Bold Hand Quilting

So lucky to have one of our great sponsors Coats and Clark visit us today!

About our author:
Annette Millard is passionate about sewing and has worked in the sewing industry for many years. She is always happiest with needle, fabric and thread in her hands! She writing blog posts about products and projects for the Coats & Clark Sewing Secrets Blog. Follow Annette and more of her sewing adventures on her own blog, www.sewfullife.com. 

Beyond the tiny stitches of traditional hand quilting, comes the trend towards a bolder approach! Big Stitch Quilting is delightful and distinct in appearance, a bit speedier, but still closely related to it’s small stitch cousin. Today I have a few tips and tricks plus four wonderful projects from Coats and Clark that will make your Big Stitch Quilting life fun, bold and beautiful!

Needles and Thread Make All the Difference

Needles and thread are the most important considerations in the success of Big Stitch Quilting. This is a technique that creates a bold expression and your stitches will be the stars. Many quilters try to achieve this distinctive look by using six strands of embroidery floss or heavier-weight perle cotton. Unfortunately, these often create a fuzzy or frayed look from the friction of the floss or perle cotton passing through your fabrics and batting over and over again. This can be frustratingly disappointing - when your stitches are starring, you want a solid, uniform look to the thread that creates them!

I’m thrilled to tell you about Coats Bold Hand Quilting Thread – it’s perfect for Big Stitch Quilting and comes in 17 colors on 160 meter spools! Coats has created a 25% Cotton/75% Polyester blend that can be machine washed, dried and ironed, so your finished project will be easy care. The Cotton content and glace finish gives Bold Hand Quilting Thread the lovely luster that makes floss or perle cotton appealing.  But, the strength of the Polyester is just what you need for durable and smooth big stitches. Once you’ve put in all that work, a handmade masterpiece should last for a very long time! Click here for more info and to view the luscious colors.

A heavier thread calls for a larger needle. For Bold Hand Quilting Thread, Coats recommends a size 6 or 7 hand sewing needle or an embroidery needle. Just be sure to choose a needle with an eye that is big enough for the thread to pass through easily. If you decide on an embroidery needle, check to see that it is a sharp point needle, not the kind that is dull on the end and designed for cross stitch. Try out your choice before you actually begin your project to make sure it is a good fit for you, your Bold Hand Quilting thread and your fabric and batting.  

Big Stitching Basics

As usual, you will create a quilt sandwich with your quilt top, batting and backing. Baste this together as you normally would, before you begin your project. I suggest starting with a practice piece if you’re new to hand quilting. If you’re an experienced hand quilter, you may want to practice, too, though. You’ll want to retrain your hands to make longer stitches! In traditional hand quilting, most quilters load their needle with stitches so that they have 8 to 10 stitches per 45mm. For Big Stitch Quilting, plan to make your stitches twice as long – from 4 to 5 stitches per 45mm. Since you are working with a larger needle and thicker thread, loading two to three stitches at a time will work best. 

 I find it best to cut a medium length of thread – around 60cm or so. A longer length is cumbersome to work with and really does not make the stitching go faster. If you’re a lover of thimbles, definitely use one.

Stitch length perfection should not make you crazy, but if you want your stitch length to be as consistent as possible, these are a few of my favorite tricks.

·        Use a ruler to mark your quilting lines, but instead of a solid line, use evenly spaced dots. These will become your stitch “markers” that can be easily followed as you’re quilting.

·        Your finger can be an excellent tool for consistent stitching. If you’re right handed, mark the side top of the index finger of your left hand with three or four evenly spaced pen marks. Lay your finger along the stitching line and take a stitch at each mark. If you’re a left handed stitcher, mark your right index finger. Just don’t prick your finger!

·        On a small project, machine-baste your quilting lines with a 4 to 5mm stitch length. You can follow these lines and use the stitches for consistent hand quilting length stitching over two machine stitches for each hand stitch.

Four Big Stitch Quilting Projects from Coats and Clark

Now that you’re ready for Big Stitch Quilting, here are four marvelous projects for you to try! I’ve ordered them from smallest to largest, so you can start out slowly if you like. And, if you’re in gift-making mode, the first two are absolutely perfect. Enjoy!

