Machine Quilting 101 with Angela Walters | Midnight Quilt Show

hi i'm angela walters and tonight i want to draw your attention to a serious problem facing quilters today every year hundreds thousands of quilt tops are pieced with love and then folded up and put in a cabinet somewhere and all they want all they want is just to grow up to be a quilt will you help me save the quilt tops i'm just kidding but seriously if you have 12 tops laying around that you want to finish up and this is the episode for you [Music] well my quote tarts finished and it's time for the machine quilting no you don't know you didn't miss anything in this episode we're getting right to the quilting I know some of you may be a little teeny tiny nervous about machine quilting but in this episode I'm gonna get you excited and ready to finish your quilt tops so I've got my adorable block out quilt already made with this adorable wale fabric so let's get to quilting here's the deal if you have a lot of quilt tops laying around because you like to buy fabric and make them then that's perfect don't change a thing but if you have quilt tops laying around because you're too scared to quilt them let me encourage you to get them finished because a finished quilt is always always better than a perfect quilt top but how do you get started well that's what I'm gonna help you with right here I've already basted my quilt sandwich and I'm ready to go if you don't know how to do that you can check out a bonus video that we have for you now the first step into getting comfortable with machine quilting is starting off with a quilt that you don't have so much emotional attachment to when you're learning how to quilt it's best not to start with a quilt top that took forever and ever to finish if you have a nice little quilt laying around that you can't wait to finish up or if you want to make this quilt you can buy the pattern and make that as well but the main idea is we want to find a quilt that we can finish up it's even better if it's for a young one in your life because hey they all love quilts no matter what it looks like to take my first stitches I'm gonna use my needle to bring up my bobbin thread this isn't crucial you could just go ahead and quilt but it's gonna keep me from getting one of those little nests on the back I'm going to lower the needle down and up what that's doing is grabbing the bobbin thread so that when I pull the quilt over and I grab on to that top thread the bobbin thread comes out as well once I pulled up my bobbin thread I bring the quote back into place I'm going to take a few stitches just to help kind of secure that now I'm only the expert of my opinion but this is how I like to secure my stitches and then you're gonna press the pedal and start moving the quilt so I know there's a few questions you might have I will say that my feed dogs are dropped I'm using a supreme slider which gives it a nice smooth surface you don't have to have it but ultimately what's happening is now my hands Guiding where this quilt is going and that's kind of a scariest part when it comes to free motion quilting your brain knows what it wants you to do but your hands just won't do it so you're gonna use your hands to start moving it around now when you start quilting here's what I don't want you to worry about don't worry about the stitch length don't worry that it's perfect we're just kind of getting comfortable with moving the fabric around kind of getting comfortable with the play in between the speed of the Machine and the movement of the hands so if you have a cute little whale fabric like this you can just kind of work your way around it to kind of use to moving the quilt now here's what I do want you to focus on I want you to focus on keeping your hands on either side of the needle that's where you have the most control of your quilt one of my bad habits is I tend to start quilting in my hands aren't where they need to be I need to remember to reposition them I want you to remember to breathe that's important sometimes we think if we just hold our breath look closer it's gonna look fine when actually the opposite is true I want a nice loose movement I'm gonna relax maybe listen to an audio book maybe a glass of water whatever helps you feel comfortable and I'm just gonna keep moving on this is not the time to judge how it's looking this is just the time to get comfortable with moving the quilt around and you can check out the class a startup library quilting with Christa Watson as she shows you everything you need to get started with piecing machine quilting all those but I find that most quilters know what to do they're just a little scared so let's talk about some designs that are easy to help you maneuver your way around the area as your quilting and as you feel comfortable moving around what I want you to do is just start quilting a line that goes in all different directions right though this is your basic meander I want you to think about the reason you made the quilt right there's a purpose for your quilt top it probably isn't to make yourself feel bad as a machine quilter so whatever that reason is I want you to think about that if you're making the quote for a charity think about how much the recipient is gonna appreciate that gift if you're making it for yourself because you finally cut into that out-of-print fabric think about how awesome it's gonna be to have that quilt on your bed I find that thinking about the purpose of your quilt kind of takes your mind away from the perfection of it because when your nose is this close to the quilt you're gonna see every little bobble but trust me when you're finished and you wash it up it's gonna look great when it comes to which designs you should practice pick designs that you actually want to use on your quilt one of my favorite ones when I want a soft nice easy design is a loopy meander okay so to cool the loopy meander what I'm gonna do is just put my meandering line or my little wiggly line and then at a