Quilting with Rulers: Double Curved Frame

Since my machine decided to start cooperating since my last post (Thank for all the tips and/or commiseration!) I was able to get some free motion ruler work done on my ruler work sampler.

quilting with rulers Janome ruler foot
I'm using the Janome ruler foot combination on my Janome 8200.

This is a large setting triangle along the side of my quilt to set 12 inch blocks. I had originally planned to run a curved ruler along the two shorter sides and do curved cross hatching. But even though I have 4 rulers long enough to reach across those 12 inch sides, I decided to do a design that uses a smaller, shorter ruler.


I decided to do it this way because the larger rulers are not usually the rulers that most domestic machine quilters start off with. They're harder to maneuver, more expensive than smaller rulers, and while it's good to eventually have at least one, they're less common. I also had done the same design around the center block of this quilt, so repeating it is good design sense- even for this very eclectic quilt.



The 'frame' of this design is done by using a smaller curve, in this case I used the QPC #10, but other rulers that would work great are the QPC #8, #12, the Westalee 12 inch arc/straight ruler that comes with their foot, the Westalee 8 inch arc, as well as the 12 inch arc, and other templates long enough to span from corner to center edge of a 12 inch block. In case you're wondering, a 12 inch arc is not long enough to stretch from corner to adjacent corner on a 12 inch block and the curve is too deep.


Then I echoed the frame 1/2 inch to the inside to make a great frame around two sides of the triangle. Next is to fill inside the frame. I want to do curved crosshatching here somehow, but it really doesn't work with the double scallop of the sides. I did straight crosshatching instead at a 1/2 inch spacing.

There's the last spot of trouble I had with my machine. I did go back and fix it.

Since this is a setting triangle in a quilt set on point, it looks like diagonal crosshatching, but is actually straight crosshatching. Why does that matter? It means that you can't use the method for reducing backtracking when crosshatching on the diagonal. (I show this in my class on Craftsy, Quilting with Rulers on a Home Machine. That's a 25% off link!)

The next one of these I do, I'll make sure to mark down the center and maybe a few registration lines to keep the diagonal lines looking more centered down the block. I'll also do some variations in the other setting triangles like I did with the quilt's corners, where the frame is the same, but the inside is done differently. I also think this frame would look great with a regular free motion quilting fill in it.


My creative daughter is at it again! This time she created me "a coloring page for grown ups" using a stencil set. With the arrows, it reminds me of Karlee Porter's Graffiti Quilting.

I'm looking forward to getting more done on this quilt and moving on to something new asap. I hope you have a lovely, creative weekend.

4 comments:

  1. Your design looks great Amy. I imagine that using a 12 in. ruler would be tricky to hold in place while quilting. Your daughter certainly has a great imagination.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your techniques are so helpful to me thanks for posting them! Looking like your daughter is a future free motion quilter!

    ReplyDelete