I have been working on quilt backs and quilting some larger quilts this week. I am a Craftsy fan. As a relatively new quilter, I am eager to learn and I find the Craftsy platform easy to use, informative and accessible. For example, the free class, taught by Elizabeth Hartman, Creative Quilt Backs had some very useful ideas.
This backing fabric is Four Seasons by Kumiko Sudo, gorgeous soft fabric. As it is a directional print, I did not want to piece it horizontally across the back, a long vertical seam would be better. The instructions for matching the pattern from the Craftsy class worked pretty well.
For the sea glass queen size quilt, I made a pieced back using extra blocks. Something I have done before, but after this class, perhaps with a little more intention (and less by accident!). I hope this quilts up well.
I also used Elizabeth's suggestion for cutting out the batting 2" wider than the quilt top, rolling up the batting and quilt top together and then cutting the backing 2" wider than the batting.
...or approximately 2 inches. Worked quite nicely.
I decided to quilt this one with diagonal lines. To increase the odds of straight lines, I marked the quilt with a hera marker as suggested by
Nicole at Mama Love Quilts.
This marking took a bit of time (particularly as I had already pin basted the quilt) but I found the quilt lines to be overall straighter than when I tried to just eye the lines.
Next, I was complaining to my husband about how the big quilts still catch on the edge of the extension table. Surprised he was still listening to my quilting chatter, I was thrilled when he suggested we extend the extension table!
A quick trip to Home Depot later, we had built this little stacked "extender" (2 feet by 2 feet) just the right height to add on to the left of the extension table. And it really worked great! One less source of stress on the quilt! Yeah!
The quilting continues! Have a great day! Linking up with:
I like the pieced back for the queen quilt and the colors you selected.
ReplyDeleteI really love the colors in this! And your craftiness with the Home Depot trip ;)
ReplyDeleteHow charming that your husband would do that! You both got a fun little project out of the deal! I still struggle with basting the larger quilts but it does seem to get better each time. I'll have to look not craftsy. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour scrappy trip along looks beautiful! And I love the ingenuity with your extender, what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteLove the table extension idea! I get so frustrated when I am trying to quilt and I get caught on the table, especially if it messes up the quilting I am trying to do. I might have to put my husband on this to see if he can fashion something for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for passing on your tricks and tips! The extension of the extension table looks like a good idea...
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try the hera marker idea. Looks like it really works. I've used a strip of masking tape, and move it from block to block as I go, but there might be better ways. Love your STA quilt. Very pretty.
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