Quilting with Rulers: Filling Between the Lines

Yesterday I showed you my diamond filled star. Today I took a little time to add some fills to my diamonds and I really like the result. At least after I did a couple.

The center fill is a cross between the design 'ribbon candy' and figure eights. I bet there's a better name for this, but I don't know it. Anybody have an idea? I see this a lot in custom long arm work.

Then I skipped a set of lines and stitched pebbles in graduated sizes to either side. The first set (above) was entirely unmarked freehand. It wasn't too wonky, but the spacing was not good. I whipped out my trusty air-eraseable purple pen and marked the center pebble, then six to either side. That came out a heck of a lot better.

I am having so much fun with this ruler sampler as it really challenges me to do something new with each space and block.

Tomorrow I'll be teaching another beginner free motion quilting class locally and I'll be taking this in to show one of the gals who is a new friend and reads the blog.

In other news, Leah Day has taken up quilting with rulers on her new Juki sit-down long arm and given my class on Craftsy a shout out  (25% off link to Quilting with Rulers on a Home Machine right here). That's pretty cool!

I've got a shop update for you. If you've been putting off buying a ruler foot because it seemed kind of spendy, we are now offering the Westalee Ruler Foot Starter Set without the feather template which allows us to drop the price by $20! I know so many of you already have made a ruler foot purchase, but if you haven't, or if your friends are now interested in how you do these cool designs with rulers, you know where to go to get your supplies.

Thank you for all your support and wonderful comments!

Quilting with Rulers: Stars and Diamonds

I'm working on my ruler work sampler and I'm putting diamonds into this star block. My mind keeps pulling up the chorus, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds...."

The great thing about putting diamonds into blocks this way is that it can be done without a bunch of starts and stops. I'm just about done with it, but I haven't decided if I want to go back in and put some fills into the diamonds and really make them pop.

I was inspired to adapt the ruler work technique from long arm quilters and use it on my home machine to guide my free motion quilting, and I've learned a bunch from looking at the work of professional long arm quilters.

They quilt a lot more quilts as it's their job and have so many great designs that not only look great, but also reduce the number of stops and starts for more efficient quilting. I am in awe of how they can figure out how to quilt large complex areas with several designs with a great plan that allows them to use one start and one stop.

I am getting better at it, but it seems as if I get halfway done with an area and then find a way I could have stitched it more efficiently! Sometimes I'll finish up an area and after I've cut my threads to move to a new area, I find a way I could have kept going. Then again, since my quilting times come in tiny little sessions with frequent interruptions, I'm not sure it matters for me to do it more continuously.

How about you? Do you look for was to stitch more continuously or do you not mind frequent starts and stops?

Quilting Tip Video: How to Remove Stray Threads Inside the Quilt

I've got a great little quilt tip on video for you today. Have you ever found after quilting your top that there are dark threads showing under light colored portions of your quilt. How annoying!

Watch and see how I fish those little stragglers out.

I cannot believe how easily I hooked that thread out! Trust me, while it's not hard, I rarely hook it that fast!

Now I'm back to quilting on this sampler. I love how it's turning out, but I am so ready to be done with this piece and move on to something new!

When I was a Newbie Quilter

I know I should save this photo for a "Throw Back Thursday" post, but I just had to share this one with you before I chickened out! This is Christmas Day of 1987 and I was a senior in high school. I had been sewing up to this point with my mom's old Singer. She had a beautiful old black machine in a wooden case, but it had a short somehow and the knee lever that functioned like today's foot pedal would give me a tiny zap if I sewed in shorts.

Since we lived in Florida, you can imagine I needed a zap-free machine! I had completely forgotten this machine over the years and I can't even remember what happened to it. I know there was at least 2 machines that came and were upgraded before I got my first Janome. But I sure looked happy to get it. I sure would like to know where all those curls went.

The rotary cutter had just begun making inroads in the world of quilting and it was a good thing as I am accuracy challenged. My first quilt involved scissors, cardboard templates, and Y seams because I didn't know any better! It was a disaster.

I have been working on my ruler work sampler quilt whenever I can. I tell you, I am not sure where my days are going lately, as it doesn't feel like I'm getting much done and I have some new projects I need to start on.

I ordered some of the Janome ruler feet (Frame Quilting Foot Set) last week for my shop at Amy's Quilting Adventures and wouldn't you know it? There's been a run on that product and they're out of stock! Could it have something to do with the over 4500 students enrolled in my Quilting with Rulers on a Home Machine class at Craftsy? (That's a 25% discount link BTW) I should get them late this week or next week. I've also got the Ronda's Double S ruler on backorder too. Hope to get those soon as well.

The class has received great reviews and Craftsy's platform doesn't allow me to leave a comment on those reviews so I can't leave my thanks on the glowing recommendations. Seriously?! 4.85 out of 5 stars! Incredible. So if you've left a review, know that I really appreciate it!

That's all I've got for now! Keep on quilting!