Follow-up on free motion quilting on a Singer Rocketeer

After leaving this project sitting for months, I could not convince myself to actually use my Singer 503A to machine quilt one of my quilts.

None of my samples were really satisfactory. The effort to push this small sample under the foot in an all-over swirl pattern was much more work than it should be. I actually had to push and pull the sample with some effort, which is not normal. I had a hard time visualizing myself doing this for a queen size quilt. With a proper foot or machine, it would be easier and probably fun.

So the decision is made and I will likely be hand quilting my Hawaiian quilt instead. I used safety pins to baste it together.

As an alternative, I also purchased a walking foot attachment. This attachment actually works well. It does have a cheap feel, so I'm not sure about long term durability. If I choose to quilt in straight lines, then, this is a possibility I may use this attachment on my next quilt.

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Free motion quilting on a Singer 503a Rocketeer

**This tutorial is a work in progress and will be updated as I practice more.

After finishing up the piecing of the Patches and Pinwheels quilt, I began debating on how to quilt it. Do I quilt it myself on my Singer Rocketeer? Do I handquilt? Do I pay someone to do it for me? I am still debating on this quilt because it is so big but I do have my smaller Hawaiian quilt that I may try.

I did buy an aftermarket free motion/embroidery foot from Amazon. The Singer Rocketeer has a slant shank and there are two versions of a free motion foot. The first is a spring design and the second use a curved piece of metal as the spring. The second version has technically been discontinued but you can pick it up on ebay. The spring design is available from various sources.

This version is made by Honeysew and is available on Amazon for about $9.00. My understanding is that as the needle bar moves, the bar at the top of the spring lifts the foot so it hops as you sew. Having never used something like this, I don't know if that is true. In this case that little bar is at least a 1/2" above the needle bar and does not ever touch. In other words, it doesn't work the way I think it is supposed to work.

I had to refer to the machine manual and Amazon review comments to figure out how to make this work. The interesting thing about this Singer and many older models is that the instructions for free motion embroidery and darning instruct you to remove the presser foot and use a bare needle!

This setup requires the use of a hoop, which is not practical for a quilt. Also, it exposes your fingers to the needle much more easily if you are not paying attention! So after a bit of trial and error, I eventually figured out the best setup. The manual has instruction on a few different pages, so I missed a few key steps at first.

1. Set the pressure to the "D" setting. This dial is on the inside of the machine and the "D" and is for Darning. This setting removes all pressure off the foot. This will allow you to move the fabric under the needle.

2. Lift the feed dog plate.

3. Tension settings may need to be adjusted. I loosened it a bit only to turn it back to my normal setting. This may depend on your machine, thread, etc.

4. Bring the bobbin thread to the top and sew a little slower at first. It will take practice to determine the ideal speed for you. Also, I ended up wearing garden gloves with that nylon coating to help move the fabric under the needle.

My initial results are not pretty, but I think with a bit more practice I may be able to do free motion quilting on this machine.

If you have done free motion quilting on your sewing machine, please leave a comment on what machine you used and how it went.

*Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Patches and Pinwheels pt. 4

I love making serious progress on a long term project on New Year's Eve and Day. This year is no exception. I have finished the piecing and borders on the Patches and Pinwheels quilt. (More pictures will come after the quilting is finished). The quilt measures about 96 x 96 inches.

I had enough yardage of the green border fabric to also use it for the backing. If I were to buy "quilt" shop quality fabric, the backing alone would have been at least $100. I did not spend anywhere near that amount. The green fabric was left over from a purchase made several years ago and I can't remember what I paid for it. I'm glad I found a project for it because the fabric had been sitting all those years. The majority of the fabrics for the pieced blocks came from DH's shirts that were worn through in the collars and cuffs, but still had good fabric in the body. I supplemented with a few shirts from the thrift store and a few white fat quarters. All told I spent about $15 for the fabric (plus whatever the green cost several years ago). All that's left is to buy a batting and then decide on the quilting. Do I pay someone to quilt it or do it myself? I am undecided there.

