Jessica’s Patriotic Quilt Update

I thought that some of you might be interested to know how I go about machine quilting stencils using a domestic sewing machine.

I opened up EQ8 and found a stencil that I thought would work for the pieced blocks in Jessica’s Patriotic quilt. I altered it a little bit, and then printed it to the size that I needed for the quilt blocks.

I also cut sheets of tracing paper the same size as the stencil and stapled the stack together. One sheet for every block, in this case, 15 sheets.

Using a dull unthreaded needle, ‘trace’ around the stencil. Doing this not only creates multiple copies of the stencil, but allows me to become familiar with the design, and to plan out a way to continuously quilt it.

Yes, I could simply print out multiple copies of the stencil. I prefer to use tracing paper because it is not as thick as copy paper, and I find it easier to remove when I am finished quilting.

I pin the stencil to the block and free motion quilt following the holes that were created when making the stencil.

When I finish, I will tear away the tracing paper.

I pin and stitch one block at a time. Again, the tracing paper is thin and tears easily. Maneuvering one block at a time keeps me from tearing other blocks. I found this out the hard way!

I have no idea how I am going to quilt the rest of the blocks!

I am definitely open to suggestions!

In other news, I am spending almost all of my time working on genealogy. The plan is to work it hard until my subscription to Ancestry runs out (in a couple of months). As much as I enjoy the research, I will not be renewing. It is way too time consuming (and pricey), and I need to come up for air!

I am linking up with Kathleen’s Tips and Tutorials. You might want to click over there for some helpful hints!

Quilt On!