Hi Welcome to the final stitch. I’m Natalie. And today we’re going to be talking about
machine quilting at home, specifically straight line quilting. Natalie: Thanks so much for joining me today. And thank you so much for sending in all of
the great questions. We’ve had quite a few about machine quilting
and Liz has some of those prepared for us and I’m excited to jump in on this. Liz: So one of the first questions that we’ve
gotten about machine quilting is straight line quilting. Can I just straight line quilt on my machine
at home without sending it to the long armer? Natalie: Yes, you absolutely can. There’s several ways to do straight line
quilting. Straight line quilting is just quilting in
straight lines. So you can do things like stitch in the ditch
or you could echo quilt which just means that you’re stitching next to a seam or around
a shape. You can mark it off with soap or chalk or
disappearing pens, anything like that. And so today we’re going to show stitch
in the ditch. Liz: Perfect. Natalie: And probably a couple of little echo
quilting designs and possibly we’ll use some painter’s tape to show you something
interesting as well. Liz: Ok. So what is stitch in the ditch? Natalie: Stitch in the ditch means that you
stitch right along where your two pieces of fabrics come together, right in the seam. And that is technically called the ditch. So what I’m going to do is go ahead and
stitch this inside section right here, trying to just keep right in line with that seam
and that will get us started on this project. Liz: Ok. Natalie: Which is a really cute little wonky
star that I love by the way. I think it’s just adorable. Liz: Wonky stars are happy. Natalie: I’m going to needle up and as you
can see obviously my quilt sandwich is already made and we will chat about basting and sandwiching
some other time. But you want to make sure that your top, your
batting and your backing are all together before you get started. And I’m just putting my needle down. I’m probably going to roll the needle a
little bit just to make sure that I’ve got it kind of right in the corner. Alright so I’ve got my needle right in the
corner. I’m actually going to put it down and get
started that way. Make sure your thread is back and the bobbin
is full and everything else is ready to go. So you’re going to go nice and slow. Try and be nice and straight. You don’t want to yank on anything or pull
anything. You just kind of want to let the feed dogs
pull it through and use your hands to guide. Liz: Ok. Natalie: So that is what we’re going to
do. And it is fairly simple but also kind of difficult
because if you get to like one side or the other it starts to look a little bit like
you’re off which I did a little bit but I think it’s probably going to be ok. Liz: Ya. It will be fine. Natalie: I mean it’s a little project. It’s mine and I dare anybody to judge any
piece of art. Just don’t do it. Liz: Right. So to keep it straight you’re kind, you’re
not watching the needle, right? Are you watching where the needle is going
or are you kind of watching in front of the needle like you’re driving a car. Natalie: I’m watching the needle and in
front of the needle trying to make sure and keep that line straight. I struggle to sew a straight line anyways Liz: We all do. Natalie: But I’m trying really hard to be
slow and steady and as soon as I get to the corner I’m going to leave the needle down
and then I’m going to pivot. Liz: Cool. Natalie: Going nice and slow. I do have a tiny bit of my mom’s like impatience
gene so it’s difficult for me to sew slowly. Ok so my needle is right in the corner. I had to make a tiny bit of an adjustment
because I went just like a little bit over but I think, you know, I’m trying to take
it easy and just not worry about it because quilting is supposed to be fun. Liz: Right. Natalie: Yep. I know that there are quilters out there who
are amazing at this kind of thing and they just look so beautiful. It’s a really quick and easy thing to do
at home. Liz: And it takes practice, right? The first time you did this it was not awesome. Natalie: Everything takes practice. Ya. Mom says, she has a thing she says where it’s
like if you stitch an hour today you’re an hour better than you were yesterday. And I think that that applies to machine quilting
your projects. Liz: Sure. Natalie: One thing I think is really, really
fun to do is just these single blocks where you can get a ton of practice in without having
to make a giant quilt and then risk, you know, it’s not really a mistake but you can make
a lot of mistakes and not feel like you’re obligated to this, finishing this huge quilt. Liz: Right. Natalie: So I like to do potholders or little
wall hangings, minis for my sewing room, things like that to get a lot of good practice in. Liz: And it’s good practice without a lot
of gravity defying you as well. Natalie: Yes, yes because even when you’re
sewing on binding if the quilt is kind of hanging off the table it can get really difficult
to keep control over. Sometimes I have one of my kids help me. They just stand there and hold the quilt so
it doesn’t pull. Liz: Good to defy gravity. Natalie: Ya. Liz: So as you’re going along are you stitching
really in that ditch or stitching kind of around, next to, sort of? Natalie: I think I’m stitching right in
the ditch Liz: Awesome. Natalie: There’s a couple places that it
goes just onto the print fabric because especially here as I started out I think I just wasn’t
