FAQ's - Friday's Frequently Asked Questions - Why and How?

After a couple weeks of FAQ's I have found that sometimes I don't give enough information, when I answer the questions. 
Example:  Why I do something? or How I do something?

This was a previous question and answer.

What size should my quilt backing fabric measure? It should be 6 inches bigger on all 4 sides.  That's 12 inches longer and 12 inches wider.

WHY?

Why does the backing fabric need to be so much larger than the quilt top? 
 I have to pin the top edge and bottom edge of your backing fabric to long rollers, so I need extra at the top and the bottom. And your fabric needs to be wider on both sides, so I can clamp three clamps on each side to hold it taunt.  I ask for more on the sides than most long arm quilters, because I do not want to bump into the clamps on the side when I am quilting, thus resulting in a zig or zag in my stitching lines.  See the next few photos.

There is more than 6 inches of backing fabric on the sides of this quilt.  If your backing fabric is larger, don't cut it off. Leave it on.  It gives me more room when I am quilting the borders without bumping into the clamps.  I give you all of your backing fabric back after I trim your quilt.   Most customers prefer to have me trim their quilt, so it is ready to bind, but I have a few who like it left long.

Previously asked question and answer.

What is free style quilting?  I manually move the quilting machine to stitch on your quilt - no computers, no patterns or stencils.  I just move and stitch wonderful designs all over your quilt.

How do you move the quilting machine?  The quilting machine has wheels and it rolls or glides in a smooth track in all directions.  I hold onto 2 handles one for each hand on the front of the quilting machine, but I only hold onto one handle with my right hand. I move the machine like it is giant pencil.  I use my left hand to smooth the fabric. There is not at gas pedal like a sewing machine. I push a run button with my thumb and then when I move the machine it starts stitching.  When I stop moving the machine, the stitching stops. Then I have to turn off the run button.  It is very different that a regular sewing machine.  I have made some videos and put them on You Tube that demonstrates how I run the machine.  Ribbon Quilting with a Twist video shows you best how the machine runs, but it doesn't show the stitching as the colors are too dark.  It was the first one I made. You can see how I hold the handles with one hand and I smooth the fabric with my left hand.  I think the video of outlining the veins of the Poppy shows you how moving the machine makes the machine stitch.  It goes a little slower and faster, as I outline the flower.

This next quilt is a great example of finding designs in the fabric and creating designs to fill the block.  My customer asked me to outline some of the designs and to fill the squares with repetitious patterns - Zentangle patterns.  Some patterns will be repeated, but they will all look different.  That's the cool part about free style quilting, it is "one of a kind" every time you quilt. 

There are more photos of Zentangle patterns or "Wachuta Doodles" in the photo gallery.

Enjoying May everyday!

Marcia

P.S. Don't forget to enter this week's  Giveaway ! 2 prizes again!

Marcia's Tiny Treasures Quilt - It's All in Your Initials!

Using a variation of my Scattered Quilt Pattern, I constructed a small quilt. I quilted it with my name all over the quilt in a wavy design.  You can see a video of the quilting at Work in Progress - The Quilting.  The quilt measures 30" X 32".  I attached the binding with an all machine embroidery binding and added a hanging sleeve on the top.   I hung it on the wall behind my quilting machine, where I then added all my tiny treasures.....  Pins from quilting events and pins from when I was a teacher.  Pins from Relay for Life including a photo of my Dad who died of cancer in 1996.  My Mom is currently battling cancer.  I pinned up my tiny crocheted items that I made years ago.  Then I added charms, pins, and necklaces from four generations of my family.  They all  have special meanings.  As I was going thru' my treasures, I found the little beaded pins from the 90's!  Can you see the American Flag and the Packer G?  I decided to group the items, but I certainly could have just put them up in any order. What a delightful quilt project!  The perfect spot for all the little memorabilia from the past. As I find more items, I will proudly display them on my quilted wall hanging. More photos in the Photo Gallery.  You can click on the photos to make them larger.

Thanks to Kim from Project Quilting and Barb from Quilts by Barb for inspiring us with this great Off Season Challenge .

You inspire others to create!

Having Fun in May!


Marcia        What's May for Me?

The Color of my Name - Work in Progress - Project Quilting - Off Season Challenge ONE

My colors:  Midnight Blue, Evening Blue, and Wild Watermelon

I added more blue of course...

I brainstormed a week....  Now it is Sunday afternoon a week later and I am finally starting to cut and sew.  I started with 10 inch squares of each fabric.  I also had extra fabric set aside for borders of the same fabrics.

Then I started to sew the rectangles together in random order into rows.

 Then I sewed the rows together.

Then trimmed the ends and saved them for another part.

 After sewing the rows together then I cut them into sections.

Then randomly rearranged them and sewed them back together.

This is where I added the extra strips I trimmed off in the begining.

Add some random border strips to bottom and one side.




Add another border strip to the bottom and one narrow strip on the top.  There are now borders on 3 sides only.  


Now it needs a "Pre Quilt Pressing" and it will be ready for quilting.


Stay tuned for more Work in Progress on Wednesday or Thursday....

Comments and questions are welcomed! Thanks!






Check the May for Me Celebration Page for more Prize Giveaways! 


For more information on Project Quilting click on the link in the side bar.

Follow me at my Crafty Sewing Facebook too! Thanks!

Sewing with my Mom!

My Mom and I are making a Passage Quilt for Rainbow Hospice.  We finished the center of the quilt top this weekend.  I will add 2 borders and quilt it.  Our sewing days go like this...I cut and sew and Mom presses.  My Mom is great with colors, so she makes the colors choices.  We make a pretty good team!

We also worked on making Comfort Pillows for Rainbow Hospice this weekend.  We make the long stuffed pillows for Hospice to use to comfort and pad a person in bed.  We started making these back in 1996 when my Dad had cancer and Hospice Care. We made some to help comfort Dad. Then we started to make them as a family with me sewing and my Mom and Jewels and BJ stuffing the pillows and then back to me to stitch them closed. Even my brother and his son have helped on occasion. Here's some pictures from our weekend of sewing.  My Mom's dog, Toby fell asleep while we sewing.

Oh, yes!  We make a pretty good sewing team!