To Organize, or not to Organize... | Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

To Organize, or not to Organize... | Crazy Quilter on a Bike! Why do we organize things? Well those of us that do organize things - why do we do it? There are a couple of reasons - one, the area in question looks much neater (usually) and secondly, it takes way less time to find things. And how many times does it take to scramble through a mess before you think - "I have to organize this!" That is my issue with my quilting patterns for the long arm and my quilts to be quilted. Long arm patterns There are THREE categories of patterns - 1. very specialized patterns that I use on rare occasions,

Follow The Arrow - Mug Rug #13 | Quilts By Jen

Follow The Arrow - Mug Rug #13 | Quilts By Jen Hey Everyone, welcome back to Mug Rug Monday. I am officially a quarter of the way through my mug rug challenge with the completion of this mug rug – yippee! It is fun making this little pieces and the best part is I finish them. This week’s mug rug is based on my quilt called Follow the Arrow. I designed this quilt last September using the ColorWorks fabric line from Northcott. This is the first one I made with a grey background and pastel coordinates. It is currently on tour in the United States somewhere. Isn’t it amazing how are quilts get to go more places than we do. I’ll just have to live vicariously through them.

Building a town, one house at a time...Show n Tell | Crazy Quilter on a Bike

Crazy Quilter on a Bike!: Building a town, one house at a time................. More show n tell today - this time from our session at Sew Sisters his past Saturday.   I just love to see all the show n tell. So exciting to see how creative everyone is. We started with our Amish with a Twist Series II. Amish with a Twist II It is a gorgeous quilt and we are working our way through the blocks. This past month, we used the star blocks that we made the first month to complete the "day and night" blocks. They surround the big center square. Since a large number of the group is making the quilt from the kit, I have only included one block from the kit. I can't remember how many are using their own fabric combinations, but we had four for show n tell the other day.

How to Use A Seam Ripper - Oh So Cool

How To Use A Seam Ripper - Oh So Cool | Quilts By Jen Hey Everyone, welcome back to Technique Tuesday. The other day Michael was watching something on his iPad and said come see this. So I did and it was all about what the little red ball on the end of the seam ripper was for. My mother who was a seamstress I don’t think used it in this fashion but maybe I just didn’t see her rip anything apart. If she knew what it was for she certainly didn’t pass it on to me. Maybe because I showed no interest in sewing at the time. We all know that the sharp pointed end is used to pick out stitches and rip out those stitches we accidentally put in the wrong place or like me with my Stitch Along Sunday piece make the sun look like a huge jelly fish in the sky – really it does. Go take a look.

Applique!!! Crazy Quilter on a Bike

Applique!!! Crazy Quilter on a Bike! Yes - there just doesn't seem to be an end to the show n tell these days!!!!!   So much - I can't keep up with it!!!!  Well if you want to see BRIGHT show n tell - this is it.  Last week we had our class on Stitcher's Garden from The Stitch Connection. Stitcher's Garden by The Stitch Connection It is a fun applique project completely done by machine.  It is a great class to learn various techniques on the sewing machine.  Different method of quilting the blocks, NUMEROUS stitches to finish off the edges of the applique, couching, circular attachment and way way more. All of it in a very friendly atmosphere!!!!

Marching along with quilted birthday blocks | Heaven is Handmaid

Heaven is Handmaid My poor, neglected blog. I feel terrible. I have been ignoring it for many, many weeks. It's not intentional. It's life. At Christmas, we were all dealing with some horrible, evil virus. It ruined our celebrations, and it sidelined virtually all handcrafting, sewing, and the like. It was all I could do to sit up and be present at Christmas dinner -- and it was our hosting year. Mostly, I just sat at the table, pushed the turkey dinner around, and waited until it was time for everyone to leave so that I could go back to bed where my Vapo-Rub and tissues awaited.

Quack Quack - Mug Rug #12 | Quilts By Jen

Quack Quack - Mug Rug #12 | Quilts By Jen Hey Everyone, welcome back to Mug Rug Monday. Last week I was a little over zealous on my counting and thought I was at mug rug 12 but in reality I was only at number 11. Today is #12. Only 40 to go. I had a brilliant idea this morning and thought why not make a mug rug to go with my Animal Party quilt. Great fun for little kids and big ones too. Bright cheery colours with an appliquéd animal will make snack time lots of fun. I pulled a few bright fabrics from my cupboard along with a fabric for the sashing, cut them up and made a 7 x 12 inch mug rug. The black fabric with a colourful geometric print is what makes the quilt – it adds lots of contrast between the 4 patch blocks and appliqué blocks. I’ve tried other fabrics but always come back to the black.

