Can the back be a thinner cotton?

QuiltE - Ooh I like that !!!
JeanieG - Welcome, We look forward to seeing your blocks :)
BeckyPotter - WTG :thumbup: Look forward to seeing your pics.
Gardnergal - I would love to hear more about this washable thread you mentioned. Also I see where you are headed with your QAYG Strips- definitely and option. Will look forward to seeing pictures as you go so we can discuss the variation of QAYG you are using.
Carol Ann - Welcome Aboard. We look forward to what you have to share with the group. :thumbup:
Vickig626 - Getting a UFO completed is never cheating. Christmas or otherwise you start where you want to.


This morning I had my next tutorial all set up in a Word file ready to post. Some how the file became corrupted and I lost all of it so I have to start over. :( So will post it directly like the others. :thumbup: :thumbup: LOL

I would only cut one and try it on a block. Once you quilt it you can determine if you like the effect. :thumbup: Give yourself maybe an inch and a half extra all the way around the batting for your backing. I will be posting the next step shortly and I cover a little of this info. :)

Here are pictures of my practice blocks.

Quilting the individual blocks, This next step can be considered an extra TIP step. I found this suggested in several different blogs, you tube tutorials, and it is also mentioned in the Craftsy.com quilting class. Quilting Big Quilts on a Small Machine. http://www.craftsy.com/class/Quiltin...all-Machine/51

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To help me decide what type of design I want to quilt onto my block. I use a 20 x 20 piece of clear Vinyl laid over the square. Make sure it completely covers and at least overlaps the square. I then used a dry erase pen to audition different designs on the block.
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Here is another image where I was just playing around with design ideas.

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This is just an extra step that could be very helpful in deciding your quilt design. :)

OH Ssnare those are beautiful. You are going to have one lovely quilt when you are done with this project. :thumbup::thumbup:

another fibro sufferer here..... I agree the flares are much worse this year..... it's a effort to even piddle online these days....

maybe we need a fibro support group here.?

I'm following this post, but I'm not posting pics or even quilting... pout.. darn fibro....

Quilting the Block

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I decided to use a Cross-Hatching design on my DP9. I used a walker foot for this project because the walker foot is great for quilting long straight lines and geometrical angles. I have also used the walker foot for Echo quilting and making wavy lines. The walker foot is a machine guided attachment with the feed dogs always up to my knowledge. If your design requires more free motion quilting then you will most likely want to use a darning foot aka FMQ foot and your feed dogs would be disengaged (down position). Diamond Grid, Echo Quilting, Stippling, Meandering are just a few other quilting designs that can be used.
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A great source of information on the Walker foot and Darning foot and also on Quilt Designs can be found in the book pictured. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Especially beginners and intermediates. :thumbup:


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Here are a few pictures I will share of the back side of my quilted blocks.

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Jenniky, you are doing a fabulous job of showing us ideas. And wouldn't you know it, I have that book but forget I have it all the time. Silly me.

Here are a few of my 35 Sunbonnet Sue blocks. Ruby (my DGD) is a hot pink lovin' little girl so I am going to border each block with hot pinks prints. I am planning to use your method of planning the layout of the SS because I want them to flow colorwise and then pin their individually picked pink borders, so I also don't have like prints right next to each other. Your system that you showed will work so well for doing this. Not sure I wouldn't have come up with it on my own. Sew, thanks a million... at least!!

Linda your Sunbonnet Sues are darling. Im glad I was able to help you remember a very valuable resource you had tucked away. :) I'll do my best to keep the tips coming. :thumbup:

Hello Jenniky!

Time for the Olympics host nation to jump in?

I have a QAYG teapots quilt that I shelved so I could get on with the patriotic quilt I'm working on. By October I hope to be doing the QAYG on the patriotic quilt, then after that picking up the teapots quilt to finish it off. Do I qualify to join you? I'm not planning anything exciting for the quilting. Just getting them done is challenge enough for this year.

Muv... Plays national fanfare a warm Welcome to the Olympic Host Nation :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: LOL

Just getting your QAYG done is more than enough reason to join us. I hope you will share with us as you go. I know you like to hold off to the end before posting pictures. Any tips or insights you have into the QAYG techniques and all the variations out there would be greatly received.

I, too, have fibro and the flares are worse this summer. But I am so glad this thread has been started - it keeps my mind off the fibro while I think about how I want to quilt my blocks! :thumbup: All the practice blocks that have been posted are so pretty! I can't wait to see how they all get quilted.

Hello Jenniky,

I've been following your posts and would like to join too. Just what I need to get back into the sewing room and I've always wanted to learn the QAYG. Thanks for doing this.

