iQ Project #1. Part 10.

Simple Custom Quilting.   iQ Project #1. 2017

10.  The final 2 borders and the border cornerstones.

The quilt has been turned so that the final two borders can be stitched.  This makes it easy to adjust the full length of the pattern and stitch it in just two parts.

Having turned the quilt, it’s then necessary to turn the image on the screen. This project was a square quilt so it wasn’t really necessary to turn the image – if it had been rectangular it would have had to be turned. Whether it’s turned clockwise or counter clockwise is up to you. Pay attention to the way you turn the quilt on the frame and turn the image the same way. This is a good habit to get into for those times when a quilt isn’t symmetrical, for instance when it may have piecing on one end of a border.

Align the quilt map off to the side.

In the video I mark on quilt the top border with diagonals at the corners. Don’t do this – follow the better method below. 

The video does not show the pattern being stitched although I do talk about the different ways to sequence the patterns. Upon stitching I discovered that my quilt moved quite a lot so that made me think of a better way to both mark my blocks and how to sequence the stitching. Follow this new method instead of the way I do it in the video.

A better method for marking and stitching the border block on a turned quilt.

Add/edit block > add block > standard block > mark on quilt.

Start at the top left corner of the quilt. Mark along the top raw edge then come down the side raw edge until you are in line with the seam. Mark in towards the left and when you reach the stitching, mark points along the stitching, as shown here. (The green lines are my needle crosshairs.)

 

Mark along the seam line until you reach the stitching at the left hand end. Mark along the stitching out to the raw edge, as shown here.

 

Here is the completed block.

 

Copy the feather patterns from the map and move them to the new block.

Modify them as necessary, just as I did in the video. Match the center of the feather pattern to the center of the block and then move it down into position. Zoom in to check the distance between the seam line and the pattern.

Look at each end. Make the pattern to be stitched meet up with the marked end of the borders.

Change the width then use stretch, as shown in the video.

Here are my screenshots of the pattern in the new block, before and after modification.

The left hand end needed more modification than the right hand end. I changed the width then selected the left hand feather and used stretch to match it to the previous stitching. The distance was too great between the border and the pattern so I used shape shift to bring that portion down.

           

I only needed to use stretch at the right hand end after altering the width..

     

Stretch can alter the scale of the pattern but when you use it to make minor adjustments such as this, the difference in scale is very small and not noticeable. 

Here is the whole border.

 

In the video you’ll see I have trouble using the measure tool. Since I was working at an angle, it was hard to see exactly where I was touching the screen and I didn’t get it right. When standing in front of the screen, I touch slightly above the measure tool’s end crosshairs in order to drag them to the places I want to measure. (I did do this successfully in an earlier video)

Sequence the feathers. After stitching one half of the feather pattern, align to the center (as done in the first video about stitching the top border) then move the needle to the stitched side, placing it over the stitching where it needs to match the yet to be quilted pattern. Set zoom to true size and look up at the screen to see if it is where it should be. (I do this in the video when modifying the pattern) If there is a big difference, back out to the modify pattern page and alter the pattern. If there’s only a tiny difference, be prepared to move the fabric slightly as the stitching approaches the end, Remember, the fabric will draw up.

Stitch the second half of the border pattern.

After stitching the feathers, back out to add/edit pattern > delete pattern > touch the feathers that have been stitched to get rid of them.

Finished > add/edit block > delete block > touch the border block > finished.

Add/edit block > add block > standard block > mark on quilt. Mark along the stitching and the outside edges of the corner.

Add/edit pattern > copy pattern > move the heart into position. Refer back to your quilt map to see the way you originally placed the heart so you can match that on the real quilt.

This screenshot shows my marked corner block.  You can see how many points I marked along the stitching – each small green square is where I clicked to mark the block. (That green vertical line is part of one of my needle crosshairs)

    

     

Stitch the heart.

Back out and mark the other corner block, move the heart pattern and stitch it.

Advance your quilt and mark and stitch the bottom border in the same way.

Here is the video. Ofcourse, it's the last part of the project - not what I say in the video! 

If you prefer to watch it on youtube, this is the link.  

iQ Project #1. Part 9.