Quilting the Challenge Quilt

The past few days I have been getting the quilt top finished and ready for the quilting stage. It has been a lot of fun seeing how the the three different blocks and the applique pieces for the What's Good For the Gal Is Good For the Guy quilt have developed and emerged into a whole entity. I love creating the individual parts of a quilt but it's also satisfying to see it all put together. What is even more satisfying is seeing it quilted and, today, I'll be getting started on quilting the challenge quilt with the PFAFF Creative 4.5 sewing machine. 

There are few things that need to be done first before I can actually sit down and quilt. 

The three layers

I already have the top layer finished and ready to go but I still need some batting and a backing for this quilt. 

The batting I have and I just need to cut it to the correct size. It's 100% cotton, which is one of my favorite battings. It's a low loft batting so will remain quite flat when quilted. If I use a batting with polyester, which has more loft, the quilt would have some puffiness to it. 

The backing I will create from a fabulous piece of flannel. Now, when I started the challenge way back when, the idea was to create a pieced back using some of the Eclectic Elements fabric and the backing fabric. Unfortunately, I don't have enough of those fabrics left to create a backing. But, I do have an idea to create something else with them -- shhhhhsh, don't tell as it's a surprise. 

The backing is a single fabric in lovely blue flannel, which will be warm and cozy.

The 3 layers - quilt top, batting and backing

Sandwiching the quilt

I've rearranged my studio and put some tables together so I can sandwich the three quilt layers together. Once the layers are all layered smoothly, it's time to do a whole lot of pinning. I've made sure that the backing and batting are 2-inches larger than the quilt top all the way around. It's always a good plan to have these two layers larger just in case there is any movement of the quilt layers. There's nothing worse than having a section with no backing or batting. 

I prefer pinning to spray basting even though it does take longer. If you pin well, there should be minimal movement of the layers while quilting.

Tip: Place pins about a fist width apart -- this will ensure optimal pinning for minimal movement.

Curved safety pins about a fist width apart

Binding

I like to make the binding before quilting the quilt to have it all ready to go and I don't accidentally use the binding fabric for something else. I decided on one of the feature fabrics for the binding -- stripes in blue and tan. This fabric is going to look super framing the quilt. Plus, it looks great with the backing fabric that it is lying on.

When I calculate how many strips to make for the binding, I keep it simple. All I do is add the measurements of each side together and add an extra 20-inches to ensure overlap for sewing the ends together. then, I divide by 40. Not exactly an exact science but it works for me and there isn't all kinds of convoluted measuring or matching involved. 

For this quilt that's 72-inches on each side, I rounded up to 80 (this will include the extra 20" I normally add), multiplied by four to get 320" and divided by 40 which equals eight strips of fabric. Easy peasy!

A pile of binding

Picking a thread

I made a little sampler of some of the feature fabrics and the background fabrics to test a couple of threads. I did both straight stitch and free motion samples with each thread. Because all the fabrics are a bit different, it's hard to get a thread that will blend into all the fabrics. I don't want the thread to stand out because I feel the design is the focal point of this quilt, not the quilting. 

 

The fabric sampler

My two choices of thread are a variegated blue or a variegated gray. I've decided on the blue for the background and, most likely, the gray for the feature fabrics. But, I may change my mind when I start quilting the feature fabric and go with a variegated brown, since many of the blocks have a brown tinge to them.

Thread choices

Quilting the quilt

Here it is all ready to go in the machine. The large throat space of the Creative 4.5 is going to make the quilting so much easier. Another bonus is the great lighting on the machine -- four LED lights really light up the work area. This will help me to see the blue thread on the blue background.

Tip: Rolling the quilt makes it easier to maneuver the quilt within the machine. You can even secure the roll with bicycle clips so it won't unroll -- these clips are used to secure your pant leg from getting caught in the chain.

Quilt rolled and in machine

I've put the open-toed decorative foot on the machine so I can see where I'm going with my stitching. Make sure to also pick a foot that is compatible with the IDT system. The system needs to be engaged while quilting to ensure that the three layers of fabric move smoothly under the foot and over the feed dogs.

Tip: Always start quilting from the center of the quilt working out to the edges. This will ensure any movement of the layers towards the edges of the quilt rather than towards the center where unwanted bulges could remain from the movement of the quilt.

Open-toed foot in place ready to quilt

I've decided to do straight quilting on the background fabric. My reason for this is that I think that if I do a free motion design it will take away from the actual design of the quilt and the feature fabrics. Plus, to me, the straight lines are much more masculine than a free motion design and, since it's for a young man, I'm going with my gut feeling. 