Strips ‘n Stitches and Log Cabin Pincushion

·       Two tidy places to keep your pins in traditional pieced style. Your addition of bold hand quilting will make them unique and out of the ordinary! Click here to download the pattern.

Dot2Dot Tablet Sleeve

·       A stylish way to keep your favorite tablet safe becomes the perfect base for whimsical Big Stitch Quilting. Using a dotted fabric makes even stitching easy!  Click here to download the pattern.

 Chevron Pillow

·       An on-trend design, a comfy pillow and your new skills in bold hand quilting make this a winning combo for your décor! Click here to download the pattern. 

Charitable Sewing- Be a Sewing Superhero

Love it when a sponsor drops by to share with us! Coats and Clark is one of CQA/ACC's amazing sponsors!

About our author:

Annette Millard is passionate about sewing and has worked in the sewing industry for many years. She is always happiest with needle, fabric and thread in her hands! She currently enjoys supporting the Coats & Clark community writing blog posts about products and projects for the Coats Sewing Secrets Blog.

Those who sew and quilt are the most generous people I’ve known. There’s something about hands-on making  that expands our hearts and inspires us to reach out to others. Our Sewing Superpowers can enrich lives around the world through charitable sewing!

Image from Little Dresses for Africa

Little Dresses for Africa

My fabulously generous friend Barbara, has been making Little Dresses for Africa for many, many years. Every week she meets with a group of women who share the joy of sewing as they make simple, bright dresses for this wonderful project. The dresses are simple designs, often made from pillowcases and when delivered convey a valuable sense of worth to these precious girls. A quote from the Little Dresses for Africa web site explains the incredible value of these hand-sewn frocks. “The road is especially tough for little girls and young women.  Often small children are left as primary care-givers of even younger children, because of disease and poverty.  These little dresses, given freely to those in need, plant the seed that they are worthy.” Little Dresses for Africa also partners with those who provide the girls with lessons in sanitation, clean water, good health and family skills. It's not just a dress!

To learn more about Little Dresses for Africa and how you can be involved, click here to visit their web site.

Image from Days For Girls

Days for Girls

As some of these same girls grow and leave their Little Dresses behind, monthly sanitary needs become a high priority. Once puberty begins, many African girls stay home and miss essential school time one week each month. Sanitary pads and other supplies we take for granted here in the US are simply unavailable. Days for Girls is a network of sewists who stitch together washable, reusable kits so that menstruating girls can attend school every day of their cycle. With the kits, girls are given life-saving health and hygiene education.  Days for Girls states their impact well.: “Women, and girls discover their potential and self-value, are equal participants and agents of social change and are given opportunities to thrive, grow and contribute to their community's betterment while ensuring quality sustainable feminine hygiene.” My friends, Jeanette and Claire, are among thousands of women throughout the world who meet weekly to sew. They enjoy the company of fellow sewists and the opportunity to give dignity to their little sisters in Africa!

To find out more about Days for Girls, it’s mission and how you can help, visit their web site by clicking here.

Image from Patchwork Posse

Alzheimer Fidget Quilts

There are, of course, many needs for generous sewists in your local community. Near to my heart is the Alzheimer Fidget Quilt. If you have a loved one who suffers from dementia, you know that an object to “fidget” with is often very soothing. My mother, who suffered from Dementia would have loved one of these!  A Dementia Fidget Quilt is full of pockets, buttons, zippers and other things that soothingly keep aged hands busy. These blankets of handmade love become a treasure for the one who receives them and a great comfort for their family. Similar to the blankies we loved in childhood, a Fidget Quilt can be an amazing friend!

To find out more about Fidget Quilts and their value for those with Dementia, click here to visit the Alzheimers Association web site.

For a Fidget Quilt tutorial, click here for a great post on the Patchwork Posse blog.

Image from Sew With Aloha

Be a Sewing Superhero!

There are many ways to use your sewing powers for charitable sewing locally and around the world! I’ve listed just a few more below with links to patterns.

·        Adult Bibs - click here

·        Chemo Turbans - click here

·        Lap Robes -  click here

·        Wheelchair & Walker Caddies - click here

·        Adaptive Clothing for Military Vets - click here

You will also find lists of opportunities on Sewing.org or Nancy Zieman.com. Or you may have your own list or be aware of needs that your stitching would help. The power of charitable sewing is not just in what you offer, it is also in what it offers you. Set aside sewing time, participate in a project and your life will be enriched immeasurably!

