Thank you @AIMR & @tendstowardschaos!
I have a walking foot. I use it for sewing purses, and it was a game changer when I attempted vinyl. Love that thing. I had never heard of topsitch needles, but I added them to my Wish List. Oh shoot, I have a Singer, and this new machine is a Brother. I need to check if I need all new feet or if the low shank should work for both. Hmmm. Goodness, is that a low shank? I left the machine at my parents while I got the table for it set up. I should go over and grab it.
As soon as I figure out what this needs, I will add the 1/4" piecing foot. I know it already has a free-motion foot already with it. I have clips for regular sewing. I will see if I need bigger ones when I get to that point. Gloves, that was a new one for me. I will have to look into that.
I got fabric from my birthday, but I don’t want to use that for my first quilt so I am tossing around ideas as a practice quilt.
I just use the little clips for the binding - they hold it nice and snug.
I should play around with a quilted place mat or something light first. I’m so excited!
A mug rug or coasters would be a nice start! There are so many videos so you can pick patterns you would like to try! You could have a lot of different coasters made with scraps!
The gloves are definitely a game changer! When you’re machine stitching, the fabric can be slippery and heavy and it feels like you’re fighting with the fabric, just to get a straight stitch. The gloves help you control the fabric. I like the Machingers gloves, but the fingertips get really dirty really quickly. The first time they got so dirty, I thought it was from chalk residue, but the second time, I didn’t use any chalk on my quilt and the tips were still dingy looking when I was done, I’m thinking maybe it’s dye transfer 
. They do clean up with some Murphy’s oil soap though.
One of my most used tools (perhaps secondary only to the machine), is a seam ripper. I like this kind. The rubber tip is intended to help you pull up all the ripped threads, but it’s also helpful for ‘erasing’ needle holes.
I loved your patchwork coasters and am looking forward to seeing your first quilted project!
Yes 100% to quilting gloves! Total game changer. But even better, quilting gloves that fit YOU great. I have really, really small hands. Usually even women’s smalls are too big on me, and I sometimes buy youth/teen gloves. I found some small quilting gloves on Amazon and I’m glad I really searched. They fit me great, and because there isn’t all that extra material, they don’t slip around, allowing me to really grip the fabric while quilting it.
Yes! Placemats, mug rugs, or a table runner are all great ways to practice before moving onto bigger projects.
December is here! How are we already in the last month of 2023!?
December Prompt
Strip piecing:
This time saving method helps you piece your quilts together more quickly. Strip piecing is done by sewing strips of fabric together and then cutting them down to individual blocks, or units that will be used to create a block.
Strip Piecing Basics
Strip Piecing - 3 Different Ways (Video tutorial)
December BOM:
This month, we have two different BOMs to choose from.
Christmas Candle Block - nominated by @MistressJennie and as noted by MistressJennie, this block is an odd size [it comes out as a rectangle], but it looks like you could easily modify it by adding in another candle to the row, widening the side pieces, or putting a frame around it.).
Pixelated Present Block - nominated by @MistressJennie
Quarter 4 Challenge
(October 1 - December 31)
It’s the last month to complete this challenge!
Complete your project:
I think we may have had the same goal last year around this time. The point of this challenge is to encourage you to complete your 2023 quilt projects before the end of the year. Whether it’s a project you started some time earlier this year or a project that you’ve been meaning to start all year (I have more than a few of those!), the challenge is to finish it by the end of this quarter.
Goal List:
It may be the end of the year, but there’s still time to complete the goals you set for yourself in 2023!
You can earn an entry into the prize drawing for every goal you share and complete this quarter.
Anyone else looking forward to the few days after Christmas, before the New Year, to try to get some things done? I really want to finish those kids quilts (QFK put out an emergency email, asking for Boy quilts ASAP, as their shelves were literally completely bare, but they have plenty of girly ones), and get both the tops and some scrap batting out of my craft room. I feel like getting 5 small quilts finished wouldn’t take me that long, provided Ada was busy playing with her grandparents, and Jim was off work. And it would feel like such a huge accomplishment. But of course, I don’t want to work on those till I finish my Christmas crafting…
What about you guys? You looking forward to post holiday time? Or are you loving crafting for the season?
I love crafting for the season, but I’ll happily do Christmas crafts in the period between Christmas and NYE! I always take those days off work. I usually try to take some time off before Christmas as well, so this year my leave starts on 4pm on Friday, December 15th. I’m always flexible with working during evenings/weekends, summer months and mid-term breaks so my coworkers can spend time with their kids, as long as I get my Christmas time off! We’ll have a few holiday parties to go to during that period, and we’ll be hosting one day, so I won’t be able to craft every day, but hopefully most days. And I’ll probably plan one day for holiday baking, which also counts as a craft.
I want to get a quilt finished before Christmas (it’s a wallhanging, a gift for Mr. Imma) but I’ve made a few tops before we packed up the house that I’d love to get finished over the Christmas break, and we’ve been talking about a new quilt for our bed. Plus I’ve got ideas for a simple Halloween table runner - same design as the Christmas table runner I made a few years ago, but in Halloween fabrics. I’ve got the fabrics but I didn’t manage to finish it in time. I might as well do it now I’ve got the time.
That’s when I’ll have a few days off to finally clean the basement, The Basement, THE BASEMENT! ugh.
I’m looking forward to that being done For SURE.
