A Ruler Work Sampler: The Quilting

Hurrah! I'm quilting again. So happy to start quilting this project. It's a true sampler; the piecing and the quilting. I'm doing a bunch of different designs using rulers to guide my free motion quilting.

a ruler work sampler
Almost all of this quilting was done using a Janome Ruler Foot combo and rulers on my domestic sewing machine.

 I've shared that the piecing was a challenge for me as I am really all about the quilting and I don't normally do a lot of piecing. But I know that most quilters do more piecing than I do so I wanted to make a piece that would be more applicable to typical quilts and show a variety of ruler-based designs.


I was pleasantly pleased with my piecing! Maybe all the quilting blogs I've been reading has rubbed off on me. It's not perfect and there was quite a bit of unsewing on this project, but overall, it turned out pretty well.


I printed out a black and white photo of the top in order to develop a quilting plan. I printed a couple of copies because I knew I'd have several ideas to draw out. A white mechanical chalk fabric pencil works great for marking the dark patches.


A lot of the basic quilting will eventually have detailed background quilting quilting like these circle areas, but first I will finish the basic quilting. The four setting squares are stitched with a faux sashing, turning the 12 inch blocks into 8 inch blocks with 2 inch sashings.


I enjoyed using this little ruler in the faux sashing of this setting block. I have several new rulers I'm trying out and some new non-slip product for the back of my rulers. I don't find that my method of holding the rulers (with my gloved fingers) doesn't allow a lot of slipping, but I'm liking these clear dots for a little extra help.


I'll be doing a giveaway on this product later this week. It's not a new product, but new to me and since I bought and extra pack and they're easy to mail, I thought a give away would be fun.

With any luck and a lot of diligence, I will show the finished product along with the giveaway post. So excited about this quilt!

21 comments:

  1. This is so timely for me. I just bought some rulers and a ruler foot for my Janome. Just playing around, I didn't find working with the rulers easy. I know they'll take a lot of practice and you are so inspiring. Thanks.

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    1. Just like when first learning FMQ, doing ruler work takes a bit of practice, especially to find the best way for you to hold the rulers while quilting. But it will ‘click’ and then you’ll be off!

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  2. Looks like your having a great fun now. Those white square will be great. Love to see more :)

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    1. Thanks! I was having great fun until my machine got temperamental. Murphy always comes calling when there’s a deadline! But I’ll figure it out and get back to it. All these blocks sure give me the variety I love.

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  3. I just purchased a HORIZON MEMORY CRAFT 8900 for machine quilting. I've been following your blog and viewing the videos but still can't quite figure out the actual mechanism of doing ruler work. I can't quite figure out are you pressing hard on the ruler which in turn moves the fabric or grabbing the fabric and moving it and the ruler just coming along (so to speak)?

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    1. It's a balance between the two. The ruler is moved as a unit with the quilt. I find this works best by laying your gloved hand over the ruler so that a few finger tips rest on the top along the ruler's edge. There's definitely no pressing hard on the ruler though as that makes it hard to move the quilt and sets you up to cause the ruler to slip.

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    2. BTW, the 8900 is a fabulous machine. You'll have a great time with it.

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  4. so effective with that quilting...
    Hugz

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  5. Amy, I love the "sampler" quilted blocks and I think your piecing is fabulous.

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  6. This is so exciting, Amy! I can't wait to watch your progress through this quilt. I bought the Westalee foot and rulers for my Bernina after learning about them on your blog, but I haven't had opportunity to play with them yet. Although I do have some Bear Paw blocks (abandoned in a corner of my sewing room) that I could set with alternate blocks for some ruler quilting... You're giving me all kinds of new inspiration and ideas. Thanks for that!

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    1. You are quite welcome! I hope you get a chance to play with those ruler soon!

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  7. I just recently bought the Janome 8900 and love it with everything I've tried so far - except FMQ. I have a horrible drag when trying to move the quilt under the needle. Machine is set down flush with a tabletop. Do I need the Supreme Slider, or do you have another suggestion? I've watched many of your videos and bought the ruler foot and rulers - eager to get going! Thanks for all your posts and videos, I'm learning a lot.

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    1. Sharon,

      You didn’t mention it, but are you using the convertible free motion foot set with the 8900 (I think it comes standard with the machine)? If so, have you adjusted the height of the foot with the thumbscrew on the shank of the foot so it just hovers over the quilt without pressing down on the quilt much?

      I would recommend a supreme slider or similar product for the 8900. First of all, I love using my slider and notice a lot more drag when I don’t use one. Secondly, All the handy markings and such on the bed of the machine are a bit of a drag (punny!) when it comes to free motion quilting on it. It doesn’t have the smoothest bed out there, unfortunately.

      Hope this helps!

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    2. Hi Amy..your quilt looks great! You mentioned a white chalk mechanical pencil..could you tell me what brand it is? I can't seem to find a decent white marker to mark the dark areas of my quilts. Thanks for your help!

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    3. Thanks, Amy. I'll take note of these suggestions. Look'n forward to smoother quilt'n.

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  8. Hi Amy, thank you for sharing information about using rulers on a DSM. I just purchased a Juki 2010q and happened to find your blog while searching for a hopping foot for it. Your posts and videos are so helpful. Carmen

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  9. What's the name of that little curved ruler that you had in the photo? Do you have a secret for stops and starts with a ruler? I'm fairly good at machine quilting, but with the ruler my stops and starts look like a beginner, knotted up. I purchased some of these rulers and the stickers for the rulers..those stickers are worth every penny! Thanks, love your blog.

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    1. That's the Quilted Pineapple's BFF ruler. Very handy! Go slower with the machine and faster with your hands with the stops and starts to have better control over how they look. I think there's a tendency to move too slow especially with the beginning and end of a ruler pass as we get everything positioned. Practice helps. Don't forget to hold your thread tails as you start with the ruler too.

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