I haven't quite figured out what I'll do in the feature fabrics yet, but I'm leaning towards some echo quilting of the shape of the feature fabric in the block.

Making the labels

I have to say that I'm not the best one for putting labels on my quilts, but this quilt will have a label because I have an embroidery machine to make a label! The PFAFF Creative 4.5 also has an embroidery component -- an awesome one at that. 

I need to add a phrase to this pocket. As well as another phrase on the backing and then of course the label with the name of quilt, who made it, and so on.

The pocket

To make these labels, I can choose from several different alphabets within the software of the machine to embroider phrases. If I wasn't happy with any of those fonts, I could download one from the computer to the machine to use. Lots of options.

One alphabet option

Embroidery on the PFAFF Creative 4.5

Next month, my week at QUILTsocial will be devoted to exploring the embroidery component on the Creative 4.5, as well as, the stitch and shape creators. The latter allow me to make my own stitches or alter other stitches and sequence several stitches together or create my own unique shapes to embroider. Oh, the possibilities are endless! It's going to be so much fun to play with the embroider options.

Embroidery unit attached to the Creative 4.5

For now, I need to get busy quilting the challenge quilt. There will be a big reveal day for the two quilts -- mine and Elaine's. We each created quilts using the same feature fabric for this quilt challenge called What's Good For the Gal Is Good For the Guy. 

Happy Quilting

That's a lot of pins

Free Motion Quilting Motifs

Now that the PFAFF Creative 4.5 sewing machine is all ready to go with the sensormatic foot in situ and the tension just perfect, I'm ready to play around with some different free motion quilting motifs. I'll see which I like best and what looks good on the fabrics. Along with picking the motif or maybe more than one motif, I also need to choose a thread that will look awesome on all the fabrics. 

The What's Good For the Gal Is Good For the Guy quilt challenge is definitely moving along and, as the deadline approaches for the big reveal, there is still much work to be done. 

Let's check out some doodling on the sewing machine.

Doodling free motion style

Now, to decide what kind of motif I'd like to use for the quilting on this piece. Do I want an all over free motion design or a variety of designs throughout the quilt?

For these samples, I chose to use a high contrast thread for visibility in the photos. The actual thread or threads I choose will blend in much more and not be high contrast. Tune in tomorrow for the thread selection process...

I could do just good old stippling also known as meandering. 

Stippling

Free motion stippling

Or stippling with hexagons

These hexagons need a little bit of work, but practice will make perfect. Also, drawing them out as a design on a piece of paper prior to stitching helps to get your mind ready for the actual doodling with the needle and thread. 

Free motion stippling with hexagons

Or, stippling with geometric shapes

I quite like the different shapes amongst the meandering stitches.

Free motion shapes

Or stippling with stars

I'm not so sure that this whimsical motif of stars is appropriate for this quilt, but, in a way, the design looks a bit like a constellation pattern. Maybe straight stitch stars would be better. Something to think about...

So many possibilities for quilting this quilt!

Free motion stars

Or echo quilting 

This can be done either free motion or with a straight stitch and regular foot that has the IDT system engaged. The free motion stitching is more organic looking, whereas the straight stitching would be very uniform and even. 

Free motion echo quilting

This is a big decision. Once I pick a motif and start with it, I'm committed for the whole thing because it's no fun ripping out free motion quilting!

 

Tips for success

To ensure that the stitches are all uniform and even, set your work area up properly. Because the quilt is quite large - 6 feet square - I will extend the work space around the machine to the same height as the machine. Even when using an extension table, I do this to prevent any drag on the quilt, which can cause short tight stitches because the quilt is not moving freely. 

I also always wear gloves with rubber tip fingers to help move the fabric under the machine.

Rubber tipped gloves for quilting

I add a silicone mat to the top of the sewing machine which allows the fabric to move more freely and easily under the free motion foot. 

Silicone mat

Always start with a brand new needle and make sure it is the right type for the job and thread being used. For example, I usually quilt with a topstitch 90/14 needle, if I am using a 30 or 40 weight thread, or an 80/12 top stitch, if the thread is 50 weight. Having the right needle and a sharp needle is very important.

PFAFF has its own line of needles called Inspira. 

Inspira sewing machine needles

Either the start/stop button or foot pedal can be used when free motion quilting. I use the foot pedal because I can keep a nice steady speed with it. 

 

 

Start/stop button or foot pedal options

It's also a good habit to bring the bobbin thread to the top of the fabric when free motion quilting. This prevents any tangling of threads on the back which can make quite a mess. 

