Boho Owl Quilt Along: the Videos

Have you missed seeing some of my Boho Owl Quilt Along videos? While the replays are available on the AmyQuilts Facebook page, they aren't all that easy to find, especially if you want to view them in order.

These are shot on 3 different machines, 4 if you count the Janome 9400 and 9450 as separate models. Most of it is done on a Janome with an 11 inch throat (9400/9450), then a standard sized sewing machine with a 6-7 inch throat, as well as the Janome Artistic 16SD, a sit-down style long arm.

While I still plan on editing them down and putting a good portion of it on my YouTube, it turns out that editing twice weekly videos that run for an hour each takes more time than I have available right now.

The first video is worth skipping as it's just a brief intro. You can see the information on piecing the Boho Owl project here on the blog. You do not have to do your panel the same way as I do, or even at all to glean tips from this series.

Please remember these were recorded live, so they are not "polished" and there's some sound issues in the earlier ones. This is as close to being right in my studio for a class without being in my studio!

The link to the actual replays on Facebook are given for each video if you want to see the questions and answers as well.

Week 2 Talk about basting and stabilizing the sandwich by stitching in the ditch. For this project, I used my built-in walking foot on the Janome 9400. Click to read more about quilt stabilization and walking foot quilting from this segment.



Week 3 We start with the free motion!



Week 4




First Saturday video, October 6th. Trying to move faster on this project so we can do more Quilt Alongs, each video will only be referred to by its date and they are being done twice a week. Stitched on the SD16, a sit-down style long arm from Janome.




October 10th First video with the new mic and the sound is much improved. Also on the SD16.




October 13 Starting on the background fills, using the Janome 9400.




October 17th Some sound issues on this one, the new microphone was confused and kept changing sound levels between the machine and me. Straightened it out for other videos.




October 20  This video was deleted as there was an uploading issue with Facebook. Sadly, I was quilting on the small Janome 4120 which is nice for those of you using a smaller machine. Th next video is done on a similar sized machine.

October 27th  Quilting on the Janome 4300, a smaller machine.




October 31  Halloween night. Quilting on the Janome 9450 and using the ruler foot. Doing a tiny bit of ruler work tonight, but most of the quilting was done without rulers.



November 3rd Fun mix of background fills tonight.




November 6th Starting on the sashing! 




November 10th




November 14th  Two more sashing designs



November 17th Part 2 While you can see the first part of this video on FB, there was a glitch and this one pretty much covers the whole of it. Doing a little detail work on one owls followed by the design for our larger sashing.



November 28th A design for the cornerstones and revisiting the wide sashing design.




Finally, the last full video, covering the border on December 5



I have really enjoyed doing this series and after getting our sound issues worked out, it's been a lot of fun and the feedback I've been getting tells me you are enjoying it too. I will be offering more of these in the future.

Boho Owl QAL: On a Smaller Machine

The Boho Owl Quilt-along continues on the AmyQuilts Facebook  page (I recently changed the name to make it easier to find and match our online shop) and this week I switched machines and used a smaller machine. This project is 60x60, so there's still plenty of room to free motion quilt on a regular sized machine.

The machine I used is the Janome 4120QDC and I fitted it with the Janome Convertible Free Motion Foot Set for low shank machines and used the open toe on it.

A big difference when using a smaller machine is that even when there's still plenty of room to stuff a quilt under the throat of the machine, there's not a lot of room to move your right hand side to side. This makes the range of motion smaller, so your designs typically are smaller, especially as you move laterally. Making designs that run forward and backward are easier.

Below are a couple of shots from previous video sessions.

A little McTavishing in the green portion under the first owlet. Farther up in the background I did swirls on the right side, and a curvy orange peel variation on the left, like what I use in the first photos of this post.

 I love keeping the sketchy nature of these owls as I do my quilting. Keeps it fun. I enjoyed this flower detail below too.

I used the printed design as my plan for this area of quilting. In a couple of places, the background design disappeared entirely, so I had to draw it with my trusty purple pen.

It's been a lot of fun to do this quilt-along via live FB video, though there have been a few technical issues. I love being able to interact with so many quilters this way. I go live on my AmyQuilts FB page each Saturday at 6pm and Wednesday at 7pm, both eastern time in the US.

Owl Quilt-Along with Amy: Week 3

Wheee! This week's (September 26) quilt-along video was fun. After stabilizing the quilt in week 2 with stitch in the ditch quilting (SID) using my AcuFeed SID foot (my machine's built-in version of a walking foot), it was finally time to play with free motion quilting.

Don't you just love his googley-eyed face?

You can catch the replay of the live video on the Amy's Quilting Adventures FB page. It's right at an hour long and I talk about the choices I make for the quilting while I make them. I also talk about a few basics of setting up for free motion in general, and then some details about setting up for free motion quilting on the Janome 9400. Then I quilt the entirety of this owl on camera.

He was pretty straightforward to quilt, mostly just outlining the different shapes but getting a bit creative with the feathers on his tummy and adding some highlights to that multicolored print at the tips of his wings. I kept the lines "sketchy" meaning they don't need to be right on top of the printed lines. This made it easier to stitch, to stay relaxed, be fun, and I think it fit the aesthetic of the panel.

I'm still using the dark violet thread so most of the stitching is pretty visible unless on the violet or black printed areas. I stitched up some freehand clamshell-like feathers for his belly and if you look closely, you can see a bit of the white pencil I used as reference lines. I started with two rows of clamshells and then went to one row per line as the feathers got bigger. I also began to curve the lines to follow the curve of his tummy.