Linda You are very much like me then.. and part of the reason I am hosting this thread is because I suffer from constant back pain that is often disabling. This helps me focus on quilting and the joy of creating instead of focusing on the pain. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: I hope all of you fibro sufferers can find some distraction from your discomfort/pain here in this thread also. :) :)

GGal ... as a Lake Osoyoos-ian that makes you another almost Canuck too!! <clap> <clap> <clap>

Muv ... Cheers!!! (said in a fully Brit way!) ... what else but a teapot quilt for you, to make it totally British! Hey, that could be entered in the Patriotic thread too! :) And too, the Jubilee quilt is to be QAYG? Now that was a surprise, I wasn't expecting!

Jenniky ... I really like how all the nations meet here on the QB for a common interest of Quilting. Kind of like the Olympic spirit, in a sense!! Yes, Muv likes to wait til the end, though she also likes to give us teaser photos while in progress!! :)

Welcome!!! one and all that have joined the thread since I last dropped by. There's been some really nice blocks shown that are going to be used for this project as we work along together. I keep remembering some of the different PUPs that I have, and are candidates when I start sewing with you!

FMQ Foot? ... for those that are Janome users, they offer a FMQ specific foot with three interchangeable feet. My preference is the plastic large cupped foot. It's far nicer to use than the standard Darning Foot. I know it fits my 6600, and several of their other models. Also, another good investment is the blue dot bobbin case to use when FMQing. Til I had these, I abhorred FMQ and was convinced there was no way I would ever "like" it. Now, I'm starting to go beyond liking ... and into the loving stage! :)

For non-Janomes, I suspect there may be other possibilities. One that I've read about is a "blue foot" and I think it is a generic foot for several machine. I believe it is somewhat similar to the plastic one I am using with mine.

Keep going Ladies ... I'm looking forward to cheering as the first QAYG Olympic medals are awared

I already messed up. My squares are 9" and I cut the backs 10 1/2" square and a batting square 10 1/2". Should they have been 12"?

You're an excellent Leader Jenniky, for this thread ... and more so for how to "live" rather than "dwell" on the adversities with which we must face.

We can all learn so much from you!! What a superstar, you are, indeed!

And what a terrific job you are doing in leading this thread. Very clear and detailed instructions with well researched info. YOu're an amazing woman!!!!!!

If you want to try for a group, it would be done thru the General Chit-Chat section of the QB or the Personal Diaries and Announcement section.

I found some orphan blocks to adopt...using 6 (they were different sizes so added borders--scrap strips--to make the blocks all 13 1/2"), then cut 6 cream on cream solid blocks (I will use your suggestion, Jen, to do different quilting designs in them). Next will work on basting them together & quilting.

Welcome Redvette... Thanks for joining us. We look forward to you sharing your project blocks with us. :)

Sounds to me like you did perfect for the current method I am presenting :) :thumbup: Which technique are you using to baste. If you are following what I have been doing then you are doing great. :thumbup:

VickiM - Love your Adopted Blocks Im sure they are glowing with the warmth of new found project love already. :) :)

Bluteddi -- Not knowing your level of fibro (I've had it about 15 years now), I've learned what I can / can't do and when I can do stuff. I always try to sew a little everyday at least for about an hour then take a break. I find that distracting myself from my pain helps tremendously. And a support group for quilters would be a good idea to help each other enjoy our craft in spite of our pain.

I have never done this. So I will spray baste and follow what you are doing. I thought we were to have 1-1 1/2" extra on all sides.

OOPS!! I missed typing in a step. After the spray basting and before you start quilting your design. Pin the 4 corners of the block and run a basting stitch of less thana 1/4 inch around the edges of the block. Now you are ready to quilt your square. With stippling and meandering I try to start in the corner of the block and move out from there. My aim is to fill in the block with the design and quilt off the opposite corner if possible.

JenniKy...here is the link to the process I'm trying to use even though i didn't quilt in a hoop like she does. What attracted me was the precisiness and not having to use a strip on the back. What I hadn't paid attention to was that she had a 1/2 inch seam that she trimmed to 1/4 so I'm punting and adding a strip on the back. :mad: Still my block is very flat and square which is nice to work with. I haven't made the jig that she uses but I can see how useful it would be. I'll try to have pictures to add early next week.
http://www.queenofstitching.com/

Great Gardner Gal I will look forward to seeing your pictures next week. :thumbup: This evening I will check out the link you provided. Thank you for adding to our pool of knowledge and techniques for QAYG. :)

Preparing you Sashing Strips.
 

So at this point my twelve blocks are all quilted and squared up to the exact same size.


:cool: SEW Let's get started.

For this method with the understanding you are using all 1/4" seams. Your TOP sashing strip will be 1 inch wide and the length will be the same as your block length.

