Three Ways to Machine Quilt with Straight Edge Rulers: Free-motion Challenge Quilting Along

hello everybody and welcome to the first video in the free motion challenge quilting along machine quilting with rulers i'm angela walters from quilting is my therapy in this video series i'm going to show you how to use different rulers of all types and show you some of my favorite designs this video is going to be a doozy but what can i say we have a lot of stuff to cover so go ahead and grab the downloadable quilting diagrams and tip sheet you can find the link in the description box below and let's get going in this video we're going to talk all about quilting with straight edge rulers i'm going to give you tips for selecting the perfect ruler for you and show you how to use them to create some of my favorite quilting designs i mean these designs are like my children well i mean if my children were quilting designs but even if you don't like them each design will still teach a technique so we're going to learn a lot right off the bat the reason we're starting with straight edge rulers is because i feel they're the easiest to use the point of contact between the foot and the ruler doesn't change and that gives you just one less thing to think about before we get to the designs though let's talk about what to look for in a ruler now you know there are plenty of rulers out there on the market and not every ruler is meant for every person and you're going to hear me say that a lot through this video series here's a couple things to consider if you're working in a smaller area maybe of a smaller throat on your sewing machine or just not quite a lot of room aim for a shorter ruler if you have a large space and more area go ahead and go for a slightly larger ruler but you don't need one that's really really long because no matter how long your ruler is you're only going to be quilting in between your fingertips the longer rulers do help because it helps me see where i'm going to end up helps me project where that line's going to go it might even be a straight edge that's part of another ruler and that's great too if you have a ruler with a lot of different shapes you just need one side to be straight be sure to look for reference lines on your rulers as well we're going to be using those a lot through these designs to help space out our echo lines to create those dot-to-dot shapes so the more reference lines the better since i quilt on a sewing machine and a long arm i actually have two straight edge rulers that i use a lot for the most part i use the slim ruler because it's hand sized and i can really get in and around things i also like the handy quilter straight edge ruler because it's a little bit longer and it helps me when i'm working with bigger blocks but ultimately you just need a straight edge ruler it doesn't matter how big if you're very new to machine quilting with rulers i've put together a separate video that shows them how to use it on your sewing machine and one that shows you how to use it on your long arm so be sure to check out those videos as a reference the first design we're going to work through is a scrambled lines design this design is all about texture and adding a beautiful pattern to the background areas of your quilt the technique that we're going to learn is echoing this is a design that works best in larger areas and what we're going to do is we're going to take that space and break it into little chunks this is going to make the quilting much more manageable we're going to create little sections and then fill them in with straight lines so let's get started i have my much larger area all in here so i'm going to start out by quilting the sides of a square and i'm going to quilt my line vertical and horizontal now here's the thing don't worry about the size of the box it doesn't matter it's the spacing between the lines that we put in it that will create the density so far so good right i've got my four sides two of them are quilted and two of them are the edge of my area i'm gonna start filling them in with vertical and horizontal lines and we're gonna do that by traveling and echoing so traveling is quilting along a previously quilted line and echoing is quilting that same line but a space distance away so i'm going to back up along the line i've just quilted and then quilt a vertical line that echoes the side of my area this is where reference lines come in really handy because this is going to help make sure that my ruler is straight to my area now to create my next vertical line i'm going to travel along the edge of the area and then echo the line i've just quilted all the way to the edge at a random point whenever you're feeling comfortable you can change directions so when i'm ready to do that back up along the line i just quilted and then quilt horizontally all right let's do another horizontal line travel along the edge and echo now what's awesome about this design is that the lines are going to get shorter and shorter so it'll get easier and easier as you go let's go vertical now okay so i know it's not looking like much now but it's going to look really cool here in a little bit you just have to trust me on this now there really is no rhyme or reason to the changing directions just change directions as you feel like you should but if you prefer more of a rule then you can say well i'll do three vertical and two horizontal i don't know it doesn't matter what just make sure you fill in the whole area now let's take a look at my first section in a perfect world we would end up in the corner