Simple
Custom Quilting. iQ Project
#1. 2017
6. Stitching the first border and sashing.
The quilting begins in
this installment and you’ll see that my stitching is far from perfect. I’m not
worried because this is just a project – it’s a practice piece. If yours looks
like mine, then I hope you’re encouraged to just accept it. If yours looks
better than mine – hooray!
I am using a high
contrast thread that shows both the good and bad clearly. I chose to use it so
that the stitching would show up well on the video. You can choose whatever
thread you wish. My small quilt is made with old fabric that I don’t care
about. I can see my finished project will be a very good, and elegant, pet bed
or small picnic rug.
This is a longer video
because it shows everything I do. It is nearly 40 minutes long. If there are
parts you need to refer back to when working on your project, make a note of
their time so you can quickly find them. For instance, I start working on the
sashing at about 25 minutes. I talk about the dwell settings starting at 21 minutes.
There are a couple of
places in the video where the image breaks up a little but they do not
interfere for very long so I chose not to edit them out. They do not make you
miss anything. Also, you may here me speaking softly once or twice – this is of
no importance either because I am just talking to myself, saying my thoughts
out loud, so don’t worry about trying to hear what I’m saying.
So let’s get started
with the notes. As before, I am giving you a basic guideline, not every single
step. If you have questions, you can refer back to the video, comment here, or
e-mail me.
Start up your iQ and
retrieve your project, using add/edit existing.
You are asked to touch a
reference point on the screen – I touched the top right hand corner of my
project. When asked to move the machine to that reference point on the real
quilt, I did not move my machine to the top right corner of my quilt. Instead I
moved my machine to the top left, beyond the edge of my real quilt.
I do not want to work
with my project map directly over my real quilt. I want to be able to copy the
patterns from my project map and move them onto my real quilt blocks. The real
quilt will not be perfect. If I try to mark my real blocks on my project map, I
will become very confused.
Add/Edit block > add
block > standard block > mark on quilt.
Mark the top border
block, tracing along the seam line between the border and the sashing and
making a diagonal line, or miter, at each corner. Mark as many points as
necessary to truly reflect the block on your tablet.
Add/edit pattern >
copy pattern(s). Touch the two feather patterns in the top border.
Move the copies over to
the border block, using the arrows to move them precisely into position.
Use the measure tool to
check the distance between the bottom of the pattern and the seam line.
Use zoom true size to
get a good visual of how the pattern is sitting in the border block.
Pan to each end to make
sure the pattern isn’t crossing over the miter.
In the video, I only had
to move my patterns. If you find that when your pattern is the correct distance
from the seam line, it overlaps the miters, touch width and then the minus sign
to shorten the pattern. Stay zoomed in to one end as you do this. Pan over to
the other end to make sure it’s correct.
When you are happy,
touch finished > finished > sew quilt.
Touch the pattern on the
left as the first one to stitch, then touch the other half of the border.
Choose stop to cut threads as the transition.
This border will be
stitched from the center outwards. This minimizes the fabric movement. However,
before stitching the second half, touch realign and follow the directions to
make sure the pattern will start exactly in the center. In the video, I let the
machine move to the center before realigning. If it had moved to the correct
starting position on the quilt, I would not have needed to realign.
I made some changes
whilst iQ was stitching. I had not checked my tension before starting so it is
less than perfect. I also found that my quilt was vibrating, which was probably
due to the fact that my machine has been moved from its normal position recently.
After completing the top
border, add/edit pattern > delete patterns. They’ve been stitched so they
are not needed anymore.
NOTE: do not ‘select all’ when asked which
patterns do you want to delete. Selecting all will delete all the patterns on
your project map!
Leave the block for now.
Finished > Add/edit
block > add block > standard block > mark on quilt.
Take a marking tool, and
mark the center of each cornerstone of the top row of sashing on your quilt.
When you mark on quilt the
sashing block, mark it so that it dips down to the center of each sashing
cornerstone. This will help when placing the patterns.
When you have finished
marking the sashing block, look at the screen. Has it overlapped the border
block? If it has, that’s showing how the fabric moved when it was quilted.
You can delete that
border block now.
Add/edit pattern >
copy pattern > touch the first row of sashing patterns – you need to touch
all 6 because they are not combined.
Move the copies to the
sashing block. Zoom to true size and pan along the row to check their position.
Use move and/or stretch to move the patterns into place.
Stitch the sashings from
the center outwards. Watch as they stitch. If the double stitched line doesn’t
seem to be perfect, press down on the quilt slightly to move it to make the
stitching go where you need it to be.
There is no need to save
this quilt when you exit out and shut down. Your complete project has been
saved already.
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