Marking quilting

So finally a minute to catch up here. Fall is always a really busy time for me. And this year especially busy with a new computer and software to learn. The constant upgrading and learning is fun but time consuming.

I thought I would show you my fall leaf quilt. I hope you see leaves. It looks like the wind is blowing them across the sky. I usually show the quilt with them dropping down from the tree. I made this back in 1994 for my book, Trouble Free Triangles. Autumn is my favorite season (In fall anyways) and the trees are pretty colorful around here this year, in spite of the cloudy rainy month we've had.

I have been pretty busy quilting on the longarm. My favorite kind of quilting is continuous line. I do like the way it looks and you don't have to mark anything. Of course I am not too good at it on the longarm yet. Often I draw out my quilting plan on a piece of vinyl first. I learned the hard way one time that it is important to tape off the edges of the vinyl. I used a permanent marker and stained the quilt. The tape is a works to stop you before you make a mess.

Some quilts have areas without much piecing and I like the classic look of the traditional designs there. I still prefer to mark the fancy quilting on some kind of paper. I tried the chalk, and don't want to use some of those other markers cause I don't want to have to wash the quilt right away, etc.
First I have to find a design to quilt. You'd think with the library of quilting designs I have that I could find the perfect one. but NO, I have to use a pair of mirror tiles and play with them on some of those designs in my library to come up with something perfect!

Then sometimes its not the right size and I have to size it up or down. Soooo glad I have a copy machine at home that will resize.

Then depending on the design I will use either Sulky tear easy and /or Golden Threads tissue paper or the Quilt and Tear on a roll shown. I prefer the Sulky because it isn't as crisp and doesn't come apart when I choose a design with crossed lines. It is a little harder to come off though so it helps to use a small stitch. To mark the papers I stack the papers and stitch on he lines without any thread. The marking pen doesn't transfer to the quilt this way, and it helps to save time marking and ripping. If you can look closely you will see the paper is perforated on the stitching line.

To see all the quilting I've been doing you'll have to wait another year for the next book. That's all I have time for. More soon! Sew long.