The Quilt Skipper

quilting makes me skip for joy

Jenny K Lyon

Quilting makes me skip for joy

Small quilt edge treatment

 I needed to create two new class samples for my Yes You CAN Free Motion Quilt! class, as all my other samples had been sent out to other guilds/shops. I LOVE it when my To Do List actually includes “quilt something”. This is my intro class and I do teach it differently than any one else I am aware of – we do 5 different motifs in a beginner class. That way, students learn skill sets from each one that will apply to their future quilting, no matter the motif.

Because of that, I felt the need to send out physical samples to show what we’ll be working on. My latest sample:

I added my signature into the center of the quilt to identify it in case it gets lost or misplaced for a time. We cover each of those designs in class.

In the past I have bound my samples. I decided that was not necessary; I came up with a method/style that I actually prefer for my smaller samples and quilts. Here you see how I treated the edge on each of the samples:

I like that edge! The batting does show and I suppose some would not care for that. It seems like a less “serious” treatment for smaller pieces, and a charming one at that.

I used this to create the edge, not pinking shears which are excruciating to use:

It’s easy peasy to get that edge with the pinking blade.

I ran two lines of triple stitching along the edge as a decorative feature and to hold all the stitching in place. I’m surprised at how many sewers do not know they have a triple stitch! This is a photo of my machine’s screen. I happen to be BERNINA, but the screen button looks similar on all machines:

You can see #6 highlighted, the triple stitch. The triple stitch is a handy guy! It makes this big, beefy line that can be used in so many places:

Isn’t that gorgeous? I did use my walking foot here, not my dual feed, just for extra exactness. Note on the samples, the difference in the triple stitch on each:

12 wt thread on the top, 50 wt/2 ply on the bottom.

The top sample has been triple stitched in 12 weight Wonderfil Spagetti, the bottom in 50 wt, 2 ply Aurifil. What a difference! I love the beefy look of the 12 weight.

The two most common sources of 12 wt thread comes from Aurifil and Wonderfil. Both are great threads. They each have a different texture though, so you want to make the best choice for your project:

Aurifil 12 wt Mako on the left, Wonderfil Spagetti on the right.

Aurifil is fluffier, Wonderfil’s Spagetti is flatter; hopefully you can see the difference in the above photo. This may show it better:

Wonderfil’s Spagetti on top, Auril’s Mako Cotton on the bottom.

Neither thread is better than the other; they just have different characteristics:

I used Aurifil’s 12 wt here.

The fluffier Aurifil gives almost a crewel work type of look. I love it! The Wonderfil Spagetti gives a tigher, neater look which I also appreciate. My thread choice will depend on the project and what look I want.

Next week’s post will be on the Foothill Quilters Guild Show; I just didn’t have enough time to create that post this week. I’m going to the Pacific International Quilt Festival this week so I will soon have a post of the quilts I saw there. It is quilt show season after all!

I’ll share at:

Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
and
Finished or Not Friday

 

Comments

  1. Thanks, Jenny, you always give us so much useful information…and plenty of great photos to illustrate it!

  3. Jenny, I always learn something from you. Thank you for your newsletter! We now live in an area without a quilt guild and we may be loosing our fabric store 😢, so your postings about guild meetings and the quilt festivals are very welcome!

    • Ohhh, it’s possible to live without a guild or shop??? So sorry Carolyn, that sounds hard! Thank you for the kind words.

  4. That’s a great way to finish your class samples, Jenny! As long as it isn’t a class on binding, why put in that extra time? I love what you did with the pinked edge and triple straight stitch, but another even faster option would be to thread up your serger with that 12 weight thread in the looper and finish the edges that way. That’s what I’m planning to do if/when I ever get around to making samples of what each of my different batting options looks like quilted. Thanks also for sharing the difference between Aurifil and Wonderfil 12 weight thread, because I would have assumed they would be “the same.” I do have some of the heavier Aurifil in natural white that I used to replicate hand quilting through a new patch on a vintage quilt repair. It was the closest thread I could find to what the original quilter had used, which I believe was salvaged feed sack string!

    • Serger, insert laughing emoji. I don’t have one. Thank you for the nice comments! Wow, salvaged feed sack string! You have the patience of Job to do that repair work that you do. What a blessing to the quilt’s owner that is. Hugs

    • It’s a thought. It may not be for everyone as the batting is clearly visible from the edge. I used wool batting which is probably the least attractive batting for that method. Thin white batting would be so much less intrusive.