Paper Piecing – A Galaxy Full of Perfect Points

Thank you Coats & Clark for being a guest blogger and an amazing sponsor to CQA/ACC!

About our author:

Annette Millard is passionate about sewing and has worked in the sewing industry for many years. She is always happiest with needle, fabric and thread in her hands! She currently enjoys supporting the Coats & Clark community writing blog posts about products and projects for the Coats Sewing Secrets Blog.

Milky Way Quilt designed by Cheryl A. Adam

Beautiful, satisfying quilting is all about the points. But, those lovely little pieces that should match perfectly don’t always quite make it. I know many of us shudder when we think of Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP), but stay with me through this post. FPP is actually easy, fun and opens up a whole world of intricate piecing you thought you’d never be able to do. I have hints, tips and a video for you along with the gorgeous, free Milky Way Quilt Along from Coats and Clark!

Paper What?

While we’re accustomed to stitching fabric, most of us don’t use paper in our quilting. Until today, that is! In Foundation Paper Piecing, you’ll be creating perfect points by stitching fabric directly to a printed foundation paper template. The paper stays with your blocks until you stitch them together and then it’s removed. Intermediate quilters – prepare to be amazed!

Coats Paper Piecing Thread

Special Thread for a Magical Technique

Magical techniques call for great tools, so Coats Paper Piecing Thread is specifically designed to be just what you need. It’s a very fine, yet wonderfully strong Polyester thread that is perfect for reducing bulk in the fine points you’ll be creating. Put aside your stash of “regular” thread, head for the store and choose spools of Coats Dual Duty XP Paper Piecing thread.

When it’s time to remove your foundation paper, you don’t want your stitches ripping and pulling. This is the first place you’ll be glad you chose Coats Paper Piecing Thread! Combined with a shorter stitch length (about 1.5mm) and a size 80 Microtex needle, this strong, fine thread will keep those stitches right where they belong on your amazing block. And, once you’re ready to press and see how well your points fit and lay flat together, you’ll truly be grateful for the fine weight of Coats Paper Piecing Thread. Click here to learn more about this marvelous, specialized thread.

Milky Way Quilt Block One

Piece-ful Paper

The Milky Way Quilt Along Wall Hanging is created with Free Spirit’s beautiful Designer Essential Solids fabrics. But, what about the paper? You’ll be pleased to know that you won’t need anything special. Regular, inexpensive printer paper will work quite well! You may want to explore other paper options, too. Your local fabric store will have special Foundation Paper Piecing Papers and Freezer Papers that are made just for the technique. Whatever you choose, be sure it can be used in your home or copy store printer. Tracing paper may seem like a good idea, but printers will spit, growl and cease to print if you try use a paper that wasn’t designed for printing.

Sample Template (Visual only, download pattern for actual template)

So, you’ve chosen your fabrics, purchased Coats Paper Piecing Thread, settled on a paper and now it’s time to print and piece. The Milky Way Quilt PDFs include the Foundation Template on the last one to two pages of each block’s instructions. They’re designed to print on standard size printer paper so you can easily use what you already have at home. You’ll print four templates from each PDF to create a whole block template. Be sure to read through the printing instructions for Milky Way or any other Foundation Block you print. Your printer set-up makes a big difference and you’ll want to be sure you’re printing the template at the correct size.

Milky Way Quilt Block Two

Cut, Piece, Stitch and Smile

For standard quilt piecing, we steady our hands, take a deep breath and cut precise pieces so they will match perfectly. When you’re Foundation Paper Piecing, your fabrics will be cut in pieces large enough to cover the numbered sections on your printed paper foundation, but they don’t have to be precise. The Milky Way Quilt Along instructions suggest that you “roughly” cut your fabric pieces at least 1.27 cm larger than each section of the foundation template. And this, quilter friends, is one of the wonderful things about FPP – no precise cutting!

Fabric Cutting - from Sew Very Easy video

As you cut your fabric pieces, lay them on the blank side of the paper template and head for a nearby light source. Hold the paper up to the bright light to make sure your cut fabric is amply overlapping the template section. In Laura Ann Coia’s video she suggests printing a template you can cut apart and use as a cutting pattern. You’ll cut and sew your fabric pieces in number order beginning with sections one and two. Once those are cut it’s time to stitch from the printed side, following the line on the paper template.