I am sorry that we ran out of this panel so quickly. I had no way to know how many of you would want to join in and since the panel is stinkin' cute, the fabric company ran out after my second re-order. We do still have quite a bit of the below companion print if you need something for your backing.

The response to this quilt-along has been wonderful! Whether you bought fabric or are just following along to watch and learn, I am encouraged to do more of these. It's so fun to stitch and answer questions together. I am always a bit timid in telling people what to do and how to do it (there are a myriad of ways after all!) but as a teacher, there is a need to do just that to some extent. So I'm glad to get such positive feedback.

Thank you!

Owl Quilt-Along with Amy: Week 2

Welcome to the Quilt-Along with Amy!

Week 2 is all about the basics of machine quilting. The quilt has been basted with pins, my personal favorite method. On a quilt like this with blocks and sashing, I like to stabilize my quilt before getting to the free motion fun.

You can see the live video I shot last week for this segment on the Amy's Quilting Adventures Facebook page. I warn you it is a long one. I'm working on editing it down to a more streamlined version for youtube.

What is quilt stabilization?

It's pretty much a permanent, beefed up version of basting. Quilting some of the major lines (or bones) of the quilt keeps things from shifting, breaks the quilt into smaller areas, and helps assure that seams stay straight and don't get distorted with quilting over them in multiple directions.

For the most part, we're talking about Stitch-in-the-Ditch, SID for short.

Those of you who have followed me for a while or taken my Craftsy classes,know that I like to do my SID in free motion with a ruler most of the time, as I don't have to rotate my quilt as often when working in free motion.  But sometimes a walking foot is perfect for smaller quilts like this. Plus I want to leave ruler work for another quilt-along in the future.

What is a walking foot?

A walking foot, sometimes referred to as an even feed foot, has a set of feed dogs that help move the fabric from the top side. This allows layers to be pulled through the machine together without shifting. If you've ever sewn two squares the exact size and the top fabric has "grown" by the time you get to the end, you've seen how the regular feed dogs under the fabric pull the bottom fabric through more effectively than the top.

The basic walking foot has a lever that goes over the needle clamp and it is powered by the action of the needle going up and down. You can get these for just about any sewing machine as long as you match up the right shank type. Some walking feet are a bit lightweight and too cheap in my opinion. Others include options to make using it easier, like a SID guide, open toe options, and most have a guide bar that can be used for parallel lines of stitching.

Some machines have "built-in" or integrated walking feet and these are wonderful. They are powered by the actual machine and are synced with the movement of the lower feed dogs. Unlike the needle bar powered versions whose upper teeth only go forward, some of these systems can be used with decorative stitches too as the upper feed dogs go into reverse. Typically, they work best on simpler stitches without a lot of reverse as there can be a little bit of a lag between the upper and lower sets.

Pfaff machines have had them for quite a long time. Janome rolled out their own versions with the 6600 and 7700 models and then an improved version for their newer, bigger machines, called the Acufeed Flex system. I love the Acufeed Flex feet for my machines. In this case, the Janome 9400. I also have interchangeable feet for the base of the integrated walking foot for SID which makes this pretty easy-peasy. See more about the SD foot above at AmyQuilts.com

How do I Stabilize My Quilt?

Opinions vary, but for the most part, it's a lot like basting. Work from the center to the edges, to keep things nice and even, not creeping in one particular direction. I did my stitching in pairs of lines as shown in the graphic below. Then I went around the outer sashing and the inner edge of the border (not shown).

Once I've done this stitching, I can remove a lot of my pins as well and the layers are less likely to shift, nor is the top likely to warp its main lines.

The Stitch for the Ditch

I used my built-in walking foot, the Acufeed Flex SD foot, which is a foot made for Stitch in the Ditch. There's a guide to keep the foot moving more easily right down the seam line. I keep my guide running on the downhill side of the seam. This is the side that does not have the seam allowance under it. Get things running just right, and the stitches will hide right under the fold of the seam. In the picture of my SD foot above, the downhill side is on the left.

My first thread audition

I used a pretty dark violet colored Glide thread and you can hardly see it, down in the ditch. In fact, when doing the live video of this process, I stitched over and area I had already stitched and it took about 6 inches before I saw my earlier stitching.

The darker violet thread below is what I used and you can see the backing I chose there on the right. This busier back will help the dark thread blend in a little better. If I had not been doing this quilt on camera, I would have used the lighter thread. I may use it for some of the background spaces.

The stitch itself is just a straight stitch with a fairly good length of 2.4mm. I did alter my needle drop position (by adjusting the width setting) so that it was one needle position off of center towards the downhill side, changing it as the downhill side changed.

After stitching the lines represented in the diagram, I went back and stitched between the green and purple sashing strips. With the other lines stitched, I didn't need to do those from the center out, but did it as felt best as I moved from area to area.

One thing I did that seemed to surprise my viewers on the video is that I pulled up my bobbin thread before I started the SID. This just gives a neater look to the back as the bobbin thread tail doesn't get stitched up.

There were several short lines that I would have left until doing the free motion and done with a straight ruler, or possibly even free hand if I hadn't said this was going to be a ruler-free project.

Next: the Free Motion Quilting!

The next segment will be done via live video again on the Amy's Quilting Adventures Facebook page on Wednesday September 26 around 7pm eastern time in the US. I will post the recording on the FB page too, so you can watch it later. We will get started with the free motion around the owls and I'm excited about it. Join us, won't you?

Sew much fun,

PS If you have questions regarding any of the feet or products I show, we likely can fix you up with the right foot or whatever for your machine (or other fun supplies!), even if we don't list it at our online shop. Just shoot me an email at amy@amysquiltingadventures.com