Learn About Quilting Supplies From Your Quilting Buddies
Learn about quilting supplies from your quilting buddies. Quilters love to share supplies, quilting ideas and quilting sandwiches. The right quilting supplies and tools enhance the developing of skills when learning to quilt. Let me explain how a quilting sandwich works. Recently our quilting group decided to share a 14-inch square of different kinds of batting. In other words, if there are ten guild members each member will purchase enough batting to make ten squares from a single kind of batting. To avoid duplicate squares, assign a unique kind of batting to each member. Then swap one of your unique squares with the other nine members; thus walking away with ten different kinds of batting squares. Next layer the batting between two pieces of fabric and baste together. Place your fabric sandwich in a hoop or frame and quilt as follows: First you will want to match the right size needle with the right quilting thread and then hand quilt several straight lines, a few diagonal lines and last use a template with curved lines to complete the fabric sandwich. Be sure and use a variety of threads such as 100 percent cotton, polyester-cotton blend, rayon and metallic. Don't forget, threads can be swapped too. Now add to your fabric sandwich a few examples of machine quilting stitches, using a darning foot when doing free motion quilting and a walking foot when doing machine guided stitching. On the Quilting Foot page we give you a quick review on the difference between a quilting foot and a walking foot. Next, using the free motion quilting techniques and the machine guided stitching technique, stitch a line with your sewing machine using different kinds of threads. Once you have finished making your sample quilting squares, using different combinations of stitches, needles, thread and equipment, make any notes directly on the sandwich using a fine point permanent marker to record the batting type, and thread and needle used. Try washing a few of your sandwiches a few times to check for shrinkage, bearding, appearance and drape. This is a terrific reference tool to be kept with your other quilting supplies. Refer to them often when deciding just how you want your quilt to look. The samples will also tell you just how flat or how fluffy the batting will be when used in a quilt. Keep the sandwiches in a resealable plastic bag and handy for a quick reference tool.
Fusible Interfacing has a Double Life
The classic double wedding ring quilt dates back to the early 1800's and could take up to a full year to make. It was right up there at the top of the ladder for a difficult quilt to make. The one shown here was very easy and was made with Quiltsmart's printed fusible interfacing and it only took me a couple of weeks to piece together. Generally fusible interfacing is not pre-printed with a design or with anything for that matter. But when it is pre-printed with a design it takes on a different purpose. The design will aid you with accurate sewing and cutting lines to follow and will speed up the process. This technique eliminates the need to trace the individual pieces on your fabric, then cut each piece out, and last sew the pieces together to form the arc that achieves the curved piecing effect. Curved piecing and inset piecing is a difficult skill to master but this pre-printed fusible interfacing by the folks in Chanhassen, Minnesota makes child play of a double wedding ring quilt using vintage fabrics. Don't be afraid of this bygone era with hand-sewn pieces of fabric lovingly and laboriously crafted from watercolor construction. This is one quilting supply that makes your double wedding ring quilt easy! The finished quilt is virtually indistinguishable from the classics, but the techniques used to make them are radically different.
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