EXAMPLE: Ssnare is using 9 inch top blocks. Now as long as no wonkiness happened along the way that required her to trim her blocks under the 9 X 9 squares; the width and length of her qulited blocks {top,batting,and backing} is 9 X 9 squared.

So Ssnare would cut her top sashing strips 1" x 9". The number of strips needed would be determined by the number of quilted units you are attaching within the row. If Ssnare has four units in a row she would need to cut 3 TOP sashing strips for each row.

The BOTTOM sashing strips will be 1-3/4" x 9 inches. You will need the same number of these bottom sashing strips as the TOPS. :thumbup:

So let's say we are just working on one row for now. Ssnare should now have in front of her 3 Top strips cut at 1" x 9" and 3 bottom sashing strips cut at 1-3/4" x 9 inches.

Now we are going to take the bottom sashing strips and fold them over in half and iron them.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353326[/ATTACH] Do not pay attention to the pictures after the Green Strips the top sashing pieces should not be folded or ironed at this point. ONLY the Back Sashing. I can't seem to remove those pictures from my post.

Can you explain what these terms mean: stippling, meandering, echo, outline, diamond grid, cross-hatching?
Next, you did not explain what to use for the backing material.

Here is a picture of my blocks sandwiched together.

SSnare ... stippling, meandering, echo, outline, diamond grid, cross-hatching are all different styles of quilting. Another is SITD (Stitch in the Ditch). YOu will be quilting each of your blocks before you proceed with the step that Jenniky just posted and what she has suggested is that on each of the blocks you do a different style of quilting. I think it's a really good idea, so that we have a "sample" of sorts of quilting styles.

As for the backing material ... I would think that's something only you can decide. Do you want the back of your quilt plain? pattern/print? bright? light? dark? I'm sure the blue you have your blocks laying on in your picture would be fine. It's your quilt, so do what pleases you!

I am way behind everyone but at least I can finally post my blocks here. I have to add some borders to all of them as they are not square nor the same size. I have the batting ready to cut as soon as I know the final size of the blocks. I am thinking probably 15". So would I then cut my batting 18" to allow 1.5" on all sides? The strips at the bottom will be borders for the quilt. [ATTACH=CONFIG]353393[/ATTACH]

Just a word of encouragement... [from one Linda to another]... you aren't way behind behind everyone~~or at least you aren't behind me :D . I have my Sunbonnet Sue squares that I have had for over a year but I may be adding extras to each Sue before I add the batting and then quilt each block. My hope is to work on this at least each week and enjoy the journey of learning something I have wanted to actually do for a long time.

BTW, your blocks are beautiful!

**riding along** with you here, JeanieG
... til at least I get "some" caught up! And learning in the meantime.

I will say, as I've been learning, I've been remembering some hidden UFOs that I'll unearth for this! :)

Good Morning Ladies :) I am going to take a few minutes and answer the questions posted. Then I will be ready to share some more steps in the QAYG process.

Here is a Reminder of what exactly the Challenge is. :)

The challenge itself is to explore the techniques, the bonus of this challenge is giving purpose to any orphaned or practice blocks we have tucked away.

What I really want to emphasize on is.

1. Giving ourselves permission to make something that is not necessarily perfect.
2. Teaching each other as we learn.
3. Problem solving as a group.
4. Discussions on Planning a QAYG project, What type of quilts work better with this process or which technique works best for each type of quilt. I dont have a timeline planned out. It will be an ongoing challenge where anyone who wants to work on a QAYG project can enlist support as they work on their quilt.

SEW ANYONE that is following this Challenge and or Learning from it or Asking for Help on QAYG techniques or has Questions pertaining to the process or is Giving input of their experiences and knowledge. Is {;)Drum Roll Please.. ;) } MEETING THE CHALLENGE. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: {Applause for all and cheering.} :D :) ;) :thumbup:

There is no way behind in this on going challenge. Work at the pace that suits you. Now if you want help in staying on task and getting a QAYG project done. Then just let us know and I know of at least three people who are following this thread who will be more than happy to encourage you along to stay on task. {Applause and cheering for our cheering section.} :D :) ;) :thumbup:

One of the reasons I did not want to present my instructions as a complete tutorial is that we all are at different stages in our learning process. We are all at different levels of internet savvy. I can remember back to my first months on the board and learning about quilting. Sometimes things just didn't click when explained. Then after I asked questions sometimes I did the slap to the head thing. {Emmulates slapping my head and rolling my eyes.} When it would finally click and the answer was right there all the time I was just not reading it right. Sometimes though my questions hadn't been right there and others would chime in and say... "Oh Im glad you asked that because I was thinking the same thing."