as steady but. Ok so because my thread is white and my background
is white, if I kind of keep my needle more on the white fabric then the printed fabric,
it’s going to look a little bit cleaner. Liz: It’s going to disappear more. Natalie: Yes and so even if it’s a little
bit off it’s not going to look like it’s not in the ditch. It will be, the Liz: It’s not going to show as much. Natalie: Ya. It’s not going to show as much. Liz: It’s not going to show. Natalie: You’ve got it. Sometimes I just lose my words. Liz: Well and there’s times where you want
your quilting to show but stitch in the ditch you usually want it to disappear. Natalie: Right. You’re trying to hide your stitches instead
of making them the focal point of your quilt. Alright, real slow, in the corner. This is the last side. And then we’ll do some taping I think. Liz: And so you could do the same thing around
the star that’s in the center. You could pivot around those corners. You can pivot around shapes or seams in using
stitch in the ditch or anywhere you have a ditch. Natalie: Yes. Liz: Ok. Natalie: I think I’m just going to do a
couple of little backstitches here just to kind of knot this because this is the corner. Alright, so that is all set. Just finished that up. Liz: Ok. So that was easy and you can go around any
kind of shape. So you could go around the star, you could
a little house, you can go around whatever shape is on there. Natalie: Yes. Liz: You mentioned taping and I know that’s
one of the easy ways to mark. It’s repositionable. Natalie: It works good. Liz: Because if you mark with a pen, obviously
you’ve got to take it off again if you mark with something that’s going to leave a mark,
even if it washes away. Tape is repositionable so it’s maybe the
easiest way to start. Natalie: It is a great way to start. And we like to use painter’s tape because
it doesn’t leave sticky residue behind. Liz: Awesome. Natalie: And I will be, I’m going to put
it so that the beginning of the edge is within the width of the other side so that I don’t
have to worry about getting a super straight corner there. Liz: Snazzy. Natalie: And then this we will lay down right
here and we’ll go to just about there and I’m going to give it a little rip. It’s super easy. And like you said, totally repositionable. Liz: Nice. Natalie: So we’ll line that right up like
that. And then I’m going to do the same thing
on this side. And I’m also, like I’m going to be stitching
out here so I’m not super concerned with this corner but you may get into that and
you know, it’s just something that you would want to either use the side of the other piece
of tape for your straight edge or you could use a pair of scissors to cut a nice clean
edge. Liz: Ok. Good tip. Natalie: I’m just going to tape a little,
another inner corner because then we’ll have like an echo right around the inner border
or where, you know, inside the bordered edge. Liz: Right. You’re kind of creating an inner border
with stitching. Natalie: Yes. I think it’s really fun too because with
painter’s tape you can create a lot of very interesting designs just because they’re
straight lines it’s going to be completely even. You can do grids, diagonal grids, straight
grids like totally. Liz: The sky’s the limit. Natalie: There’s a lot of things. Liz: Straight lines, painter’s tape will
help you out. Natalie: Yes. Yep. Liz: And like you said, it’s not going to
leave a residue so you don’t need to worry about how to wash it out of your quilt or
accidentally ironing it in permanently or anything like that. Natalie: That’s right. Liz: And lots of great tools out there and
we will talk about those someday. Because those tools are great for their own
purposes but today we’re just going to hit the easy one. Natalie: Yep, yep. Today we’re just going to do this quick
little painter’s tape and I’m just going to stitch right along the edge, same as the
last one. Starting here in the corner. I’m going to put my needle down, find exactly
that little corner and I’m not sewing on the tape, I’m sewing next to it because
I’m going to pretend that that’s the ditch. Liz: Perfect. Natalie: So I’ll use that edge as my guideline
and stay as straight as I can. But I think if you sew onto the tape it still
peels off really easily. You might have to use your fingernail or something
to scrape it out but it’s not going to be, not a big deal. Liz: Right. But again you’ll try to veer into the white
if you are wobbly because that will hide it. Natalie: Yes, I’m going to try and stay
to that side for sure. Liz: Cool. I was going to say off to the races but you’re
going slow. Natalie: Alright. And you can use a walking foot if you want
but for projects like this I find just a normal foot works great. Liz: Ok. Natalie: It’s not so many layers. It’s not a super big project so we’re
just going to go right along the edge of the tape with our regular foot, our regular needle. And we haven’t changed tension and we haven’t
dropped our feed dogs. Everything on the machine is just the way
you use it when you set it up. Liz: Ok same as piecing. Natalie: There’s a lot of different reasons
why you would do all those other things when you’re home quilting but for straight line,
it’s about as easy as it gets. Liz: Ok. Natalie: Last side. I’m going to put in a little tack stitch. Alright. Liz: Ta dah! Natalie: Ta dah. So now we can pull this tape off and you can
see what I’ve got. Liz: The big reveal. Natalie: Yes, it’s so rewarding to pull
