Winterberries part 5 ( February 24, 2021)

 Hello, hello!

Time for part 5 of our Winterberries sewalong!

This week is super easy....we are cutting our background and layering and quilting our quilt!

Start by giving your quilt top a good pressing ( because if you are anything like me, it might have been draped over other projects and is a bit wrinkly!) 

You might have some little "dog ears" sticking out from your quilt top, from the setting triangles we used in our top. You can choose to trim those off now, OR you can wait until you are finished quilting and trim them off at the same time you are trimming your backing and batting even with your quilt top...guess which one I'm doing? 

Your quilt top should measure around 39 inches square so you will need a background and batting square that is slightly larger than that. Luckily our fabric comes in 42-44 inch widths so that is wide enough, but you will need a slightly larger than 1 yard piece to cover the length ( 1 1/8 yard should be plenty) . You can choose to piece this, or, of you are lucky, you have a larger than 1 yard piece of fabric that you can trim to size.

I often see recommendations that you cut your batting and backing with a much larger margin than your quilt top, but I find that to be a big waste! I have never run into a problem having those pieces just 2 inches larger , and that leaves me with more fabric and batting for other projects!

Before you start layering your quilt pieces, think about how you are going to quilt your quilt! If you choose to meander quilt by machine, you are good to go. However, if you choose to hand quilt, or even quilt a particular pattern with your machine, you might want to mark your quilt BEFORE layering it, simply because it will be easier.

I am choosing to hand quilt my quilt with a BIG stitch. I love the look, and I love the process so that is my personal preference. You must choose what suits you best. But if you have never tried hand quilting with a big stitch, I highly recommend it ;). If you can't imagine quilting an entire quilt by hand, you can also opt to machine stitch in the ditch on your pieced blocks, and then hand quilt just in the appliqued blocks. Your quilt, your decision! 

Sometimes coming up with the quilting design is the most difficult part! You can choose to quilt straight lines, cross-hatching, circles, shapes,  swirls....whatever you feel looks right! To get these designs you can use stencils ( store bought), your quilt rulers, cookie cutters, cups or plates from your kitchen....you get the idea. The only tricky thing is to line up your quilting so that it is centered on your quilt top and your blocks. Therefore, I start in the middle of my quilt and work my way outwards to the corners. Do pay attention  and make sure that your quilt design works with the quilt recommendations provided on your batting package...some allow you to  quilt up to 10 inches apart, and others only 5, so do follow the guidelines! 

For my quilt, I decided to take my cue from my pieced blocks and simply continued the seam line to mark a quilting line into the setting triangles.  

For my appliqued blocks I didn't want to quilt across my berries and stems, so used a machine quilting ruler and circle template to mark a design around the entire applique. One nice thing about using a water soluble marker is that you can use a wet Qtip to "erase" mistakes or unwanted designs. 

I am providing some closeups so you can see what I used as reference points to get all my lines marked:

Once you have marked your quilt top you will layer it with the backing and batting and baste it. You can baste with basting spray, with safety pins, or with good old needle and thread, using a GIANT stitch.  I prefer the latter for hand quilting because I find basting spray both expensive and messy, and pins can get in the way when you use a hoop. And if you happen to have some old thread, or ugly color thread, this is a great way to use it up!

Once you are all basted you are set to start quilting. Quilting from the middle out has always worked well for me.  If you choose to do BIG stitch quilting I am going to recommend using a thread that you can actually see. My favorite hand quilting thread is 12 wt cotton petite from Sulky ( click), but this time around I decided to use perle cotton that I found at my local reuse store because the color is perfect for my quilt top. I use embroidery needles because the eye is nice and big and is easily threaded. 

So to sum up what you need this week:

• batting and backing approximately 42 inches wide and tall
• safety pins or basting thread or basting spray
• sewing machine and thread for quilting OR hand quilting thread and needle
• masking tape or blue soluble marker or any other marking device that you like
• a quilting hoop if you prefer to work with one while hand quilting

Alright, I think I have given you enough food for thought in this blog post! I thought this was going to be my shortest Winterberries blog post yet, and here it has turned into one of the longest, but I do hope I have explained my process thoroughly. But don't hesitate to ask questions if something is not clear!

For your convenience I am providing some links to products that I mentioned. Buying through my links doesn't cost you any extra, but does provide me with a small commission, which I am grateful for!

Quilting hoop ( click)

Embroidery needles ( click)

Sulky 12 wt petites ( click)

Water soluble marker ( click)

Quilting stencils ( click)

And now I must get to work so that I can share my quilted quilt top with all of you, before we move onto the final part: the binding!

Until next time~happy creating!

Monique