we have some Thread Heaven! This is a thread conditioner and protectant that is said to reduce hand fatigue and prevent tangling and fraying and is safe for use on all threads and fabrics!

and from Alan’s Pen Making we have another Seam Ripper/Awl tool and we all know how handy these are!!

Mr Random Selector tells me that the winner is:

Result:

Clare Fitzpatrick

Congratulations Clare! Please contact me with your address so I can get this in the mail to you!

Gift Pack 6

In Gift Pack 6 we have:

From A1 Craft and Quilting we have some lovely Cottage Garden Threads – 10 metre lengths of 100% cotton in a gorgeous colourway ‘Jacaranda’

and from Alan’s Pen Making we have another of his well known Seam Rippers with two different sized blades!

and Random Selector tells me the winner is:

Result:

Margaret Kerr

Congratulations Margaret!! I will have these in the post to you tomorrow.

Well now that that excitement is over it’s back to ‘Dream to Achieve’ – we only have the binding to do!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Dream to Achieve – Walking Foot Quilting Ideas

August 15, 2015 by Nanny 7 Comments

Hi!

Today I thought I would share some Dream to Achieve – Walking foot quilting ideas.

It is such an exciting time – you have cut, pieced and stitched all the pieces together and you have basted the finished top, batting and backing and then you think EEk how will I quilt this?

Quilting design is such an individual thing but I think the following things are important to consider:

1. Does the quilt design lend itself to heavy quilting or selective quilting?

2. Heavily quilted quilts will not be as ‘cuddly’ as a less quilted one.

3. There are so many lovely quilting designs available but does your favourite one suit the quilt you are working on. eg would you put ‘feathers’ on a sharp,geometric design?

4. Will the chosen design ADD to the overall quilt design or will it ‘swamp’ it?

You really need to take a step back, breathe and look closely at your quilt top and fabrics involved and then consider your options. You also need to consider your quiltig experience – if you have never tried Free Motion Quilting, I would suggest you start on smaller projects like placemats. to perfect your technique.

Today I will be looking at quilting with your walking Foot. Many think you can only sew straight lines with a Walking Foot, but with a little thought , many options are available to the quilter.

If we look at the original Dream to Achieve quilt, you can see the following – all done with a walking foot:

1. Following fabric design lines:

2. Using a shape to make a template:

3. Following fabric design curves:

4. Choosing overall to compliment the fabric design – turtle/water

Now to my current Quilt Along Quilt:

I think I will use the circles and squares shapes in the first fabric, the wavy lines from the stripe and maybe do something with the butterflies!

We have already stitched in the ditch around all sashing and so we have smaller blocks all secured and ready to quilt! I will use the small areas to show you some options that you may like to try!

How to Sew Straight Lines with your Walking Foot

If you want to sew a line eg from corner to corner, the easiest way to mark your line is with masking tape. Just remember to place it just to the side of the required line to allow for the stitching:

I will now add another diagonal to complete this square!

How to sew more than one line with your walking foot:

Once you have your straight line, it is easy to add more by

a) adding more tape at required distance OR

b) using the width of your walking foot and moving your needle OR

c) using a quilting guide.

With your walking Foot, you would have seen a piece like this:

You just lay it across the slit at the back

and press down until it clicks into place

Now you just slide it across to the width you want and sew with the guide following along the straight line you started with!

So I am setting my gauge at the same width as the finished sashing so it will be easy to see – I quite like the way it looks! I started at one edge using the same method as in the previous post.

Now of course you can add more lines if you want to – I have decided to leave it like this.

How to use the width of the walking foot:

I will do another one now using the width of the walking foot to sew around the edge of the square and then I will freehand some lines across and down:

In this one I will sew a diagonal using the tape and then, using the width of the walking foot, spiral around each triangle:

How to sew a 6 pointed STAR with your walking foot:

Maybe you would like a star! Divide all sides in half and the right and left sides into quarters.

This is sewn in one motion, starting and ending on the left side.

How to sew a more WONKY STAR with your walking foot:

Maybe you would prefer a less structured star! Divide the top in half and the sides into thirds (approx as this will be determined by how wonky you want it) and start and finish in the left bottom corner.

How to sew a SQUARE SPIRAL with your walking foot:

Now I’m thinking a spiral – let’s start with the square and using our guide set at the same width as before:

How to sew a CIRCULAR SPIRAL with a walking foot:

Now to try a circular spiral!