Pictured below is the closed toe sensormatic free motion foot. There is also an open toed version available, which is what I prefer to use. I find it's easier to see where I'm going with my stitching. 

Bobbin thread pulled up to the top

Going too slowly will result in big stitches. 

Big and long stitches

Going too fast will result in teeny tiny stitches. Sometimes when going too fast and getting these tiny stitches, you may also get thread breakage as I did here. 

 

Teeny tiny stitches

You need a balance of sewing machine speed and hand speed to get great looking free motion quilting. Once you find that balance, the sky is the limit for what you can do. 

Remember to change the speed control on the machine when you start. Not quite at the lowest speed but one bar up from the bottom to begin. As you get more comfortable, you can increase the speed slightly. I never go full out when free motion quilting; I aim for a nice medium pace. 

 

Speed adjustment window

Free motion quilting is not mastered in one sitting it takes lots and lots and lots of practice and patience. 

Now for the big decision on which of the highlighted free motion quilting motifs to choose and whether or not to use any straight stitch quilting as well. As the deadline draws near for the end of the What's Good For the Gal Is Good For the Guy quilt challenge and the big reveal, I need to get some serious quilting done!

Happy Quilting

Free Motion Quilting is like Doodling

Did you sit and doodle with pen and paper as a kid? In a way, free motion quilting is like doodling only with different tools - sewing machine, needle, thread and fabric. Today, I'm going to set up some free motion quilting for this What's Good For the Gal is Good For the Guy quilt challenge. 

Which foot to use

There are three different free motion feet you can use with the PFAFF Creative 4.5. They are the Dynamic spring free motion foot, the spring free motion foot and the sensormatic free motion foot. I have decided to use the sensormatic foot, which is the easiest to put on the machine and requires no extra tools because it goes on the same as all the other feet.

I used the spring free motion foot last October to quilt the Maple Leaf Mug Rug. 

Just remember to disengage the IDT system before putting the foot on.

Sensormatic free motion foot on machine

Dropping the feed dogs

In order to drop the feed dogs, the free motion feature of the machine needs to be activated. With the stylet, click on the free motion icon.

Stylet pointing to the free motion icon

There will be another pop up menu that gives you a choice for which free motion foot is being used. Since I am using the sensormatic foot, I clicked on the box beside it. Once you have made your selection, click on the check mark in the upper right hand corner to activate the free motion and drop the feed dogs. You will hear the feed dogs drop.

Drop box to select the free motion foot being used

Adjusting the tension

In order to have perfect looking stitches, you need the tension set appropriately on the machine. One of the nice things about these computerized machines is they have preset tensions which, for the most part, are bang on and with adjustment needed. But, it isn't always right, especially if heavier weight threads are being used or thicker layers of fabric or two totally different threads are being used together. 

Most quilters are very afraid to touch the tension knob or buttons - don't be - they can always go back to where they were. To get the best stitches, the tension buttons sometimes need to be adjusted. 

On the Creative 4.5 there is a default tension set for all stitches. It is found in the setting section of the machine. Click on the tools icon to access it.

 

Tool icon which accesses sewing machine settings

The default tension can be changed at any time, if need be. It's called the thread tension compensation in the settings section. 

Settings menu

The thread tension compensation can be adjusted and remains adjusted even when the machine has been turned off. There is the option to change the tension for either embroidery or sewing - just slide the button in the direction needed. 

Slider buttons for thread tension compensation

Temporary adjustment of the tension can be done from the home screen and the icon for this is found at the bottom right of the screen above the information icon. Use the + and - buttons to increase or decrease the tension respectively. When the tension has been changed, the number above the icon will be in green.

When the machine is shut off and turned back on, the tension will return to the default setting. 

Stylet pointing to the tension control icon on main menu

Correct tension

The top and bobbin thread meet between the two fabric layers with neither showing elsewhere. No adjustment is needed. The stitching in the photo below shows good tension.

Correct tension with nice, even stitches

Loose tension

If the top thread is visible on the underside of the work then the tension is too loose and needs to be increased. Increase the tension by using the + button. The stitching in the photo below shows the top thread being pulled to the back side - almost looks like eye lashes.

Very loose tension - top thread pulled through to back of work

Tight tension

If the bobbin thread is visible on the top side of the work then the tension is too tight and needs to be decreased. Decrease the tension by using the - button. The bobbin thread is showing through on the top - you can see orange dots between the blue stitches.