back painter’s tape, isn’t it? I love it. But look at how cool that looks. So now I have this really neat little inner
stitch that is just so straight. Liz: Like a very tidy little border Natalie: That looks really nice. And I didn’t have to measure. I just laid down the tape and it looks great. And we’ll just clip these little threads
with our snips. You can tie a knot in it if you want to. But I did some backstitching so I think I”ll
be ok. There you go. Looks so good. So we could do the same thing. We could tape off the middle and do a stitch
in the ditch with an echo inside. That would be kind of cool. We could also go around the edges of these
star points. Liz: Yep, all kinds of things. So next we have a question about how to take
that a step further into grids. Natalie: Ok, great. Well I have the perfect quilt we’ll show
you in just a sec. Liz: OK. Natalie: Alright so we have this quilt. It’s a little bit bigger and it’s going
to be really fun. What I would like to do is create some grids
on this quilt using painter’s tape. And so we have this line right here that we’ll
stitch in the ditch all the way along. And we’re going to stay inside the border
because we want to do something fun with the border later. But for right now we’re going to stitch
in this ditch. And we want to stitch in this ditch but in
this space it’s where the on point blocks come together so there’s no more line to
follow. So what I’m going to do is actually put
a piece of painter’s tape. And if you wanted to you could just stretch
it from here to here but I’m going to go the length because I’m going to sew a long
continuous line. And so that is going to work out really great
because then, I’m actually going to go all the way out to that edge and go over the bordered
edge just a little bit, even though I’m not going to sew in that spot. So I’m going along this side. Wait, actually I’m going to scoot it over
because I want to stitch on the other side because I am right handed. Liz: OK.Yay for repositionable. Natalie: Yes, totally repositionable. I just realized it’s going to be a lot easier
for me to stitch it that direction. And I love that I am able to adjust it as
I go and go out past the border and just let that sit right there. Now you can tape off as much as you want at
a time. I would probably try to do most of it before
I got started quilting just because I like to do my things in those kinds of steps. So I”m going to lay down at least a couple
more pieces of tape if that’s alright. I”m going to do this one. Liz: And it’s interesting that you said
because you’re going to stitch on that side of the line. Natalie: Yes. So I’m stitching on this side. Liz: Ya that makes sense. And if you were going to flip and stitch from
the other side Natalie: Then you could position the tape
on the opposite side of the seam. Liz: Exactly. Cool. Natalie: So knowing what side is comfortable
for you is what you would need to know. I’m going to do the same thing in between
these two because the point is to do, basically you’re doing a seam every two inches. And this line doesn’t need to be taped because
it already exists. And then this line I’m going to stick with
my same side that I’m stitching on here. And continue to lay that down. Keep my quilt straight and flat. Sometimes, I don’t know if anybody else’s
has this problem but sometimes the basting isn’t as sticky as you want it to be. Liz: That’s true. Natalie: It does Liz: And speaking of, we’ve seen a couple
of questions about basting. Let us know what questions you have about
basting so in a future episode we can tackle basting or at least a few things. Natalie: I think there’s probably so many
different ways to do it that it’s going to take us several tries to get through Liz: I think you are right. Natalie: Even most of the things. Liz: So keep asking your questions in the
comments and thank you so much for commenting and asking your questions. It’s helping us with Natalie: It absolutely keeps us going. Liz: Creating the right projects to show answers. Natalie: Alright so I essentially have half
the quilt taped off. I think I’m going to go ahead and start
in the middle and work out and then we can flip and do the other side. So I think that’s it. The other thing we can do is once these lines
are done then we can do the lines going in the opposite direction. And then you would do the same thing. You don’t necessarily want to put them down
right now, although you can, but you would be sewing through tape at that point. But I would go ahead, stitch these lines,
I’ll stitch the ones on the other side and then I would do the same taping method after
removing this tape, on top of the seams. Liz: Going the other direction. Natalie: And that will make a really cool
criss cross stitch pattern. Liz: Beautiful grid. Ya awesome. Natalie: So that’s how we do that. Liz: Ok. Natalie: Alright here we go. I am going to roll this in just a tiny bit
because it has to fit in the throat. So it’s pretty loose. I don’t want to go like super tight rolls
because then it might detach a little from the. But it does, it has to be flat to get it underneath
the presser foot. So getting it in just a little bit. And adjusting a little bit. Liz: You can scrunch it. It doesn’t have to be a nice perfect swiss
cake roll. Natalie: Right. Pull it all the way down to the end. And then I’m dropping my needle right in
the little space where the tape meets the border. Liz: Ok. Natalie: So, I’ve got to get that lined