Placing Fabric Pieces – from Sew Very Easy video

After stitching, you’ll trim the seam allowance to approximately a .635 cm seam allowance on “inside” pieces. It does not need to be a precisely trimmed seam allowance since it’s already stitched! But, the outer edges will be stitched to another block, so you’ll want an exact .635 cm seam allowance on all outside block edges to avoid assembly frustration.

Sew Very Easy Paper Piecing Video

Extra Help From a Trusted Quilting Friend

The Milky Way instructions are detailed and easy to understand. Follow them and they will be your FPP BFF – Foundation Paper Piecing Best Friend Forever! So you can see the steps in ‘live action”, Coats has also partnered with the super-fabulous Laura Ann Coia of Sew Very Easy for informational videos. There will be a companion video for each block! Click here to view Laura Ann’s first video, then be sure to subscribe so you won’t miss any of the series.

Milky Way Quilt Blocks in Sequence

Infinite Points and Beyond!

And now . . . you’re ready to soar off into quilting hyper-space with Coats Milky Way Quilt Along! Click here to learn about the Quilt Along and follow along with the block posts. Be sure to download the General Instructions and read them, too. The finished wall hanging size quilt consists of five blocks. Just perfect for a low-stress, first Paper Piecing Project!

Give Foundation Paper Piecing a try and have fun with it! The Milky Way Quilt Along is a great place to start and you can post your finished Milky Way blocks on the Make it Coats Facebook page or other social media sites- tag #CoatsQuiltAlong. It’s a terrific way to share your quilting joy and see what quilters from all over are doing, too. Coats and Clark will be there for you, so feel free to ask questions on the Sewing Secrets blog along the way. If you need a little extra confidence, click here to view another helpful Paper Piecing video from All People Quilt. There’s a whole new galaxy of perfect points and fabulous piecing open to you now – enjoy!

Four Steps to Machine Quilting!

We are thrilled to have a guest blogger today!

About our author:

Annette Millard is passionate about sewing and has worked in the sewing industry for many, many years and is always happiest with needle, fabric and thread in her hands. She currently enjoys supporting the Coats & Clark community writing blog posts about products and projects for the Coats Sewing Secrets Blog.

Four Steps to Successful Machine Quilting

Quilters have been machine quilting their own quilts since the 1800’s and there’s no reason why you can’t join them! It’s a wonderful way to extend the creative expression you enjoyed in your quilt top and, while it does take some practice, Machine Quilting isn’t hard! Any machine will work, just make sure it is one that you feel comfortable with and know how to adjust. Take a little time to read and follow these four, friendly steps and you’ll be ready for success!

1. Consider Your Choices

A few minutes of planning will pay off in a big way as you begin to quilt. Experienced quilters may want to try Free Motion Quilting while newbies will enjoy beginning with straight line or stitch in the ditch. Think about how your quilt will be used, who will own it and what style will enhance the block designs. For more help, click here for a Quilting Tidbits post that offers lots of options for your quilting designs!  

2. Patient Preparation – Thread, Needles, Feet

As with all sewing and quilting, the thread you choose is foundational to the success of your project. Coats and Clark makes amazing Machine Quilting threads for you to use but, before you head to the store, you’ll want to think about color. To choose colors, try stitching together a mini-top using small squares or strips of the fabrics in your top. Create a quilt sandwich and, using your stash of regular threads, try different colors by stitching through each fabric one thread color at a time. You’ll quickly see the color or colors that will be the best choice for your project. If you’re a beginner, matching colors to your fabrics may be the best choice. Once you gain confidence you can play with contrasting threads to enhance the quilting design you’ve chosen.

You’ll find three styles of Coats Cotton Machine Quilting thread at your local quilt shop. These 30 weight threads are spun from high-quality, 100% Mercerized, Extra-Long Staple, Egyptian Cotton that produces very little lint.  They’re lustrous, smooth and have little to no stretch - perfect for your Machine Quilting needs! Coats thread, after quilting, can be washed in hot water, dried on high heat and ironed on a cotton setting. And, you can use chlorine bleach or dry clean if needed. I love the easy care and durable properties of this marvelous thread. We put our hearts and souls into our quilts so they should last forever, or at least for a very, very long time!