of our area because that's how we're going to transition into our next section but if you find yourself not in the right spot just travel to that point and get to a corner any corner so we can make our next section doesn't matter how you get there just get there now that i finished that first one i'm going to quilt my second section and since i ended up at the edge of my area i'm going to use stitching in the ditch to create my next box it doesn't have to be the same size as the first one it just needs to be a box there's my next little box that i'm going to fill in with the horizontal and vertical lines and this is where we'll start to see the magic happen the random placement of lines are going to start to create a secondary pattern that looks really neat it'll look like you took the time to think it all through but really the more random the better now sometimes it might be a little tricky to see where you're going so if you're not sure if your ruler is lined up exactly right make sure you use the reference lines on your ruler to help keep it straight kind of lining them up along those previously quilted lines and whenever you're ready to change direction just backtrack along the line you just quilted and then quilt in the next direction and if you're feeling adventurous you don't have to always use a ruler for those short lines you can just wing it and get it pretty close although i'm pretty sure right now some of you are rolling your eyes and my next section is done and you can start to see that secondary pattern come out this is one of those examples where the real world didn't quite work out the way i wanted it to i didn't end up on a corner i ended up towards the center i'm just going to travel along and get to that corner doesn't matter what you do just get to the corner all right next section by now you know the drill right we're going to fill it in with horizontal and vertical lines now once you get comfortable with the idea of quilting those straight ish lines then you can start thinking about other things namely how do you make sure that you end up in the corner that you want to end up at let's pretend that you're working within the section and you want to end at this corner or somewhere kind of close to help ensure that that happens you want to quilt everything in that box besides that you want to save that corner for last so at this point i'm not going to travel down and quilt a vertical line over here because that's going to block off my corner instead i'll quilt another vertical line and then maybe some horizontal lines if you've ever mopped a floor before you probably have already done this you know when you're mopping the floor and you know you have to get out the door what do you do you mop everything else besides around the door so that's basically what we're doing here but again if that's too much to think about right now then just let it go and you can come back to that later once you get more comfortable with quilting with your straight rulers and i'm just going to keep doing that quilting my sections and filling them in this is very much how i like to quilt my quilts i like to make my little sections and fill them in and then move on the second design we're going to learn with our straight edge ruler is going to be the square spiral now this is a design that really draws attention to the center of the block the technique we're going to learn here is quilting diagonal lines before i get started i'm going to add a couple echo lines to make this space a little bit more manageable of course this is completely optional it's just a little trick that you can use to make those bigger areas a little bit easier to handle especially if you're working with blocks on point or a smaller threaded sewing machine once i'm done with my echoing it's time to quilt my square spiral design in the space i have left now i can start from any corner and i'm going to look to the next corner and past it by about a half of an inch or so and then i'm going to quit the diagonal line that goes right to it not really worrying if it lands on there perfectly or not now once i'm there i'm going to repeat i'm going to go to the next corner i'm going to go past it about a half of an inch and quilt a diagonal line to that point i'm going to do the same thing on my next point the problem is it's behind me it's a little difficult to see that's what i'm going to position the ruler get it as close as i can and then once it comes into view or reposition my ruler if necessary and now that i can see a little bit better i'm going to pause i'm going to kind of just check it out make sure it's looking pretty good and then continue on and there we have the first three lines of our design now we're going to do the same thing we're going to go to the next corner we're going to go past it except this time i'm going to stop at that previously quilted line there aren't any lines that cross each other in this design so once you hit a quilted line it's time to stop all right so it's coming together i'm starting to see that twisting effect come out and now i'm going to keep doing that going to my next corner but past it and continuing on until i get to the center okay so this is the first time we're seeing diagonal lines in this challenge but don't let that trip you up you're basically just going to position the ruler where you want the line of quilting to end up on your sewing machine you can work from any side of the foot so as you're quilting take your time and see what position feels better for you this design is going to force you to quilt those