up. Drop my presser foot. Pull that thread backwards. Pull your thread back from the needle helps
your needle stays threaded and the thread then doesn’t get caught in your seam. It could get a little messy if you don’t
pull it back. Liz: So it’s just good practice. Natalie: Ya it’s how I try to start. And I’m just hair, there we go. Alright, so I”m sewing, again it’s almost
an in the ditch style right next to the tape, sticking to the white side because it’s
going to hide it a little bit better. You’ve got to make sure and be really careful
here at the squares but I feel like it’s going to be just fine. Liz: And in the grand scheme of things if
it messes up enough that it really bothers you, you can take it out a little bit? You don’t have to take out a whole row of
stitches? You can just take out the little piece that
bothers you? Natalie: The part that you don’t like and
just go back over it. Liz: But for the most part, you can just quilt
it. Nobody is going to give the quilt back because
a little bit of white thread is on the red square. Natalie: If they do, they don’t deserve
it. Liz: Yep. Natalie: I don’t think anybody would even
notice though. Ok. Liz: And the other thing I see you doing is
smoothing the fabric as you go so that it’s nice and flat on the bed of your machine. Natalie: Ya that’s helping me to make sure
that I don’t feel wrinkles in any part of the quilt. So I’m trying to feel kind of through the
whole thing to make sure the back is not super scrunchy. And you can test it from time to time. But feeling it from the top, if it’s smooth
then you pretty much know that you’re going to be ok. Liz: A lot of quilting is by touch Natalie: Ya and feel. It’s like cooking, you know. You make it so the sauce looks like this and
you’re like well I don’t know what that looks like so you just have to practice a
whole bunch and figure out what works for you. It’s like rules, no rules. I kind of love that though because there’s
not really a right or wrong way to do it. There’s just me showing you how I do it,
what works for me. And what works for you may be totally different
but is completely 100% valid. Liz: Yep. Quilter’s choice. This is just one nice easy way to give it
a try. Natalie: Yep. Absolutely. Alright. So I’ve gotten to the edge and I didn’t
stitch into my border. I just did a couple of little locking stitches. And because I taped it specifically to sew
on this side, I’m just going to pull it back through and go back that same direction. If I had taped the whole thing I might be
able to flip and do kind of both sides out. You could do it that way as well if you wanted
to. But because of the way I taped it this time
I’m just going to go back to the beginning and stitch back through. And I’ll do that a few times until I’m
at the edge. Liz: This is another cool, like if this is
the way it works for your brain moment. Natalie: Yes, totally. And like so many different ways to do it. One of the things I do know about quilting
is that when you put a heavy like a dense pattern on a quilt, it gets tighter. And when you do a looser pattern it tends
to be more snuggly. And I don’t know, it’s lighter and a lot
of people find that it’s much more comfortable to snuggle up in a quilt that doesn’t have
a ton of heavy quilting in it. So it can be a preferred method for a lot
of reasons. Liz: Ya. And also guys, ask us questions about other
kinds of quilting you’d like to see us try on the home machine. Straight line quilting like this. There’s a couple other methods to try in
the future too but tell us what you want to see and how you want to finish your quilts
at home. Natalie: There’s almost as many ways to
finish a quilt as there are to make a quilt. Liz: I think you’re right. And as many ideas as there are quilters. Natalie: Yep. Alright. Liz: So you would just keep going until you
had the whole way out to the edge and then flip it. Natalie: Ya and we can remove a couple of
these pieces of tape just so you can see what we’ve done pretty easily. Liz: I love that. The reveal. Natalie: So you can see that seam, nice and
straight. And then this one. And actually you could probably just reuse
these pieces of tape. You could take this now and stick it right
along there. Liz: Yep. Natalie: You know, I mean obviously I would
stretch that out but you can, because this is reusable you can reuse the whole thing. Use it twice and not run out of tape as quickly. Liz: That’s fabulous. You’re right. Natalie: But this is great. Here’s the stitches right here. Nice and straight, right through it. And you can hardly see it. I got a little off there but oh well. Liz: No one will notice if you don’t point
it out, right? And it’s probably because the tape was there. Natalie: I think I must have taped it that
way, ya. Liz: Ya. Natalie: Alright, well what do you think? Pretty cool? Liz: Pretty cool. I think this answers the question. So this is one nice easy way, actually two
nice easy ways to do straight line quilting at home. So you can stitch in the ditch and follow
the seam itself. Go nice and slow. Or you can lay down a little bit of painter’s
tape, easily repositionable and follow that just like you would if it were a ditch to
stitch in. Natalie: Definitely. Natalie: So thanks so much for joining me
today. I have really enjoyed hearing from you guys
and seeing what you’re working on. Please continue to send us your questions
and comments. And join me next time on the Final Stitch.
