Originally Posted by
Bree123
One more thing...
Part of me is reluctant to suggest this, but as a beginning quilter, I think this might be a good time to break my general rule of quilting every 2". This isn't a quilt that is going to be washed every week, neither is it likely to become a family heirloom. It is a wonderful, loving gift to your nephew from you. So here's what I'd suggest for the quilting (make sure you either have a Dual Feed machine or else you'll need to install a Walking Foot to do the quilting). I'm not sure what kind of batting you used. Some battings need to be quilted every 2" or else they bunch up inside the quilt when washed. Other ones, like Warm & Natural can be quilted 10" apart or more without issue. Assuming you have a batting that can be quilted farther apart, here's what I'd recommend:
Note: The orange lines are so they show up in my illustration. I would quilt in that medium grey of your background fabric.
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Trying to quilt inside the TWD fabric gets a lot trickier unless you just quilt right over the print & don't worry about it (which isn't as horrible as it sounds). Over time, with many more hours of practice, you may decide to try your hand at Free Motion Quilting which would allow you to easily change direction within the rectangle to outline all the little shapes & even do decorative designs around them. You need to Stitch in the Ditch first for those designs anyways, so this will be a great practice piece for you to learn more about quilting. Just go slow (set your machine on the slowest setting if you have a speed dial). Stitch length should be 3mm or 9 stitches per inch is a good length for SID. Or you could make it a bit shorter (as short as 2.5mm or 10 stitches per inch). The walking foot, if you need one, is pretty clunky & it can be hard to tell if it is up or down. If you don't see your fabric moving when you press the speed pedal, odds are the walking foot (presser foot) is up. Same thing with nests of thread.
That said, it really isn't terribly difficult to learn to quilt with a walking foot (or dual feed machine) if you already know how to use your sewing machine for basic sewing. Making a practice piece (at least 12x12, preferably Fat Quarter size which is 18x22" or even a 1/2 yard) does help, though. It will allow you to get your machine settings just right for your quilting project. You usually need to lower the top tension to somewhere between 1-3, depending on your machine. You want the same thread in the top & bobbin. And make sure you use a fresh needle. Universal needles do not work great for quilting. I love Microtex needles. For a 50wt, 2 ply thread, a 70/10 Microtex (aka, Sharp) needle works well. For a 50wt, 3 ply thread, a 80/12 Microtex needle works nicely. You can also use a Top Stitch needle in size 80 or 90. Or a Quilting needle. Needles should last 8 hours of quilting time if undamaged.
BTW -- love your design!!! Your nephew is one lucky guy!
Wow! Thank you for all the tips, and for taking the time to draw out the lines!
For the batting, I got Heirloom 80/20. I got enough to make a queen, but the quilt will end up between a throw and a double size, so I have a lot of room for error. Plus, I wanted some excess to play with. The package says I can quilt between 1/4" and 3-1/2", so I may have to figure something out for some of the larger areas, but like you said, it is probably going to be minimally used, and rarely washed...so I may be able to get away with larger unquilted spaces. You think? Or I could quilt around each square in the print like someone else suggested.
Believe it or not, I've been sewing with a Singer 96-10, which was made in 1924, until recently. It's an amazing machine, a total workhorse as long as you keep it oiled, but very few options. For Christmas, I got a Brother LB6800 (which is supposed to be almost identical to the SE400) so now I have all these bells and whistles I'm still learning about. I do have a walking foot, but haven't used it yet. I read that it was pretty much required to keep the sandwich feeding through evenly. Your information on the stitch length is invaluable! That's one of those settings I've never had as an option digitally before...my old machine has a thumb screw that you use to loosen a knob that moves up and down and you just move it and tighten the thumb screw again. It is a simple machine...I think the manual is all of about 18 pages, total. My new machine came with 4 manuals totalling about 200 pages.
I just went and checked my needle stash and I do have a pack of Microtex, but only the 80/12, not the 70/10. I also have a ton of excess fabric, so maybe I'll use the weekend to make a 'mini' version...for practice. I got so ahead of myself, and I am so glad I decided to reach out for thread advice. The thing about doing something new is not knowing what you don't know. I am so grateful for all of you taking the time to help a newbie. I have really enjoyed making this so far and I'm sure if I had just barreled forward, it would have been very frustrating.