I also got the emergency email from Quilt for Kids…I seem to have plenty of neutral prints that might work for a quick quilt. I could use the time after the holidays to get those done…but, there is also a push for red hats for our NICU due by January 20th…a lot of charities are looking for things at the beginning of the year…
While I’m rushing to finish gifts before the big day, yes, I’m already planning for the week after Christmas. I have a commission that I’d like to tackle.
I need the.time ro do a quilt for the.new baby in the family.
Does this pattern sound wrong, or am I completely underestimating the yardage needed for a quilt?
The finished quilt is 60" x 72", and they call for 5 yards of 42-45″ fabric for the backing. How?
I am eager for Christmas crafting to be over so I can selfishly make myself something and try the new sewing machine!
So, most patterns do overestimate how much yardage you need for a backing, for a few reasons.
#1. Some fabrics are directional, and you will probably want to cut and piece the backing, so that the direction backing matches, and possibly matches in the LONG direction. For example, a print with kitties walking around, you’d want all the kitties standing up, with their heads in the same direction. To do that, you might need to cut the 5 yard chunk into two 2.5 yard pieces, then seam them down that long edge. Or, if your kitties are facing across the length of the fabric, you might need to cut it and seam it twice across the short edge.
#2. Many quilts are quilted on a Long-Arm sewing machine, rather than a domestic sewing machine. For a long-arm, you need more batting and more backing around the outer edge of your quilt, to load onto the frame. About 8"-10" all the way around. This will in fact be cut off after the piece is quilted, but think of it like the extra space on a photograph inside a mat, inside a frame. You are seeing the center of the image in a framed picture, but the unseen edge is taped into place, to hold the image centered. It’s serving a purpose, but one you won’t really see later.
If you look at the yardage they call for, for that 60"x70" quilt, if I cut the 5 yards of backing into two 2.5yard lengths, then piece them along that center seam, I end up with a piece 90" long, by 84"-90" wide. Once I lay the 60"x72" quilt top dead center on that, I have just 9" of spare fabric at the top, and 12"-15" on each side. That’s just enough extra at the top and bottom, and a bit extra on the sides.
If you are trying to be very fabric conscious (and are still using a long arm), you could piece the backing, then cut somewhere between 4"-10" off the long edge, to use in another project. That piece would be a weird size, at 4"x90", but could be used again.
If you are going to quilt the project on a domestic machine (lots of us do so all the time!), you won’t need quite as much extra, but you will still need some. Usually you want about 2" of batting all around the edge, and another 2 inches past that of backing around the edge (so that would make your batting 64"x74" and your backing 68"x78").
There are other options too. You could buy actual quilt backing, which is fabric that is 108" wide, then you would need just 64" in length (or 72" in length, if your print is directional in a certain way). You could also buy 2 1/4 yards of your 45" wide backing, then cut id down the center, and make it wider overall, by piecing in something else. Either scraps of the prints on the front, or spare blocks, or just other interesting fabrics in your stash. That does take a bit of extra work, but some people love an interesting backing, feeling like it makes 2 quilts in one. Or they like using up practice blocks, or not having any scraps left from the project, etc.
I imagine that the quilt designer is taking a few things into consideration when suggesting the 5 yards of backing fabric. First is that you want to have excess fabric on all sides of the quilt when adding your backing. When you send a quilt out a longarm quilter, the extra backing makes sure there’s enough fabric for them to attach it their longarm frame. When you quilt it yourself, the extra backing gives you a good place to start and stop your stitches (at least I’ve found it handy for that). 4" extra fabric on each side is pretty standard.
So, when figuring your quilt backing amounts, you would add 8" to your width and length.
60+8=68" width
72+8=80" length
To figure out the total amount of fabric yardage you need for the quilt, you add the width + length and divide that by 36".
68+80=148
148/36=4.1111111
You would then round up to the nearest 1/4 yard, so theoretically, you would only need 4.25 yards of fabric for the backing.
BUT
Let’s say you are using a patterned fabric for your backing. It’s nice to make your pattern match up in the back.
So, now you have a long 4.25 yards of fabric. You will need to cut your fabric in half and sew the halves together. You cut your fabric in half and now you have 2 pieces of 2.125 yards of fabric for the top half and the bottom half. That’s the width of the fabric, which calculates out to 76.5" wide. Your quilt is only 60" wide, so 76.5" should be enough to cover the backing, plus the extra 4" on each side. But if your fabric has a pattern, you need to make sure that you have enough fabric to match the pattern. You may find that you need to shift the bottom fabric over a decent amount in order to match everything up to your top fabric.
If you have 5 yards of fabric to work with, it typically gives you enough wiggle room to match the fabric pattern and piece the back together so that it looks seamless.
But, if you are using a solid color backing, then 4.25 yards will have you covered.
You can order extra wide fabric so that you don’t have to do any piecing, but I’ve found piecing the backing to be pretty easy. This is my go to tutorial for seamlessly matching up a fabric print when piecing the back.
Also, here is the quilt math breakdown as explained by someone else in case it’s easier to follow.
How to figure out yardage for quilt backing
Two yards for the length and you need two lengths to cover the 60 inch width…that is 4 yards…extra yard for anything from shrinkage when quilting on long arm to your blocks not being exactly those measurements…you might want to be extra detailed and match any design patterns as well…you could go the minimum and use up any leftover front fabrics to piece together a back…I would go for more rather than less…
Also, am I the only one who actually secretly LOVES quilt math?
I use it especially to figure out the backing because I hate buying too much fabric for that plus I love to figure out a way to use the front fabrics and make it all fit!
Who said we would never use algebra and geometry in our lives after school? ha ha ha ha