Which brings me to the cost of quilting fabric today. I know for many this is a fun hobby, but the cost of quilting fabric is just so crazy high right now. $12-$15/yard for fabric! I know there are some alternatives and I can shop sales, but yikes! This is why I have turned to the thrift store and scrappy quilts. I don't have a problem using clothing for quilting fabric. It's what our mothers and grandmothers did years ago out of necessity. Now, I wonder if it is wasteful just to toss our old clothes? Sure, some are suitable for donation (and I do donate a lot). But there are some things that could be useful for something like this. This quilt project has definitely made me look at thrift stores as a new source for supplies.

This is a Bonnie Hunter design. I chose to try one of Bonnie's designs to better understand her process. I think she designs quilts in two different ways. I do think many of her designs are created using eQuilter. While she does incorporate scraps into her designs, the overall visual affect can only be achieved by using a design tool like eQuilter (She has dropped hints that she does use the software). Her method of using standard piece sizes also makes a difference in efficiency and utilization of both time and fabric. Other quilt designs are a bit more freeform. In other words, she doesn't start in eQuilter, but rather puts pieces together (such as leader and ender piecing) that eventually are put together into blocks and then quilts. Because she uses standard sizes, everything eventually finds its way into a finished quilt top. It is a very smart way of utilizing scraps.

This design is one of Bonnie's free quilt patterns at her website. The instructions are more of a tutorial without specific piece counts and yardage requirements. I think it could be a bit of challenge for a beginner. The small piece sizes and precision sewing is also a challenge. I had a fair bit of fixing to do because of either cutting and/or sewing errors. The patterns published on Bonnie's website, while I know they are free, could use a bit of editing. I do appreciate the effort and work it takes to put something like this together. I wonder if her published books/patterns are more polished. She does take her mystery projects down and provides them for sale after the mystery is over. I hope the "sale" versions are better edited and presented over the free-form versions given on the website.

I don't know if I will make another Bonnie Hunter quilt. I am pleased with how this quilt came out and I am glad I made it. Now that I understand the process, I think I can design my own scrappy quilts. That should be a fun challenge.

Patches and Pinwheels pt. 3

Three fourths of the blocks are finished. I've made some progress on the remaining 16-patch blocks but have a ways to go. It has been slow going now since I am taking the time to measure the piecing and blocks before starting the next one. I am fairly certain that my difficulty is from inaccurate cutting. Placing the ruler inconsistently can cause some pieces to be just a bit smaller or larger than other pieces. Bonnie Hunter loves piecing quilts with lots of small pieces. I'm curious as to how she really maintains accuracy. With as careful as I thought I was, I still ended up with difficulties. This is something that I will have to revisit as I go forward with other quilt projects.

Patches and pinwheels pt. 2

After fixing all of the 16-patch blocks, I assumed that I had all the blocks I needed for the top. But once I started laying out the blocks, I realized I only had half the number of blocks needed. I went back to the pattern. In Bonnie Hunter's free patterns, she does not necessarily give you piece or block counts. The free patterns are a bit more of a free-form tutorial style. In this pattern she tells you how she laid out her quilt and you have to do the math to figure out what that means. There are pluses and minuses to this approach. In my case, I just did the math wrong.

You can see how many 4-inch squares I was able to cut out of the upcycled shirts. A large or extra large shirt can yield quite a lot. I will definitely have left over squares for another project. I do take the time to square up my half-square triangle blocks because it does make it easier for matching the points in the final pinwheel blocks.

I made a visit to the local thrift store because I was out of white/light colored fabric. I managed to score some XXL white cotton dress shirts. I should have enough fabric to finish up these blocks!

There is some debate in the quilting community. Some people seem to think that fabric from clothing is not great for quilting. I tend disagree. Upcycling old clothes hearkens back to yesteryear when our grandmothers did not waste anything useable. Producing a quilt from otherwise useless clothing is the ultimate in recycling and economy.

