You Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em... The first QILT Debuts

As I finish up my most recent quilting project, the words to Kenny Rogers' song repeat over and over in my head:

You gotta know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run...

Except in my case, the song goes like this:

You gotta know when to free hand
Know when to pantograph
Know when to use rulers
And quit when you're done...

I got a new long arm client back in December, when I was exhibiting some quilts at a small craft fair.  I told her that I was new, and she said that was ok, and asked me to quilt something for her.  I readily agreed, not really thinking too much or asking questions.

When I got the quilt from her, she gave me the backing, top and batting.  She also handed over a magazine (which is where she got the pattern for the top) and in it, the instructions specified exactly what quilting stitches to put where. And that's what my customer asked me to do: "quilt it like this."  This will hereafter be referred to as a QILT (kilt).

Ordinarily, I wouldn't take on a job like that. I like having the freedom to choose and let my imagination run wild, but in the interest of learning and honing my skills, I agreed to do it.  I didn't look at the pattern in detail, but right off the bat I knew that it would involve lots and lots of ruler work, and at the time I accepted the project, I only knew one thing: I sucked at ruler work.

So I worked on a ruler sampler to try to improve my skills before loading this project, and after working on that quilt, I had enough confidence to load the QILT into Mr. Darcy.  And it's actually kind of comical because the part of the quilting that humbled me in the end had nothing to do with the rulers.

Before I get too far, I have to do a little commercial for Superior Threads.  They recently started offering pre-wound M bobbins of So Fine.  They don't have many colors yet, but the two staple colors that I use quite often - Snow & Pearl - were available so I got a dozen of each.

This was Mr. Darcy's first use of pre-wound bobbins, and I am absolutely 100% a convert.  I put one in the bobbin case, did a quick tension check at the beginning, and then had ZERO issues until it ran out of thread.  The only "complaint" that I have is that with metal bobbins you can actually hear the bobbin case run out of thread but with these paper ones, you can keep going for a good little bit & not realize you've run out!

Anyway, my humbling experience had to do with trying to replicate a computer-generated drawing with a hand-guided machine.

I've said it before - PRACTICE is so important. Anybody can doodle on a quilt, but if you want it to look like you know what you're doing, you have to PRACTICE.  That's something that I slack off on more often than not, but it didn't start to show until I got to the end.  We'll get to that shortly.

So let's talk about the ruler work in this quilt.  I have quite a few rulers at my disposal, and I put LOTS of them to work in this quilt:



These are the nine rulers that I needed at various points in the quilt.  The one that got the most use is the Versa Tool (top, second from left.) It has a stitch in the ditch guide, a couple of curves, some cutouts to guide the hopping foot, and a 90 degree cutout for crosshatching.  Very, very nice tool.

When using rulers, I should mention how important it is to take frequent breaks - even more frequent than if you're running a pantograph or freehanding.  That's because when you do ruler work, you're often contorting yourself into strange poses and postures in order to get the ruler where you want it without running over your fingers or smacking yourself in the head with the machine (yes, it happens!)

The paisley looking rulers (called "Judalators" by Judy Allen) are good for things like this:


Tracing around applique shapes is an absolute must (not just for this quilt, but it's a good habit to get into if you ever plan to enter quilt shows.)  The different curves on the tool allow you to trace around concave and convex curves, or just give your machine something to rest against as you go along.  I try not to keep too many rulers on the quilt at one time - not only do they weigh down the quilt & cause it to stretch & sag, but they are a safety hazard too.  Because they are clear, you could accidentally run over one and really mess up your machine.

The circles were used for this type of quilting:


Getting the different leaf shapes by using parts of the circles, tracing the center of the flower, or getting different arcs, all using the circles in various sizes.

The squiggly lines were actually done freehand; they turned out mostly ok but I could stand to practice that technique a bit more, especially the starting and stopping.  But so far so good, eh?


Luckily the quilt had a lot of repeating motifs, so in a way, the quilt itself was practice!


But the part that got me in the end?  The final border:


which I am in the process of ripping out.  The outside border is supposed to be alternating hearts & loops, which sounds like a no brainer when you say it out loud, but when it comes to freehanding,  is actually pretty hard to do.

The first challenge is in getting them evenly spaced, which is feasible if you're willing to mark the quilt.  The second challenge is in getting a smooth shape.  In my world, hearts are lopsided, and I just can't seem to make both humps the same height.  The third challenge is really about confidence, which can only come from practice.  The least bit of hesitation or doubt and it shows up in your stitching.  And lastly, thread choice.  I'm using the same thread color throughout, and using a stark white on a blue background is just inevitably going to call attention to less-than-perfect stitches.

I tried several methods of applying these hearts.  First, I tried chalking them in.  I don't like marking quilts with pens because of all the horror stories I've heard about marks that come back or get set into the quilt. But chalk also can be problematic on a fabric that simply will not hold a chalk line.  I tried freehanding the hearts and loops, but my freehand is just too, well, "free" for this buttoned up ruler-perfect quilt.  Finally, I tried doing it as a pantograph from the back of the frame, but that just proved to be too inaccurate and my hesitation stitches show.

I actually quilted 2-1/2 borders before finally deciding that this pattern is just not right for this quilt.  If I had a computerized system, it would be a no-brainer, but I just cannot duplicate the perfection of these hearts at my current level of skill.  If I had dozens of hours of hearts-and-loops practice under my belt, maybe, but right now, no.

So my last resort really is to just ask the customer if I can do something different in the final border. I really hope she says yes because there's no way I'm sending this quilt out with such a glaring imperfection; that would be the kiss of death to my long arm business (unless it already has happened from sending my experiments into the world!)

My advice to anyone who gets a request to QILT:  Just say no. There's definitely a difference between someone asking you to "quilt some flowers" and handing you a magazine with the quilt pattern dictated, but I think you'll find yourself turning out better things when you get to put something of yourself into your quilt projects.

In the event you do decide to accept QILTs, make sure you really understand what you're getting into.  Not all QILTs are created equal, and some can turn out to be more intricate than they first appear.  Needing nine rulers to execute one project is about 7 or 8 rulers too many, especially when the project is not an heirloom or wholecloth quilt.

To endless possibilities,

Ebony