Question about printable quilting stencils
 

Hello,

I'm still not great at fmq on my dsm, but I'm endeavoring to get better at it. (I spend far too much time piecing more tops and not enough time sandwiching and quilting them!). I was looking at the Leah Day printable quilting stencils, and they look like a great idea, but I wonder about how to avoid snapping my needle over and over again on the pins I use for sandwiching - which would be hidden under the paper. (I prefer to sandwich with pins for a number of different reasons, so using an adhesive to sandwich is not an option for me, unfortunately.)

The quilt I'm tackling at the moment has some blocks that are really dark and some that are really light, and I haven't been able to trace or draw a pattern on them, using my markers, that is consistently visible against the various fabrics. That's what I'd usually do, since I'm not great at just freehanding yet.

Has anyone ever used the printable paper stencils with pins? If so, how did you manage the hidden pins?

Thanks for any advice! :)

I would pin my quilt, then pin the quilting papers in place pinning through all layers. Then I'd remove the first pins (that held the layers together ) from under the papers... if that makes sense...

Could you make a mark on the paper where the hidden pins are so you could remove them when you get close?

This is what I would do too.

Is thread basting an option for you?

I guess I’m missing something. Having used this type of paper overlay quilt patterns myself, if there are pins underneath how will you remove those pins when you sew to them without messing up the paper design? I normally use Elmer’s glue watered down a bit and a thin brush to glue baste my tops before quilting. So no pins to remove except those holding down the paper design. Picking out the paper once the top is quilted is time consuming but I’ve found a water brush helps with the pesky spots and speeds things up. Since I’ve used glue for the basting, I wash the quilt when completed.

I also recently purchase Leah Day's quilting stencils. I used masking tape to apply them to the top of the quilt. I had a hard time following the stencil lines smoothly, although this process does have some potential. I just need more practice with it. I did one row across the middle of the quilt, but ended up removing the quilting stitches and doing straight line stitching.
As far as basting, glue basting rules!! I wish I had learned this sooner. Watered down washable school glue works well, but can be a little messy (maybe it's just me). I love using 505 fabric glue spray- it works really well for me. But I need to take it outside to spray on my long 8 ft Costco table. Using pool noodles works well for bigger quilts when spray basting each layer.

Thank you for all your helpful replies! I decided to be a big girl and have a go at free motion on my own, stencil-free, since my quilt was already pinned. It wasn't the greatest, but it ended up working out pretty well, and I am growing in confidence with my FMQ!

If thread basting is an option, Sharon Schamber has some old videos on YouTube on how to do this on a table. You can find them by searching "Sharon Schamber hand basting". I cannot crawl around on the floor like I used to. In her method, you roll your quilt top on a board, and the back on a different board, and lay the batting in the middle, and baste with a herringbone stitch. I usually make large quilts, like Queen size, and baste like this using 10' boards and two long tables placed end to end. This has worked wonderful for me, and keeps the layers held together well, even with the movement of pushing and pulling the quilt sandwich around as you quilt it, and you don't have the risk of the pins tearing your fabric. I just snip the threads as I go so that I don't risk pulling on my stitches. The last few that I've done, I've had friends to come over, and we made a fun day of it. I helped them do theirs, and they help me do mine.

I took a class by RaNae Merrill. It was an online class. You had to do a square every day after watching her videos. It really helped me move my FMQ to the next level. I'm convinced that you need to just do a lot of it to get better.

PS: I can't follow stencil to save my life!