·       Click here to learn more about style S975 in 29 luscious solid colors on a 320m spool.

·       Click here to learn more about styles V34 in 23 contemporary solid colors on a 1097m tube and V35 in 8 beautifully variegated colors.

Machine Quilting needles are tapered with a slightly rounded point. That point pierces your fabric more easily, prevents skipped stitches and makes a positive difference in your stitch quality. A size 75/11 is great for piecing, but the larger eye of a 90/14needle may be best for your heavier quilting thread while stitching through the layers of your quilt sandwich. Keep lots of needles on hand. Frequent needle changes are crucial to preventing quilting tragedies!

Your sewing machine should be free of lint, oiled and set to a slightly longer stitch length than you would use for general sewing. Simple, elegant straight line stitching is best done with a Walking or Even-Feed Foot. This magic foot helps to keep all the layers of your quilt moving along the feed dogs at an even rate. If your machine came with a seam guide it will now be your treasured quilting BFF! Stitch a line, re-positioning the guide on the previously stitched line and repeat to keep your quilted lines evenly spaced. If you’re new to Free Motion Quilting and would like to try it, click here to read a post on Coats Sewing Secrets blog full of hints for beginners.

Finally, you’ll prepare and baste your quilt sandwich - a technique you may already know. A delicious quilt sandwich begins with the stitching and preparation of your top. Use consistent .635cm seams and clip all loose threads to create a top that will lay as flat as possible. If you haven’t mastered the quilt sandwich, click here for a video that will show you everything you need to make yours yummy!

3. Practice, Practice, Breathe

Take a little time to practice stitching before beginning to quilt an actual project. It’s worth the repetition it will take to master Machine Quilting. As Heather Thomas suggests in her excellent video, create a Machine Quilting “scrapbook” as you practice. Click here for Heather’s video and keep breathing!

Start with good stitching habits from the beginning. To keep thread tails on the top, take one stitch, gently tug on your top thread and bring the bobbin thread tail to the top. Repeat this each time you begin or end a line of Machine Quilting and secure your stitches with a couple of stitches in reverse.  Corners are easy! Leave the needle down, raise the presser foot, pivot the quilt, lower the presser foot and off you go. Beginning in the center, quilt a 30cm square section, take the quilt off the machine, unroll a new section and continue.

Many stitching problems can be solved with a needle change. Be sure to start with a new needle of the correct size, replace it if you hit a pin and listen for “clunking” that may indicate it’s become dull. Other solutions include adjusting your tension, checking for proper threading and making sure that your backing is not being held too tightly.

Mark stitching lines with water soluble or chalk markers designed for cotton fabric. Try out your marking and removing on a scrap of fabric first. Lead pencil markings are difficult to remove and should definitely be avoided. Marking your design lines one section at a time will also keep your markings fresh and sharp.

4. Pick a Fabulous Project

Coats and Clark are privileged to have paper crafting king, Tim Holtz using his incredible, artistic skills to design gorgeous collections of 100% Cotton fabrics! This Compass Design quilt from his Correspondence One collection is perfect for Machine Quilting and offers many options for sections to quilt. The downloadable PDF includes print-at-home templates and excellent step-by-step instructions. Click here for the pattern, plan your stitching and enjoy your new skills in Machine Quilting!

Hand Quilting Tips and a Modern Quilt Project

About our author:

Annette Millard is passionate about sewing and has worked in the sewing industry for many, many years and is always happiest with needle, fabric and thread in her hands. She currently enjoys supporting the Coats & Clark community writing blog posts about products and projects for the Coats Sewing Secrets Blog.

Quick! Fast! Easy! Instant! These seem to be the words we frequently think most important when we’re planning a task. Even our leisure lives become invaded with this mantra and too often, I find those same words crossover into my quilting and sewing life. So, let’s stop, even if just for a minute and think about why we quilt. What drew us to this magical art and what keeps it enjoyable? Was it speed? Probably not. So perhaps, slowing down and mindfully enjoying the process of what we can create with our hands could recreate the joy that first caused us to take up needle and thread.