Simple Custom Quilting.   iQ Project #1. 2017

9. The bottom border.

There’s no video this time because I think there’s no need to demonstrate modifying the border pattern to fit the real quilt, but here are the steps with reminders about which tools to use to make your pattern fit the real border. I am not including complete step by step instructions, but you can refer back to the first installment where we stitched the top border for help.

1.    Retrieve the quilt map and align it off to the side of the real quilt.

2.    Mark on quilt the real border block. Remember to mark the ends on the diagonal just as we did in the first installment.

3.    Copy the border patterns. There are two with each one starting at the center of the border.

4.    Move them into place, matching the center of the pattern to the center of the block. Use the down/up arrows to move it into the correct position, close to the inner seam line. Use the measure tool to check the distance.

5.    Zoom in and pan along the whole length of the border to check the distance between the seam line and the border. Move the patterns up or down as necessary to get the majority of the pattern in the correct position.

6.    Look at each end. Does the pattern reach the diagonal line at the ends of the border block? If it overlaps, and it probably will, alter the width. Do not use stretch here because that will alter both the height and the width and could change the scale of the whole pattern too much. Change the width and keep panning from one end of the border to the other to check the pattern. (Refer back to the video of the first installment if necessary.)

7.    Pan along the whole border while zoomed in to find places where you might need to use shape shift to move parts of the pattern. Alter the size of the effect circle to suit the size of the piece of pattern you want to alter.

8.    Check that the pattern’s center is still at the center of the width of the border.

9.    Pan along one more time when zoomed in. Zoom out to look at the whole border – does it look good?

10. Once you are happy with the way your pattern looks, proceed onto the stitching sequence page and set the patterns to stitch out from the center, first one half of the pattern, and then the other. Select stop to cut threads as the transition.

11. When the first half has stitched and the threads have been cut, let the machine move to the start of the other pattern but watch where it stops to take the single stitch. If it’s not exactly where the first pattern started, touch the realign button. Select the start of the pattern on the screen as your reference point, and then move your needle to where you need the pattern to start. (I had to do that in the first video)

12. When all the stitching is completed, remove the quilt from you machine. Turn it 90º and re-mount it so the unquilted borders are at the top and bottom.  

There will be a video for the next installment where we will finish the quilt.

If you need to watch the video to remind yourself how we quilted the first border, select ‘project’ in the side menu and all the installments will be sorted so you can find that first video easily.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me or ask at the yahoo iQ forum, on facebook, or at MQR. I check all 3 daily.

Eliminating jump stitches.

In this extra project video, I show how to get rid of jump stitches that are built into a pattern. I replace them with the stop to cut threads transition.



This is the link to watch it on Youtube.

iQ Project #1. Part 8.

Simple Custom Quilting.   iQ Project #1. 

8. Placing the second row of horizontal sashing.

This video doesn’t need many notes. I mark on quilt the sashing block, and then copy the horizontal sashing patterns. I use stretch and shape shift to make them fit nicely in the sashing block. I also talk about when I use distort, shape shift and magnet tool.

After completing this part, I think everyone should be able to complete all the sashing and block patterns, but if you have questions or need me to clarify something, please ask here or e-mail me so I can make another video before getting to the bottom border.

This is the link to watch the video on Youtube.

iQ Project #1. Part 7.

Simple Custom Quilting.   iQ Project #1. 2017

7. Stitching the first row of block patterns and vertical sashing.

In this installment, I use distort and shape shift to modify the patterns so they fit in the blocks on my real quilt.

You’ll see that I have a serious tension issue at the start that cured itself. I have found that with the change of seasons, and thus temperature and humidity, my elderly machine does this. I had stitched a bit before making this video and thought the machine was warmed up enough, but surprisingly that was not the case. I chose to ignore the bad tension. You might also notice that my machine’s speed changes - that’s because I accidently brushed against the speed dial when I was working on modifying the patterns. I did not check the dial’s position before starting to stitch. The lesson here is to always glance at your speed setting when iQ prompts you to do so before touching that start button on the sew quilt screen. I changed the speed slightly whilst iQ was stitching.

Now onto the instructions.

Retrieve your complete quilt map and align it away from your real quilt, just we did last week. This time I aligned it off to the right hand side.

I marked the centers of the next row sashing corner stones, then did these steps :

Add/edit block > add block > standard block > mark on quilt.

I marked points around the block as many times as necessary to show the true block on the screen. This is important.