A new quilt project : Patches and Pinwheels

I have been following Bonnie Hunter for a few years and I finally decided to try one of her quilt patterns. I selected Patches and Pinwheels, one of her free patterns at her website. I wanted to try one of her quilt patterns because I wanted a feel for how she designs her quilts. I admire Bonnie's ability to sit down at a machine and sew scraps together to create a quilt - though I suspect she uses eQuilter design software more than we know. On the surface, this method of using fabric scraps in ready to go sizes seemed very relaxing. I also want to migrate into designing my own quilts. I know I can, but I get stuck at the planning stages. I needed to loosen up in my expectations of color and fabric and just play.

The fabric for this quilt comes mostly from upcycled men's shirts, but I threw a few of mine in there as well. With my first attempt, I did not pay attention to the fiber content of the shirts and some of them were more polyester then cotton. I ended up not liking the fabric from those shirts, so they ended up in the garbage - minus their buttons. After that I primarily used only cotton shirts. I supplemented with some shirts from the thrift store which yielded a surprising amount of fabric and a few fat quarters from the fabric store.

My first few attempts at cutting apart a man's shirt to harvest the fabric took me much longer than I expected. There is this little bit of fear about potentially ruining an otherwise good shirt. An irrational fear because several of these shirts had worn collars and cuffs and were not suitable for donation. After cutting down several, I developed a system and they went pretty fast.

The cutting and sewing went pretty well until I was ready to square up my blocks. The pinwheel blocks are fine for the most part. The 16 patch blocks were not. Bonnie Hunter recommends checking the piecing periodically to ensure everything measures as it should. I did not check very often. I figure my machine was set properly after the first few blocks and away I went. Come to find out that most of my 16-patch blocks all measured 1/4-3/8" too small. If the sewing or cutting is off just a little bit on a few of those 2 inch squares, the problem is quickly multiplied across the entire block.

So yes, I am going back through the 16-patch block and redoing them. This is a good lesson on precise cutting and sewing and checking measurements.

Hawaiian quilt pt. 2 and where I am now

On January 1, 2016, I finished piecing the Hawaiian quilt, complete with borders. It was an all day sewing marathon while I watched a Justice Network marathon (one of the few antenna based channels that comes in clear). Next up is to figure out the backing and then quilting. I plan on having a local quilter do the quilting, which is why this is still sitting here. Overall I am very happy with how this came together and when I finish it, I will post more pictures.

The thing I learned from this project was precision sewing. That crucial 1/4" seam allowance. I've read about it in many quilting books and tutorials and thought that I understood it. And then I discovered that my blocks did not measure up or match corresponding blocks. It wasn't terrible, but it was enough to bother me. I took the time to carefully square up each block, which included trimming the blocks down about an 1/8" so they were all the same size. The blocks are rotated 90 degrees, so there was really no need for the seams to match on corresponding blocks. Next time, I will pay more attention and check measurements as I go.

So why the long blog absence? It was really quite simple. I started working as a pattern maker again. It was a bit of a surprise opportunity to go back. At the same time I was dealing with a severe bout of chronic fatigue. So between the two jobs and the chronic fatigue, I had nothing left. I've been feeling better recently, though every now and then I'm reminded this is something I will have to deal with for a long time. I have a lot to say about how doctors treated me and what it took for me to recover, somewhat. But that is for another day and another blog.

In the meantime, I do want to get back to blogging. I will probably focus on whatever projects I am currently working on rather than pattern making and design. I have finished a few projects over the last year and a half, so there is more to come.