random point I'm gonna go right into my loop and then continue on as though that luke hasn't happened keep continuing on and throwing in loops whenever I feel comfortable who knows you might have a little bit more loops you might be loopy like me or you might just have a lot more wiggly lines the idea is I want to get you comfortable with moving this quilt in all different directions now it might not feel like it at first but as you start learning that design it's gonna get easier and easier to quilt it and then you can start quilting variations I think it's so much easier to learn five different ways to quote one design than five completely different designs so let's pretend that you're quilting and you love that loopy meander you're thinking Angela is right this is fun it doesn't have to be perfect yay as you feel more and more comfortable with it you could maybe add more loops maybe more like figure eights where I quote my loops in one direction clockwise and then the other counterclockwise and you're going to get just a slightly different look a fun variation but this is actually going to set you up for learning how to do pebbles later on down your quilting career in fact this is one of my favorite ways to teach quilting designs starting with a classic design and adding some fun variations and at any point if you're feeling nervous you can just default back to your regular meander line here's the thing if you're quilting along and you're not loving it change it it doesn't matter what you put in there just get it all quilted so that you can enjoy the quilt [Music] now here's the thing to eventually get better at machine quilting you have to practice I know nobody likes hearing me say that but there is a tip that can help you make your quilting look better even if it's not when you're quilting if you pick a thread color that matches your quilt top it's going to cover a multitude of quilting sins so on this quilt I'm using an orange thread because I'm confident in my quilting ability I love how the pop of color looks on it but if I were not so comfortable or I really didn't want the quilting to show I would pick something that blended in a little bit more like maybe a light gray or a light tan the thread you pick can really make the quilting hide or highlight a particular area of your quote one thing you might not know or maybe you've noticed I get bored really easily so I love switching up between designs so if your quilting on your quilt and you're thinking I'm tired that meander how about a fun leafy meander meandering just means I'm working my way around a whole quilt and a leafy meander just means I'm quilting a leaf all the way around the whole quilt one of the things I love about machine quilting is that echoing will help you build up your designs so if you want to try a leafy meander all you have to do is quilt a pointy oval a shape like this and then echo around it a couple of times another thing I love about echoing is it gives your brain a chance to catch up to what you're doing you know sometimes your hands outrun your brain at least it does for me so it kind of lets your okay I'm gonna echo this I'm gonna get my breath back I'm gonna try not to pee my pants it's gonna be fine and then go right into my next leaf and if you can look at your quilt almost like a big grid right I have all these blocks and all these sashing sometimes it can be hard to know what to quilt where well if you can break your quilt down into smaller pieces that might make it more helpful and Kristina Keneally has a great class called quilting on the grid where she shows you how to break down the quilt and come up with fun quilting options the idea is to pick a design and get going [Music] so here's the thing I've taught loads of classes I've been a nuba culture myself I totally know what it feels like to not want to stop right your quilting you're like I don't know where to go next just stop when you're driving a car and you don't know where you're going you don't speed up right you slow down so as you're quilting if you're not sure what to do next just stop breathe that's a good time to breathe and use your finger to trace out the next couple steps of the design it's really gonna help your brain visualize what that design looks like and it is so much easier to change your mind than it is to rip out quilting so just take a breath and enjoy the process now I can read your mind I know what you're thinking what happens if I flip the whole quilt and I don't like how it turns out well there's a chance that could happen but when you get done you'll have learned what not to do which is just as important as knowing what to do and when you're done you'll have a finished quilt something that you can use and it can be loved so remember a finished quilt is always always always better than a perfect quilt top well I'm gonna keep quilting this thing I'll see you and I'm done I don't think I've ever had so much fun quilting a quilt getting to work my way around those adorable whales changing designs that bright pop of orange thread and here's what I love the best all the mistakes seem to fade away when you step back and look at the whole quilt but remember the best way to finish a quilt is to get started so go click those quilt tops and I'll see you next time on the midnight pool show what are you still doing here go cut your quilts [Music]

Channel: Midnight Quilt Show

Views: 213,976

Rating: 4.9285555 out of 5

Keywords: midnight quilt show, angela walters, craftsy, How to machine quilt, machine quilting, machine quilting on home machine, machine quilting motifs, what to do with quilt tops, how to start quilting a quilt, machine quilting 101, beginner machine quilting advice, machine quilting techniques for beginners, machine quilting tips for beginners, machine quilting tips and tricks for beginners, how to get started with machine quilting, amazing quilters, quilting advice for beginners

Id: HKT7WeG6C6Q

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 18 2018