(My remote clicker has a small usb receiver plugged into one of the ports on the top of my tablet.)

When I got to the end of marking my block, instead of taking the needle back to the start, I simply touched close block.

Finished > add/edit pattern > copy pattern. I copied 2 vertical sashing patterns. It didn’t matter which two I copied as they are all the same. I zoomed as necessary.

I moved the copies into position in the sashing block. I snapped the start point of the pattern to the top reference point of the black, then touched stretch. I anchored that start point, and then moved the end point until it snapped to the bottom reference point of the block.

I used true size zoom to inspect the pattern and saw that it needed some modifications.

I touched the double arrows to find shape shift.

Look at the size button – I changed that to 3” before the video started because I had been working on the other sashing patterns. After checking the preferences, as I do in the video, change your effect circle size to 3 inches. Modify your pattern – if you don’t like your modifications, touch undo. Change the size of the circle and try again. Sometimes it can take a few tries to get the result you want – try working with a large effect circle and a smaller effect circle to see which modifies the pattern to your liking. You can undo up to 10 steps so don’t worry if your pattern starts to look really bad. If it gets completely out of shape, you can always delete it then copy the patterns from the quilt map and start again.

If your shape shifted patterns looks very strange, check that you have smooth on. If it’s off, touch the button then touch the plus or minus sign to change it to on.

Note: when you get to the next sashing, copy the patterns from the quilt map, not from this sashing which has been altered and thus will be more difficult to modify for the new block. Always start with an unmodified pattern for the best results.

As you watch my machine stitching, this is where you’ll see that terrible tension. It didn’t happen again. You’ll also see that that first double stitched line wasn’t right on top of the previous stitching. This shows how my quilt had moved because I had my hand on the surface.  Lesson number 2 – do not touch the quilt until you are absolutely sure you need to!

Don’t worry about making mistakes like this – we learn so much from our mistakes (and I’m obviously still learning!)

Having completed the first vertical sashing, go on to the next. Mark the sashing block, copy the patterns from the quilt map, move them into place and modify them as necessary. Stitch them. Move on to the next sashing, then the final sashing. Always work on one block at a time – mark the block, place the patterns and sew them immediately.

After completing all the sashings, delete the sahing patterns and the sashing blocks, and then move on to the 10” blocks.

I started with the block at the right hand side. I marked on quilt the block, and then added a diagonal line to help me position the heart patterns. I copied the two heart patterns for that block and moved them into place.

I studied how the patterns related to the diagonal line and found I only needed to rotate the patterns. If your patterns need more modification, use distort and/or shape shift. Just play around – if you make horrible mistakes, simply delete the patterns and copy them again.

Before stitching, I needed to check that my preferences, or local configurations, were set for backstitching because there are some jump stitches built into this pattern.

I sequenced one pattern then touched sew quilt to get to the page where I can alter those settings.

I set my back stitching length quite long so you can see the machine doing them. Personally, I don’t like that double backstitching, especially with this high contrast thread. If this were a piece I needed to look really good, I would have modified the pattern and eliminated the backstitching. I’ll show how to do that in an additional video.

After setting my preferences, I backed out of the sew quilt page so that I could sequence all the block patterns I wanted to sew.

I choose jump stitch as the transition between the two patterns.

I moved onto the center block next, marking the block and copying the center pattern.

This time I used distort. I always go to true size when modifying patterns with distort and use the little reference points of the distort box as guides. This gives me consistent spacing from pattern to pattern.

After using distort, I panned around and used shape shift to alter one side of the pattern where it came too close to the seam (edge of the block).

The image on the video is zoomed in at this point so you can clearly see what happens to the pattern. What you can’t see is that I chose shape shift, and then altered the size of the effect circle (you can just see me altering it by using the keypad).

This allowed me to move that part of the pattern away from the block.

On the stitching sequence page, I swapped the start/end points so that the pattern would stitch the outside first before going to the wreath.

Note: Look at the close up of the pattern at the end – the tiny circle in the center should have touched the petals. Mine doesn’t probably because I was going too fast. I think slowing down iQ would have improved this stitch out considerably, so that’s lesson number 3 for this installment.

Let’s see if I remember those lessons in the next installment.

 Now here's the video.

This is the link to Youtube.