Jean’s Guide to Walking Foot Quilting

Marking your quilt top

There are many options for marking your quit top. I prefer the mechanical pencils that use chalk, especially the ones that have a white “lead” for marking dark fabrics. The Bohin is my favorite. I’m constantly picking up new markers to try. Another great option for the mechanical style pencil is by Sewline – this brand also sells an air erasable pen which would work for immediate sewing. You wouldn’t want to mark your entire quilt with an air erasable pen because it might disappear before you can complete your project.

Frixion pens – after reading a lot of information, this is what I’ve learned. The black pen can be very difficult to remove, so I stay away from that one. The marks made by the other ones are not completely removed with an iron – and may show up again if the quilt gets very cold. Washing the quilt seems to help remove the marks, but they are never completely gone.

I have never had much success with pounce pads – in spite of how easily those who demonstrate them make the process look – I envy you if you make them work for you.

You can use painters tape for marking straight lines on small projects and it works really well. I tried it once on a large project – and with the bunching and folding to get the quilt under the machine, the tape came off and I lost my line.

Thread

While I tend to use a neutral gray thread for my quilt piecing – that is probably the last thread I’d use to quilt most of my quilts. You have a couple of choices when selecting thread. If you want your quilting to “disappear” into your project, use a 50 weight or even a 60 weight thread in a color that matches your project. The thinner thread will melt into the quilt – especially after washing.

On the other hand, if you want to call attention to your quilting, pick a thicker thread, like a 40 weight or heavier – it will be more noticeable. Then you can also look at variegated threads that add an extra layer of design to your quilt. Just remember that mistakes will also be easier to see – so pick a design you are confident you can handle.

Use a 2.5 or 3 stitch length when you are quilting – a little bigger than your piecing stitch.

One way to pick a thread color if you’re undecided is to pull off a few yards from the spool you are considering and let it “pool” on the quilt. That will give you a basic idea of how the thread will look.

As you can see from some of the samples I brought, using decorative stitches can add a fun detail to your project.

Stencils

Stencils work for both walking foot and free motion designs – just make sure you purchase designs that are labeled “continuous line.” That means the whole design can be stitched without stopping. Hand quilting stencils can have many starts and stops.

I use stencils a lot for border designs. They rarely fit exactly, so as I’m marking, I start from the corners and work my way to the center of the border. I will often elongate lines or spaces a little as I mark if I see that the design won’t fit exactly in a space. The changes you make in the design will be less noticeable in the center than at the corner.

Sometimes stencils can be used to provide registration marks for your designs, but we’ll share more about that when we discuss free motion and ruler quilting.

Batting

There are many choices in batting. Most of my quilts use cotton batting, although I also like a cotton blend. One consideration when you choose – if there is a lot of white in your quilt, the cream color batting behind the top will “steal” some of the brightness. A bright white batting will make a difference.

One of the most important considerations in buying batting is the manufacturer’s recommendation on how far apart your quilting should be.

Some batting requires the quilting to be only a few inches apart, while others can be as much as 10″. Not following the recommendations can cause the batting to shift inside the quilt with use and washing.

Many quilt teachers recommend stitching in the ditch to stabilize a quilt before any decorative work. While I haven’t done much of that – it is a good idea and it stabilizes your work. The last couple of quilters I have learned from both suggested this. I also found out that my machine has a special foot for stitching in the ditch – and it made a big difference in the accuracy of my work. Since my quilting is fairly dense, the last judge who looked at my work didn’t complain about the lack of stitching to stabilize my quilt.

You want your batting and backing to be larger than your quilt top – a least a couple of inches on all sides if it is a small project, and at least three to four inches on all sides for a large top. The worst thing that can happen is that you start pinning your large quilt top and find that something is a little crooked. You’re halfway done and there’s no batting under the next section you want to pin – it has happened to me – so I don’t skimp on the extra batting and backing.

Feet

My machine has the walking foot “built in” which makes life easier. It helps pull the fabric layers through the machine evenly. When you get to free motion quilting and ruler work, different feet are required.

While many of the newer machines now come with extensions to give you more surface around the needle plate, there are other companies that will make a custom table to fit a machine. This is helpful with large projects, especially with free motion quilting and ruler work.

You may find gloves helpful as you stitch your project. Make sure you have the machine set so the needle will be down when you stop to change directions.

Have fun quilting!

We recognize here at Quilting Legacies that there many ways to achieve a great result. Our tips come from experience and we encourage you to test our theories – the most important part of quilting is that you have fun and love what you create. Be sure to share your work with us, we love seeing your finished projects!