diagonal lines in all different directions and even if you just quilt this one block you're going to be a lot more comfortable with quilting those lines so take your time and have fun with it now let's take this over to the long arm and finish it out and see how quilting with a ruler is a little different quilting diagonal lines on a long arm is a little bit more tricky basically i have two sets of wheels one rolling horizontal and one vertical and to quilt that diagonal line i've got to engage them at the same time it's kind of like quilting a diagonal line with an etch a sketch so every once in a while you might get a bobble but just keep going it'll be fine [Applause] this particular design is going to challenge you to quilt in diagonal lines in all different directions when you're quilting on the long arm you're not going to have the ability to change the position of your quilt so you're going to need to get comfortable quilting those lines every which way and at any point when i decide you know what i think this looks great and i'm tired of holding those straight lines i could just stop at the end of a line and then find another corner across from it and close the diagonal line to that corner it just kind of closes it off and i think it makes it look finished and there you can see the finished design the last design we're going to talk through is dot to dot quilting in dotted dot quilting we're connecting reference points on the quilt to create these intricate looking designs and if you have been part of the free motion challenge quilting along for a little bit you may remember the dot-to-dot free motion challenge from earlier but the technique that we're going to learn here is landing on an actual spot so here's the thing we have to consider there's a quarter inch in between the edge of the foot and the needle so sometimes landing on that spot isn't always as easy as it seems but i've got some tips and tricks that might make a little easier so let's get to it i'm going to start at one corner it doesn't matter which one and i'm going to quilt a diagonal line to about a half inch inside the next corner this would be kind of like quilting the first line of our square spiral except i'm going to stop before i get to the edge now here comes the moment of truth i want to quilt another diagonal line that ends right at this corner but here's the thing if i put my ruler directly on that corner i'm actually going to end up about a quarter of an inch away so i'm going to have to take that into account when i'm positioning my ruler now here's how i do that i start on the point i want to end up on so i go ahead and establish where that is and then i back it up by a quarter of an inch or so and then quilt along the ruler and then as i'm moving into that point if i need to i can make some adjustments now i'm going to do it again the next corner behind here about half inch or quarter inch or so all right now my next corner is right there another option you have for hitting those points is to look for a ruler that has extensions on the other side so with sid or other rulers like this what these extensions are doing are giving you a reference line on the other side of your foot this first reference line that's just past the edge of this ruler will show me where my quilting line will end up so if i line that first reference line up with that corner that will tell me that's the angle i want to have and that will also help me get to that point and i have my first dot to dot design now we're going to do it again from the other corners to create just a little bit more intricate looking shape so i'm going to do a little stitching along the seam to get to that point now that i'm at this point i can do the same thing going to the next corner but not touching now the next point that i'm going to connect with is actually behind my machine so one of the benefits of having a sewing machine is that i can easily twist the quilt a little bit and bring it into view then quilt to that point and i'm going to do the same on the other side returning to the starting point now i'm going to quickly demo that on the long arm this goes together pretty much the same as it does on a sewing machine the biggest difference is that you can't twist the quilt if you can't see one of the corners so just take your time reposition your ruler and get it as close as you can now this is also another point where the extensions will come in handy on your ruler travel along the edge and do it again so the first corner is not going to touch and then the next one is and i'm going to finish it out that is a lot of stuff to talk about in one video i'm so glad that you stuck around now are you ready for your challenge if you're quilting along with me on the custom panel for the challenge try quilting the designs we've just learned on your panel and the areas highlighted in red if you have questions be sure to leave them in the comments below i try to pop in every once in a while and see how it's going if you like the video give it a thumbs up that'll help other quilters find it and i do appreciate that for all the links to the products that you've seen the quilting diagrams as well as other videos check out the description box below i'll see you next week where we'll talk about wavy rulers and creating some beautiful textures on our quilts happy quilting

Channel: Angela Walters

Views: 69,853

Rating: 4.9754553 out of 5

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Id: 3KJh5IrCWz4

Length: 14min 54sec (894 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 28 2020