Tight tension - dots of the orange bobbin thread; top thread appears to be pulling

Just a note, when doing decorative stitching the tension is slightly loose and the top thread will show on the back of the fabric. 

The back of decorative stitching - blue is the top thread and orange the bobbin - proper tension

Although I didn't get that far with the free motion motifs today, I did do the valuable set up of the machine for the free motion quilting. 

Moving one step further to the completion of the What's Good For the Gal is Good For the Guy quilt challenge, I'll be checking out some free motion quilting motifs tomorrow. Free motion quilting is like doodling just with fabric, thread and needle rather than pen and paper. 

Happy Quilting

 

Sewing the Applique Shapes to the Quilt

I spent a couple days going through the different decorative stitches on the PFAFF Creative 4.5 sewing machine and have finally made a decision on which stitch to use when sewing the applique shapes to the quilt. The What's Good For the Gal is Good For the Guy quilt challenge is definitely making progress. 

I'm sure you are all waiting with anticipation on my stitch decision - almost as good as the Oscars…..

And the winner is……..

The Satin Stitch! Please give the winner a standing ovation and round of applause.

I decided it's the most manly of all the stitches I auditioned and also very versatile in that it can be washed and it wears well. This is a quilt that is going to be used and taken to university so it needs to stand up to daily wear and tear.

The satin stitch

Sewing around the shapes

The next decision was choosing a color of thread to use for stitching around each applique shape. I decided on a taupe color, which blends with some of the Eclectic Elements fabric and stands out on others. All in all, I do believe it's a good balance. The applique shapes can be seen, but don't jump off the quilt saying: "look at me, here I am!"

The stitch width was set at 3.0 and the length at 1.0 to create a fairly dense stitch.

Satin stitch with taupe thread

Tip: When sewing a dense satin stitch do not try to push or pull the fabric along as this causes gaps in the stitching. Just let the machine feed the fabric along and the stitching will be nice and even. 

To help create a great looking stitch, I used an open toed foot with the IDT system engaged. I also added a leave-in fusible fleece stabilizer behind the applique shapes on the back of the quilt. These three elements allow the stitches to look their best.

Stabilizer applied to back of applique shapes

Once the sewing was complete on the shapes, the next step is to sew the quilt top together. I sewed the sections together row-by-row. As the rows were sewn together, other hexagons needed to be added. But, with the large throat space on the PFAFF Creative 4.5, it was easy to maneuver the quilt to stitch around those few shapes.

Just because I like to tease, I'm only going to show part of the quilt sewn together. 

 

Applique in place and quilt top complete

Some more interesting features

And, now, just a little bit more I've learned about using the decorative stitches and the attached features on the PFAFF Creative 4.5.

Stitch density

Most of the stitches that I highlighted yesterday and last month can have the stitch length and/or width changed, but I also discovered that some stitches can also have the density changed. These stitches - many of them are a variation of the satin stitch - will have this icon on the screen - see photo below. To change the density of the stitching just click on the + and - arrows to decrease or increase the density respectively. When a change from the default has been made, the number above the icon will be in green.

Unfortunately, this density feature is not available for the zigzag utility stitches I featured last month.

Density icon

Mirroring stitches

I personally have never mirrored a stitch as I have had no reason to do so because I don't use many stitches that work well with the mirroring tool. It's so easy to use! All you have to do is click on the mirror icons to mirror the stitch either side-to-side or end-to-end. The icon with the stylus pointing at it and the arrows pointing side-to-side mirrors a stitch-to-side. Whereas, the icon beside it with the arrows pointing up and down mirrors the stitch from end-to-end. 

Stylet pointing to the mirror icons

Below is a photo of a stitch pattern that I mirrored side-to-side so that the circles are on top instead of on the bottom of the stitch pattern.

Mirrored stitch pattern

Needle/Stitch position

If the needle position can be changed for the stitch being stitched, then an icon with a triangle and arrows on either side of it will show on the home screen - see photo below. As with all the other icons, the + and - will move the needle to the right and left respectively. For the straight stitch, this machine has 37 different needle positions. Wow! That is a lot. 

All stitches that are less than 9mm wide have this needle position feature as well. To activate the feature, you have to touch the stitch width icon, which will switch to the needle position icon.

Stylet pointing to needle/stitch position icon highlighted in green

Wow, so much to learn and so much at our fingertips on this PFAFF Creative 4.5 to augment our creative processes and help us create wonderful quilting and sewing projects. Now that I'm finished sewing the applique shapes to the quilt on this What's Good For the Gal is Good For the Guy quilt challenge, I can move on to some free motion quilting. 

Happy Quilting