And, so . . . Hand Quilting, a slow, mindful form of stitching that makes every project unique and distinct. Not “quilt in a day”, but a fabulous, purposeful, creatively, joyful form of quilting that connects our ancestral traditions with modern trends and recharges our passion for stitching. If you haven’t tried it, I have good tips, a marvelous thread, resources from your favorite experts and a beautiful project for you. And, if you’ve already discovered the amazing calm and fulfillment of Hand Quilting, you’ll enjoy adding even more info to your “by hand” file.

So let’s talk thread - one of the most important “tools” for hand stitching success! Coats and Clark makes a wonderful Hand Quilting Thread that is designed specifically for your hand stitching needs. You’ll find it in over 25 beautiful colors, so you’ll easily be able to match your fabrics. Many quilters find it’s best to choose threads that match each of the fabrics you are using as Hand Quilting stitches are larger than machine stitching and will be more distinctly visible. Other quilters suggest matching the thread color to the backing as those stitches tend to be longer than the top stitches so they will “hide” best in a matching color. You may find that you want to choose a busy print for your backing so that the threads that match your top fabrics will blend in well on the back, also. Whatever you choose, just be sure those swatches are tucked into your pocket when you go out to choose your thread!

Coats Hand Quilting thread has a glace finish and is made from a cotton wrapped polyester core that makes it strong as well as flexible. The polyester core is a uniform size, so it creates a smooth thread that holds up well to any stress we may put on it as we’re stitching. Click here for more information about this fabulous thread. You’ll find a download link for a PDF of those gorgeous colors, too!

Before you begin your Hand Quilting adventure, you’ll want to thread several needles with 45 to 60 cm lengths of thread, so you can efficiently keep stitching. Choose your needles carefully. Hand Quilting needles are betweens and a size 10 is a good choice. You’ll want an eye that isn’t too small to easily thread on a needle that is strong enough to slide through your layers of top, batting and backing. Click here  for a short, fun YouTube video on threading multiple needles onto one spool of thread.  Such a great idea!

Using a fairly short length of thread (none of those meter long lengths, please), will help prevent tangling and keep your working thread manageable. Lack of knottiness, is another one of the reasons I love the glace finish on Coats Hand Quilting Thread. Although many quilters use a waxing product to prevent knotting, the gorgeous finish on the Coats thread inhibits and resists knotting all on its own. The very last thing you want when Hand Quilting is to find unwanted knots in your working thread!

Now, what about those little stitches and how do you get them even? Well, here’s the wonderful thing about handmade - practice makes perfect and . . . it doesn’t have to be perfect! Seasoned hand quilters will tell you that the more you stitch, the more even it will become and if you examine those stitches up close, there are always variations and it’s okay.  To quote Marianne Fons, “Hand quilting is like going for a walk for pleasure rather than getting in your car to go somewhere quickly. “ Slow down, enjoy what you’re doing and the patience you’ll develop from the process will enrich your life in so many ways!

Sometimes, you just need a buddy to hold one hand while you Hand Quilt with the other, so here’s some help from our friends in the big, wide quilting world.

Click here for the Quilty Hand Quilting video, mentioned above, featuring Mary and Marianne Fons.

Now, click here  to learn Alex Anderson’s Top Three Hand Quilting Cheats. Thank you, Alex!

And, finally, click here for a marvelous Craftsy post on the Hand Quilting Stitches you’ll need to know, like you see in the photo above. Quilter’s Knot, Running Stitch, Tunneling and Rocking will soon become a natural part of your quilting vocabulary!

Are you ready? Feeling better now? Good! We have a beautiful Modern Traditional Quilt for you that features both machine and hand quilting. It’s the perfect combination of tradition and modern style and you’ll love making it. You’ll machine quilt some areas of your quilt then finish with beautiful hand echo stitching around the white sections. Coats chose lovely Free Spirit solids, but you may want to use prints or dynamic florals. Put your “hand” to it and make it your own!

Click here  for the quilt project that includes a link to the PDF tutorial. Full color to make it clear for you!

In Summer, my very favorite thing about Hand Quilting is it’s portability. Take your charming, calming stitches along on your next road or day trip and carry it along to the kids’ sports practice. And, for even greater joy, get your friends involved, plan a gathering and invite those kids, too. Stitching is always better in community and a Play/Hand Quilting group will make your Summer the best ever!