Want to learn how to make a beautiful quilt? This simple quilt pattern is easy enough for beginners! What an amazing gift! This is lesson number three: How to machine quilt your project. You can also refer to lesson number one: Cutting and Piecing the Quilt Blocks, and lesson number two: Sewing the quilt top together.
Summer Jewels Quilt
Lesson 3- Quilting
(Please follow this link for Lesson 2)
(Please follow this link for Lesson 1)
Cut a piece of fabric for your backing that is at least 3” wider on each side than your quilt top.
Cut a piece of batting the same size as the backing. Then create a “sandwich” by laying the backing wrong side up, then the batting, then the quilt top (right side up) on top.
Baste all three layers of your quilt sandwich together. I hand sew using stitches that are about 4” long. I follow the general pattern shown above. Some quilters use safety pins, but for some it is easier not to have to fool with pins while quilting the layers together. These stitches take very little time and are easily removed later.
Look carefully here, and you can see the basting stitches in place.
For this pattern, we are “quilting in the ditch”. In other words, we are quilting in the seams. Start in the center of your quilt and work out to the edges. This is important as quilting causes the fabric to draw up and you want it to be evenly distributed. Increase your stitch length on your machine. Sew forward two stitches, back two stitches and then sew forward again. This will lock your thread in place.
When you get to the end of a row, sew back and forth again to lock the thread before clipping it.
With a quilt this size, machine quilting can be done in just an afternoon. When quilt has all been quilted, the back should look something like this. At this point, clip all the excess threads and then clip and pull out your basting stitches.
Be sure to check out some of my other quilt patterns!
Sleeping Puppies Baby Quilt or Twin Size Quilt
Batiks Gone Wild and Windmills at Night
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