Hawaiian quilt pt. 1

I started a quilt. The idea for this quilt has been floating around my head for a few years. I had some Hawaiian printed cottons left over from other projects and I wanted to use them in a modern style quilt. I have only three colors to work with, purple, green, and white. I had a hard time visualizing the overall look of the quilt, so I drew up a version using Inkscape*. I could have taken this a step further and scanned the fabric into the drawing, but this was close enough. I still have not decided on the final borders. It partially depends on how much of each color I have left after piecing the blocks. I'm fairly certain I will not be using green on the outside border. I may go for white instead with green bias binding.

Here are the actual fabrics, cut and ready to go.

 
The pattern came from Fat Quarter Fun by Karen Snyder and is called Summer Fun. I really liked this quilting book. Most of the patterns are simple, using primarily fat quarters for the tops. This particular quilt is a bit small, IMO, so I've added some additional blocks to bump it up to a full size. I'm also using yardage instead of fat quarters. Because of that, I think I should have cut and sewn things a little bit differently. More on that later. I'm excited to finally have started this project.

*Inkscape has some nifty drawing tools, including cloning. I did not use that feature here, but it would have been a perfect opportunity to use it.

Book Review : Better Homes and Gardens Quilting pieces of the past

I've had quilting on the brain lately. I don't really have time for it right now, but I do have plans. Who doesn't when they have other more pressing projects? When I'm in the zone for some other crafty venture, I usually waste time on Pinterest or borrow books from the library. In this case I came home with Quilting Pieces of the Past (Better Homes & Gardens).

This book was published back in 2004, which doesn't seem all that long ago. The book traces the last 175 years of quilting with 54 quilting projects and full size pattern pieces in an attached insert in the back of the book. The book is divided up into distinct historical periods followed by quilts that are reproductions of that time or inspired by that time. Many of the quilts in the book are drawn from previously published Better Homes and Gardens quilting patterns.

The historical information is very interesting but not nearly as in depth as I would have liked. But it does contain full color pictures throughout with fabric swatches representing the color and style of fabric used in quilts for each time period. The biographical information on the early quilt designers was interesting. Each section contains a historical time period showing the major events of the day so that the reader can understand what influenced some of the quilt designs.

Some of the reviewers on Amazon gave the book poor reviews because many of the projects were not updated with contemporary styling or colors. This did not bother me so much because the quilts were meant to be reproductions of older quilts anyway. It would be easy to update the quilts with newer, fresher color schemes and fabrics. The instructions are where the book struggles a bit. Most of the instructions rely on traditional cutting and piecing techniques. This means that some of the quilt blocks are more difficult to put together because of inset seams. This is particular true with the Lemoyne star block, Bride's bouquet, and a few others. More modern techniques have broken down these blocks to make them easier to piece using strips and special rulers. Some of the quilt blocks are quite intricate and would require very precise cutting and sewing. Several of the quilts are applique quilts and the book contains no instructions on applique.

Despite those deficiencies, I still really liked the book. I loved reading the historical sections and seeing the quilts that came from each time period. I do like many of the quilts in the book and I could see myself making some of them one day. If nothing else, the book could be used as a source of inspiration. It would be easy to take some of the more traditional blocks and up date them. This book is not really for beginners because of several difficult to make quilts  and the sketchy instructions. Still, there are a few projects a beginner could probably attempt without too much difficulty.

Book Rating: 4 stars

Cutting dimensions for quilting pre-cuts

I've been spending too much time looking at quilting projects on Pinterest and YouTube lately. Perhaps an act of avoidance for other things. Quilters throw around terms like fat quarter and jelly roll, but it took me a bit of time to know what those things mean in terms of actual cutting dimensions. I trolled around Pinterest looking for a printable that explained those terms for me. I found lots of pretty full-color infographics, but I wanted a one page, black & white piece of paper to hang next to my cutting table. I couldn't find anything suitable, so I opened up Inkscape and made exactly what I wanted. I prettied it up with different fonts and a border.

Click on the image below for the full size. It should easily fit onto an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper.

I slipped it into a page protector and now it lives with my cutting tools next to my cutting table.

Spending all this time thinking about quilts and quilting means that I do have plans for projects.