Originally Posted by
FoxxyQuilter
You know, I recently did cross-hatch quilting lines on a wall hanging, and because I didn't have any painter's tape handy, I used disappearing ink to draw a line from one corner to the other (diagonally across my quilt, so that I ended up with a big X in the area where I wanted to do the cross-hatch quilting), sewed along those lines (very quickly, before the ink disappeared
), and then used the edge guide that came with my machine (a metal piece that extends out from the foot of my machine, and can be adjusted so that it follows the edge of the fabric when sewing a wide hem, etc.) to follow the lines I had already stitched, at 1 1/2" intervals (I also switched directions each time I sewed a line, so that my fabric didn't shift too much one direction or the other). It worked pretty slick, and saved me from having to run to the store for painter's tape
I just finished a cross-hatched baby quilt. Instructions I have seen (class instructors, books) say to sew all the diagonals in the same direction before starting in the other direction and "crossing" the first set of lines...Wonder which is right? I mark every line with water-soluable marking pen. It takes a little more time, but I find clearly discernable lines helpful. I am not so good with blue tape. The most important step, as far as I understand it, is to make sure you stitch your securing lines to minimize shifting, (in addition to basting). On my baby quilt I couldn't just sew a line from corner to corner or from top center to bottom center and side center to side center (because of the block pattern), so I had to do two Xs--side-to-side in the top half of the quilt and again in the lower half of the quilt to secure the sandwich before starting on my diagonal cross-hatching lines.