Trace a circle that fits the space (Im using a plate and tracing it using a sliver of soap)

I will start sewing from the centre at the top:

Now for the long blocks, I’m going to do wavy lines, so I will roll the quilt from both sides (like we did here) and just wave my way from one edge to the other

For the feature stripe, I am going to some butterfly shapes!

I hope this has given you some ideas for quilting your quilt using a walking foot! Don’t forget to share a photo in the Facebook Album of Flickr to be in the next Gift Pack Draw! Great going! You are nearly finished – just the binding to go – well done!

Until next time

Nanny xx

‘Dream to Achieve’ – Quilting the Quilt

August 2, 2015 by Nanny 2 Comments

Today it is time to get to ‘Dream to Achieve’ – Quilting the Quilt!

Prepare your machine:

We will be using a walking foot:

To attach the walking foot, you need to unscrew the foot screw and remove the foot on your machine. Attach the walking foot making sure you put the white handle ABOVE the needle screw .

Select your thread – I am using a variegated thread (Wonderfil Silco)

Fill some bobbins and thread the machine.

I use a stitch length of 3 and if your machine has a needle down switch, this is a good time to use it! You can see mine lit up:

If you don’t have this, that is OK – just remember to turn the needle down before stopping to remove pins etc.

Do a test sew along one of the edges to check your tension and adjust if necessary.

Let’s Quilt:

Nanny note: This is not the only way to quilt this quilt – this is how I have chosen to do it. By following my example, you will be stitching either side of all sashing strips which will in effect, divide the quilt into sections and stabilise the quilt sandwich for further quilting.

1. I am starting by stitching down the edge of the feature strip. I will stitch in the ditch. Now because I’m not starting from the edge of the quilt, I want to tie off the threads (I will bury them later). When I bring both threads to the top, I avoid ‘bird nest clumps’ happening on the back. I start by lowering the needle in the corner of the sashing strips and holding the needle thread:

Then I pull on that thread to raise the bobbin thread – my finger is showing the loop:

Pull the bobbin thread to the top:

Lower the needle again into the corner spot

Take both threads to the back and lower the foot and start stitching in the ditch. Don’t be too worried about being ‘exact’ here – you may run onto the edge or out a bit from the edge – that is OK! It will not be visible in the overall finish. If you don’t believe me, step away from the quilt a bit and see if it is obvious! Like any skill, this takes time and practice to get it so don’t be too hard on yourself!

If you find yourself coming to a pin, stop and lower the needle by turning the wheel by hand

Remove the pin and keep going

When I get to the end of the row, I want to save my thread ends to finish off later too, so I sew to the corner and go one stitch over

Cut the thread and bring the bobbin thread to the top as before

Nanny tips:

a) Remove the pins when you have sewn both sides of the sashing – this will make your quilt lighter!

b) Roll your quilt on both ends, to make turning and stitching easier

2. Now turn the quilt and sew down the other side of the sashing, starting at the end you just finished on.

3. Repeat so that both sides of the feature strip are stitched.

4. Now roll your quilt from both ends (as above) and go to one of the central strips and starting at the sashing line we just sewed, stitch from the feature strip to the outside of the quilt. Turn and go back up the other side of the sashing.

5. Repeat this until all sashing strips have been stitched. This is my back showing the sashing lines joining:

We have now secured the quilt sandwich in sections and it’s time to decide how to quilt those sections!

Well I’m off to finish off those threads and give my back a break! You can see how I do that here.

Until next time

Nanny xx

‘Dream to Achieve’ Pinning the Quilt

July 18, 2015 by Nanny Leave a Comment

Hi!

We now have our quilt top finished and have collected the list of items suggested so let’s get to ‘Dream to Achieve’ Pinning the Quilt shall we?

As mentioned before, if you are having your quilt professionally quilted, you will need to check with the quilter re the size of the backing required as they need extra to attach the quilt to the frame.

I make sure I have a couple of inches all the way around the quilt top and find that is ample.

For my backing, I am using quilting cotton from the same range as the front ‘Galaxy’ by Sue Penn for Fine Lines. I have 3metres and will cut it in half. I will then join the pieces along the selvedges to form a piece large enough to be the backing.

1. Press the backing well and lay right side down onto your floor or table.

2. Using your tape, tape the backing to the floor or table. Pull it taught but don’t stretch it.

3. Place your batting on the backing

4. Place your well pressed quilt top, right side up on top of the wadding.

5. Pin the quilt.

You will find a detailed description of the pinning process I use here.

Don’t forget to share a photo when you have finished your ‘Dream to Achieve’ Pinning the Quilt on the Facebook page or Flickr to be in the running for the next Gift Pack,

Until next time

Nanny xx

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