I know. You look at that mass of quilt and you look at the space under the arm of your sewing machine and you think, “No way!”

You’d be wrong.

You can totally quilt a big quilt on a regular sewing machine.

I’ve actually quilted king size quilts on my machine – though in this video I’m demonstrating on a twin size.

First, watch this video showing the basics of machine quilting. That video uses a little doll quilt as a sample – easy to see and get a feel for the process – but it doesn’t answer the question you really have about doing the same thing with a bed quilt. That’s what I tackle in this video. So watch it now.

Important! See that little black bit behind the presser foot on my machine? That’s my walking foot. I forgot to mention it in the video – but it’s pretty critical. You really can’t machine quilt without one – it’ll end up all puckery and you’ll be sad. 🙁

And what if you want to quilt lines that don’t follow the seams of the quilt?

Tape – my friends. Painters tape.

On the Flower Beds Quilt I wanted to quilt a diagonal grid over the whole surface. I laid down a strip of masking tape to guide my first line. See how the edge of the tape intersects the corners of the blocks? (That’s what those red circles are showing.) That helps me get a perfectly straight line. Quilt right along the edge of the tape.

Then remove the tape.

You only need to do this for the first row of stitching. After that each row serves as the guide for the next.

I usually just eyeball the distance between rows, but in case you want a little more precision – check out this video showing you a nifty little gizmo to help you stitch perfectly parallel lines.

Here are all my posts about layering and basting your quilt, and the final round of quilting.

• How to Layer and Baste a Quilt Sandwich
• How to Machine Quilt
• My Favorite Tip for Machine Quilting without Swearing
• How to Quilt a Big Quilt on a Standard Sewing Machine
• What Does It Mean to Start Quilting in the Middle and Work Your Way Out?
• How to Quilt Perfectly Parallel Lines
• Tips for Quilting a Cuddle Fleece Back
• Quilting with Decorative Stitching

Here are all my posts about hand quilting and Big Stitch quilting. I don’t use these techniques with fusible applique or Quilt As You Go, but I LOVE using Big Stitch Quilting with my cheater fabric.

• How to Tie a Knot
• Hand Quilting Basics – traditional hand quilting
• Hand Quilting without Marking
• Big Stitch Quilting
• How to Quilt All the Way to the Edge

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about binding and finishing your quilt.

Happy quilting!

Want to learn how to make a quilt with an easy online workshop – totally free?

Sign up for Let’s Make a Quilt here. You’ll learn how to get started, the tools and supplies you’ll need, and how to make a quilt from start to finish using Quilt As You Go and applique with fusible adhesive.

It’s the easiest, most fun way to make an applique quilt. You can do it!

When you’re joining rows of quilt blocks together, the seam allowances at the corners can get pretty bulky. You can’t eliminate that bulk altogether, but you can minimize it – spread it out a bit – and that’s what I show you how to do in this video.

See all the quilt lessons here.

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

Applique with faux fur is the BEST!

Lots of people use fur to make stuffed animals – but did you know you can use it in quilts too?

Yes – you can!

Make shaggy dogs, fluffy cats, and furry monsters.

Or if you don’t want to make the whole critter furry, maybe just a few parts? Like some long, silky fur on a dog’s ears – or excessively shaggy eyebrows on a silly monster.

I’ve already shown you the basics for working with fur to make stuffed animals. This post shows you how to cut and sew faux fur, and this one shows how to applique regular fabric onto the fur. Today’s video shows you how to applique faux fur onto regular fabric. It’s crazy easy.

Oh – and in case you missed it – here’s info about my favorite source for faux fur.

And if you’re looking for some patterns to try it with, here are a few of my favorites.

• Scary Squares is my simplest monster quilt pattern. It has lots of big, easy body shapes that would be easy to do with fur.
• Mix & Match Monsters is a little more complex, with lots of additional parts (spots, stripes, horns, etc) where you could use smaller bits of fur.
• Lovable Mutts is my easiest dog pattern – lots of big, simple shapes begging for fur.
• Cuddly Cats is the equally simple cats pattern.
• Bunches of Bears – one more super simple pattern that would work great with applique faux fur.

Here are links to all the posts about choosing fabric.

• How to Choose Fabric for a Quilt
• Using Fabric Print Wisely
• Applique with Prints – Tips for Color Choices
• Why Spoonflower Fabric
• How to Fill-a-Yard on Spoonflower
• Working with Shiny Happy World Color Palettes

And here are links to posts about using specialty fabrics.

• Working with Flannel
• How to Applique with Shiny Fabric
• How to Applique with Satin
• How to Applique with Fleece
• How to Applique with Faux Fur
• How to Applique onto Faux Fur

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Have fun with this technique!

Yesterday I showed you what a half-square triangle block is (and some of the tools you’ll use to make them). Today I’m going to show you how to make one. Actually – two, because with this technique you make them two at a time.

There are a LOT of different methods for making half-square triangles. Some of them make a lot of blocks relatively quickly, but they have a lot of steps that don’t feel very intuitive to me. This method is fast, easy to understand (once you do it once you’ll never need to look at the instructions again), and makes a nice accurate block. That’s all I ask for. 🙂

Update – Ask and ye shall receive! Someone asked for a printable PDF with very basic instructions that she could follow along with away from her computer. What a great idea! I put together a handy dandy cheat sheet on just one page – with photos. 🙂 Here’s the link to download it.

One more thing. In this video I tell you to cut your initial squares 1 inch larger than the size of the finished block. Most instructions tell you to cut cut 7/8″ bigger and then sew with a scant quarter inch seam allowance. That makes me really nervous. How much smaller than 1/4 inch is a “scant” 1/4 inch seam? If I’m not scant enough my blocks will be just a smidge too small and then I’m SOL. No. I’d rather cut my initial squares 1/8″ bigger, sew with a real (measurable) 1/4 inch seam allowance, and then trim away the tiny bit of extra I end up with. It’s much less nerve-wracking – plus the math is easier. 🙂

The possibilities with just half-square triangles are incredible!

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking for a help piecing triangles. Your wish is my command!

This video isn’t a how to – that’ll come tomorrow. This one walks you through the two kinds of triangles we’re going to learn – half-square triangles and quarter-square triangles. These are the most common triangles you’ll find in quilting – you could make gorgeous quilts for the rest of your life, never repeating a pattern and never moving beyond these two basic blocks. Learning them is like learning back stitch, split stitch, lazy daisy and French knot – you can embroider any design knowing these four stitches.

In addition to teaching you the difference between the two basic triangle units, I also show you a couple of tools it’ll be handy to have when you start piecing triangles. They’re inexpensive and easy to find and they will make your life sooooooo much easier. Get them.

Here are the lessons. . .

How to Make Half-Square Triangles

How to Make Quarter-Square Triangles

Happy quilting. 🙂

Best,
Wendi

It’s the last of the machine embroidery videos – covering the trickiest shape – outside points.

Outside points are tricky because you have so little space for your seam allowance to sit. The allowances have to be trimmed very close, and you often wind up with raggedy frayed threads at the tip. Yuck.

My technique won’t get you a perfectly perfect point, but it will eliminate those raggedy threads and give you a point that can stand up to machine washing. If you need a perfect point that doesn’t need to be super-durable, use needle turn applique. Click the link to watch a video showing how.

Free Freezer Paper Applique Workshop

For all the videos and tutorials teaching you the freezer paper applique technique, gathered up in one handy dandy post – go here.

Best,
Wendi