QUILTING TUTORIALS Archives - Page 10 of 12

Rainbow Machine Cover – Tutorial 6 – Binding

June 11, 2013 by Nanny 4 Comments

I forgot last post, to include a mention of the ‘ENDs’ of your cover. These are finished to your liking by joining more squares, using a single colour piece or a panel (as I did). The ENDs need to be quilted as well.

I used these gorgeous panels and had to trim the sides and add to the top and bottom to make a piece 8″ x 12.5″. I stitched around the edge and I then quilted by following the outlines on some of the items

So, when you have completed all of your quilting, it is time to add the binding!

Let’s sew Along!!

1. Mark the centre of the top of your END pieces and the centre of your MAIN piece along the long edge. Pin them together at that point wrong sides together.

2. Continue pinning out from the centre , along the top edge of the ENDs and stitch, starting and stopping 1/4″ from the edge.

3. On the corners of the cover ENDs, snip out the corner – don’t snip the stitching!

4. Fold the END piece back across the MAIN piece (like when you stitched it) and then snip the MAIN piece to match. On mine below, I am snipping my MAIN (black) at the point where I snipped out the corner. This will help us turn the corner!!

5. You can see now that it is easier to bend the MAIN piece around the corner of the END piece. Continue pinning down the sides.

6. You can now use a large stitch (4 for me) just to stitch and hold them together while we add the binding. This stitching will be easy to remove later. (if you need to)

7. Take your bias binding and open it, placing the raw edge along the edge of your MAIN piece – you will stitch along the crease – don’t forget to change your stitch length back to regular stitching!

8. The sides are easy going – this is me coming towards a corner:

I am going to stop when I am level with that inner corner that we snipped out. ( I have taken it out below just to show you – you won’t take it out from the machine) I have put a pin to show you that I have stopped sewing level with the edge of the ‘snip out’ on the END piece which is on the bottom)

OK let’s get back to our side – I am now at that point in the corner – you can see how it all scrunches up – that’s fine! Leave your needle down at that point!! Lift your pressure foot and turn the cover, rearranging so that the next side is ready.. so from this

to this

Lower your pressure foot and continue around.

9. Roll the binding to the back (towards the END pieces) and pin – you might like to do a ‘tacking’ stitch by hand to hold it like my white stitches below because we are going to sew on the other side.

I am stitching ‘in the ditch’ as closely as I can to the ditch where the binding meets the cover.

If you have used black like me you will appreciate how forgiving the black is – it won’t show if you don’t get it perfectly straight!!

10. Repeat the process on the other END.

11. Trim the edges at the bottom of the cover and apply the binding around the bottom in the same way.

I started near an END seam and folded the sides towards the ENDs. I just folded the end of the bias binding over when I started to give a straight edge when finished.

Well done!!! It’s time to pop your cover over your machine, sit back and give yourself a pat on the back!!

I love how it turned out – it certainly adds a ‘splash’ of colour to the room! I also love how we were able to take the samples and make a practical, useful item while retaining our colour chart.

I hope you enjoyed sewing along – Please share some photos!

Until next time
Nanny xx

Rainbow Machine Cover – Tutorial 5(a) – Quilting

June 8, 2013 by Nanny Leave a Comment

You now have your squares all joined and looking great!

You will now need:

Lining Fabric – you can use what you like here – I used black drill because that’s what I had!
Iron-on Vilene – I used H640 – large enough for the rectangle

So Let’s sew Along!

1. Check that your corners are still square!

2. Cut out the iron-on vilene to fit your rectangle and press to join – make sure you have the bubbly side of the vilene to the wrong side of your rectangle.

3. Take your backing and place right side down on the table (or floor) and tape it taught but not stretched.

4. Place your rectangle on top, right side up and smooth it out.

5. Pin through all the layers using quilts pins if you have them. You’ll notice if you go shopping for them that they have a bend in them but don’t buy them if you don’t plan to do quilting – you can get by with ordinary safety pins

6. Pin the quilt – you can see how many pins I used. These will hold the fabrics and stop them moving around as you ‘quilt’ them all together.

NOTE: You will place the pins according to how you want to quilt the squares. I want my squares to be free of colour because it is a colour reference chart, but if you are not using the colour chart squares, you might choose to quilt diagonally through the squares and so would not pin in the centre of the squares as I have. See Tutorial 5

7. Using a larger stitch than normal – I used 3- and a walking foot if you have, one stitch down one side of the seam and back up the other side, using your foot as a guide. You will notice that the needle is to the left – that was too close and so I centred the needle! (You don’t want to be sewing through your seam layers)

8. Now do the same across.

9. Remove the pins (leave them stored open if quilting – saves opening them again!)

10. Square up your corners and check the sides are straight – you should only need to trim a little but it is quite normal to do so.