So the only thing I would ask and recommend highly is ... to use "I" statements when you are unclear on something or if you think I have not explained something well enough or left something out. Then just ask for more clarification on the matter. :thumbup: :thumbup:

The sharing of information related to QAYG is the challenge.{Applause and cheering.} :D :) ;) :thumbup:

SUGGESTION REVIEW: (from thread post #24)

Another suggestion for this project would be to make six to eight solid 6 x 6 blocks. When you quilt each block uses a different quilt design method. For example stippling, meandering, echo, outline, diamond grid, cross-hatching. This will give you a lovely small wall quilt sampler to hang in your sewing room for future inspiration.

Time to Share::) :)
Ladies Im asking for volunteers to post a close up picture of quilts you have already completed that show stippling, meandering, echo, outline, diamond grid, cross-hatching, and stitch in the ditch designs. Tell us what quilting design you are sharing and then the close up picture. If possible would be great to show the front and the back of the quilted design. Thanks. :thumbup:

Ssnare - When I zoomed in on your pictures of your sandwiches It looked to me your back layer of the sandwich is a white or off-white. Is this correct? Are your sandwiches laying on a blue bedspread for the picture? The third (back) layer of your sandwich is your backing. When your quilt is finished that third or back piece of the sandwich will be the back of your quilt. :) Since you have not started quilting them yet hopefully you can still pull off the third layer of your sandwich and change it if the fabric you used for the third (back) layer of your sandwich is not what you wanted for the final backing of your quilt. :)

Technique Review:

The backing and batting for each block should be at minimal an inch larger all around the block. This is very important. You will most likely run into trouble if you make them smaller or the same size as your top block. A quarter of an inch all the way around your top block will be allocated to the quarter inch seam. So remember; what ever you want the final block size to be you must remember to add in your 1/4" seam. When attaching your blocks to any other block or sashing you always will lose a 1/4" all around so plan for it if you are determined to have your blocks within the quilt a specific size. I hope this is clear for beginners. :thumbup:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]353413[/ATTACH] These are the three pieces for one unit (squared sandwich). The overhang of batting and backing are important. We don't want to have a lot of waste to cut off of our over hang but you also don't want to have too little. The least amount of over hang you would want to work with is one inch. I would say the most is 2.5 to 3 inches. This is a personal preference. The reasons your batting and backing are larger than your top square is, so you can 1. Have the extra material to hold onto when you are free motion quilting your block. 2. There could be a bit of shrinkage depending upon the type and thickness of the material you are using. 3. The excess is helpful in that you can sew off onto the excess and then back on to your quilt top in a different place / angle / direction without stopping and cutting your machine threads. In the tutorial section of the Quilting Board, type in Stippling or Meandering in the Search Box and see what tutorials come up on the subject. If anyone has a favorite tutorial you would like to share a link to please do. :thumbup:

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I hope this shines a bit of clarification. :thumbup:

Yes in deedy do .... it shone clarification right down from the sky!!!
You write very clearly, and put things together in a nice orderly fashion.
(And a scorcher of a day it's going ot be here ... you really don't need to send MORE!!!!!! *kidding*)

I love this quilt-a-long concept ... the closest we can come to a good ol' fashioned IRL quilting bee!!

As Jenniky mentioned about some of her earlier virtual quilting experiences, unfortunately sometimes the typed words, just don't come across, the same as IRL. We can each read the same sentence, and take different meanings. And unfortunately, again, because we are not together IRL, we don't get to see those puzzled looks from each other, and then, are not able to catch them with helpful responses.

Although, I do think that Jenniky is somewhat clairvoyant and will see us.
So be careful, one and all, she's just like Santa, and is watching us all the time!!! :)
:D YIIIIKES!! :D

Can I add some clarification, too?
In post #118, Jenniky writes ... "The excess is helpful in that you can sew off onto the excess and then back on to your quilt top in a different place / angle / direction without stopping and cutting your machine threads."

When sewing "off" the block, I wwas taught to not sew beyond the block's edge (just into the seam allowances). As it says, you are not cutting threads ... and it is best to not cut threads later when you trim the block for the further steps. Why you are asking? Cut threads, can create a risk to quilting eventually unravelling. Likewise, when your borders are 6" and you want them narrower after quilting is done, I've always been told that's a no-no! :)

I'll add ... this is all about risk.
You can likely get away with it most of the time. Though for me, I like to adapt good habits and minimize my risks. I tend to use the same quilting techniques whether it's a novelty wall hanging that will never be laundered or a child's quilt that will endure repeated washings. That way I don't have to remember to do it differently, as that's the time I surely will forget!!! :D I just don't want my quilts to fall apart right after ....... or when laundered ......... or years later!

Only from loving use and lots of hugging and cuddling do I want my quilts to fall apart!! :) That's totally permissable! :)