Next is the binding!

Until next time
Nanny xx

Rainbow Machine Cover – Tutorial 5 – Quilting Options

June 8, 2013 by Nanny 1 Comment

Quilting

Note: If you have a Walking Foot, now is the time to use it! The arm with the white coating that is above the foot, must be above the needle clamp screw when you attach the foot.
It is possible to quilt without a walking foot, it is just a tool that makes the process simpler, and less likely to have ‘puckers’. Just check your manual for directions – I don’t have to change anything on my machine except the stitch length.

Lengthen your stitch – I used a 3

When you reach the ‘Quilting’ stage of your project, you are faced with a few alternatives:

1. You can sew along the seam lines, using your foot as a guide. You might choose to sew along one side of the seam or both! This is how the Rainbow Machine Cover will be quilted.

2. Shadow Quilt: Once again, using your foot as a guide you can ‘shadow’ the outline of the shape.

3. Diagonal: Quilt diagonally through the squares – it is easy if you lay some strips of tape down first and then stitch along them – leave that stitch width when placing the tape especially at the corners so that the stitching passes through the corner.

4. Stitch in the Ditch: This is where you stitch as close to the ‘ditch’ formed by the seam – I have ‘stitched in the ditch’ around all the red squares and triangles. Ideally you will not see it!

5. Free Motion Quilting: For the quilters among us, go for it! For our beginners, this is where you lower your feed dogs, use a free motion foot and ‘draw with the needle’! It is like anything – it gets better with practice!! (With my back I only got to do part of a lesson! 🙁 ) Quilters please excuse my meagre efforts! lol

So now it is up to you to choose a quilting method and get your rectangle quilted!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Rainbow Machine Cover – Tutorial 4 – Other requirements

June 5, 2013 by Nanny Leave a Comment

With rectangles completed, it is time to follow different instructions, according to the project you have chosen –
1) The Rainbow Machine Cover,
2) The Overlocker/Serger Cover
3) The Mini Quilt/Sewing Mat,
4) The Mini Quilt/Wall Hanging.

For next step, you will need the following:

1) The Rainbow Machine Cover

Main Fabric (for the ends of the cover – mine were 8″ x 12.5″ and of course there are 2)
Lining Fabric the size of your rectangle plus two ends
Iron-on Vilene (I used H 640 )
25mm Bias Binding – 3 metres

2) The Overlocker/Serger Cover

Main Fabric or squares for the cover ends ( 2 x 12″ x 12″)
Lining Fabric (the size of your rectangle plus two ends)
Iron-on Vilene(I used H 640)
25mm Bias Binding – 3 metres

3) The Mini Quilt/Sewing Mat

Backing Fabric – just a bit bigger than your rectangle
Wadding – the same as the backing fabric
Binding – you can make your binding by cutting 2.5″ strips across the width of the fabric.

4) The Mini-Quilt/Wall Hanging

Backing Fabric (including rod pocket) – a piece just a bit bigger than your rectangle plus a rectangle 6″ x the width of your rectangle.
Wadding – a piece just a bit bigger than your rectangle
Binding – you can make your binding by cutting 2.5″ strips across the width of the fabric.

I will now do separate instructions to avoid confusion.

Until next time
Nanny xx

How to Rule Up 1/2 Triangles – Easily

May 28, 2013 by Nanny 9 Comments

I’ve been looking at a UFO and it has 1/2 triangles in it. Don’t you hate it when you are trying to mark in the diagonals and the fabric is all squishy? Let me show you how I solved this problem!

What you need:

An old cork placemat
A sheet of nice paper (mine is a quilting design)
Glue
A sheet of fine glass paper

Let’s make it!

1. Rough up the surface of the place-mat a little

2. Take the paper and trace around the place-mat. Cut it out and glue to the place-mat. Allow it to dry.

3. Take a sheet of fine glasspaper, cut a circle about 2″ smaller in diameter than your place-mat (so you can see some of your pretty paper), and glue it, centred, on top of the paper.

4. Allow it to dry and then enjoy working on your 1/2 triangles without the fabric slipping!

5. Oh – just don’t forget to remove it before cutting!!

Until next time

Nanny xx

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