Yin and Yang in My Sewing Room

March 20th, 2017
 
Do you know what this is?
 
 
yin
 
It’s a feathered wreath whose largest spine zone is the opposite of the ruler work framework that I quilted in the feathered wreath I made last week, shown below:
 
RW103
I used the same stop/start markings to create the ruler work framework of the spine zone, but I inverted the arc ruler on the 2nd wreath so that it was convex instead of concave.  This alters the shape of the arches created in that spine zone, which necessarily alters the featherettes that are used to fill those arches.  My original plan was to stick with “Aztec-style” featherettes, but then I decided it was better to have more examples of different featherettes, so I opted for the more traditional plume shapes:
 
yin-closeup
Photos don’t show things as well as in real life, but these wreaths are also very different from a textural standpoint.  The blue wreath has a trapunto layer, so it has a lot more depth to it.  Here is a shot of it after the wreath had been stitched and I was just about to start outlining areas with invisible thread.  The thread work is pretty but the wreath is quite flat:
 
yin2
In this next shot, the inner plumes have been outlined and the first “skinny” spine zone has been outlined, and you can just barely begin to see some texture:
 
yin3
…and in this next one, I’ve outlined everything but haven’t done any echo quilting up against the wreath yet:
 
yin4
If you compare that to this one, you can really tell that something “extra” is going on:
 
yin-closeup
 
And here they are next to one another:
 
yinyang
 
 I love all things free motion quilting!
 
 

New Ruler Work Class!

March 9th, 2017
 
 
I am so excited to announce that I have a new ruler work class called Ruler Work 103-Creating Stupendous Feathered Wreaths Using Rulers.  This is the feathered wreath we will make in class:
 
RW103
 
Yes, it’s complex but using rulers to create a feathered wreath is a big game changer!  This is but one of many gorgeous feathered wreath designs that can be created by starting with the Westalee Circles on Quilts templates and then swapping to a regular everyday arc ruler for part II of the ruler work framework.  Working this way allows you to create complex, compound spine designs and once you start, it’s hard not to keep coming up with all kinds of design ideas!  It’s much easier than you think to “force fit” your ruler work framework into circular shapes.
 
RW103B
 
 
 
If you’re looking for a ruler work class in the southern Michigan/Northwest Ohio area, we’ve got some new classes scheduled:
 
 
Saturday, May 6, 2017 – Ruler Work 101, or Intro to Ruler Work for the Sit-Down Quilter
Sew What Quilt Shop – 734-281-1344
Wyandotte, MI
 
Monday, June 5, 2017 – Ruler Work 101, or Intro to Ruler Work for the Sit-Down Quilter
Tuesday, June 6, 2017 – TBD
Leabu Sewing Center – 734-663-3033
Ann Arbor, MI
Hope to meet you at  a class!
 
rw103-closeup

Ruler Work Questions and Answers

March 6th, 2017

 

rope-wreath-done

It’s so exciting to see ruler work really taking off for folks using home sewing machines and for sit down quilters using mid arm and long arm sit down machines.  In some ways, I almost feel like this is easier to do sitting down as opposed to on a frame system, and I find myself scratching my head wondering why it took us decades to figure out how to do this!  Oh well, what matters is that we ARE doing it now!

I get a lot of ruler work questions, so I’m going to touch on some of them here.

 

Question #1:  I’m a free motion quilter on my home machine and I’m just starting out.  What exactly do I need to have in order to do ruler work on my home machine?

Excellent question!  You need 3 things:

a.  A true ruler foot that will work on your machine.  If your machine manufacturer does not offer a proprietary foot, the 2 most common ruler feet that are available are the Westalee Ruler feet shown below:

 

westalee_feet

…and the Clarity ruler foot by Accents in Design shown below:

Clarity Ruler Feet

b.  The 2nd thing you need is an expanse of level surface upon which you can easily move the quilt and ruler simultaneously.  This means you will either need to sink your machine into a cabinet or obtain an extension table for your machine.  You don’t need a giant extension table, but the throat of your machine simply won’t be a large enough expanse to support the rulers and quilt as you work.  Here’s a shot of an extension table set up with a sewing machine:

 

extension-table

(Note that there’s a moon light under the table in this photo.  You don’t need that for ruler work, but know that you can throw a battery operated moon light under a plexiglass extension table and you have a light tracing table!)

 

c.  You need rulers that were devised for use as machine quilting rulers, not rotary cutting rulers.  There are millions of rulers available, in all shapes and sizes.  Here’s a photo of a smattering of them:

 

pile-of-rulers

Rulers are expensive and just like fabric, you’ll find yourself sucked into buying rulers because you like shapes and feel drawn to them.  In reality, you don’t need special shapes for every shape you’ll want to make, and you’ll be surprised what you’ll be able to create using more basic shapes.  I have many rulers I’ve never used and probably never will, but I have other rulers that I use all the time.  Grow your ruler stash slowly over time and I would recommend starting out with a good straight line ruler and a few different arc rulers.  Honestly, we came up with our ruler starter packs just because I couldn’t find a set of basic “bread and butter” rulers.  Here a shot of our starter set:

 

PTD-ruler-starter-pack

Question #2:  I have the low shank Clarity Ruler foot and there is not enough space behind the low shank foot to place a 1/4 inch thick ruler/template.  Can I use the 3mm Westalee templates/rulers with my low shank Clarity foot so that I can then place ruler/templates on all 4 sides of my Clarity foot?

 

Answer:  Yes, and no!  The makers of the clarity foot do not recommend using anything other than a 1/4 inch thick ruler/template with all of their feet for the following reasons:

1.  They developed the foot for use with traditional 1/4 inch thick templates and when they tested it before release to the public, it was only tested with 1/4 inch thick templates.  Without extensive data on use with thinner templates, they cannot recommend using it with these thinner templates.

2.  Sewing machines today come with all kinds of options for adjusting presser foot height, presser foot pressure, etc, and battings come in all kinds of lofts and compressibilities.  If a machine were set up with a low presser foot pressure and the quilt had a very compressible batting, it would be very easy for a 3mm thick ruler/template to slip underneath the ruler foot and it could then be struck by the needle.  Accents in Design, (the makers of the Clarity ruler foot), are giving recommendations to ensure quilters have successful and safe quilting experiences with the Clarity foot.  In order to avoid the outcome above, they aren’t recommending the use of 3mm thick rulers/templates with the low shank Clarity foot.

In reality, that same happenstance that is mentioned above (i.e. that situations could arise with various settings where a thin 3mm Westalee ruler could slip underneath the ruler foot where it could be struck by the needle), has happened to me when using my Westalee low shank foot.  It’s only happened a few times (and I machine quilt a LOT), but it’s a risk you need to be aware of when using any brand of ruler foot and any thin 3mm rulers.  It’s up to YOU, THE QUILTER, to pay attention and stop immediately if you see this occurring.  If you are careful, you can use any 3mm ruler/template with the low shank Clarity foot.  The good news in this is that if you have a low shank Clarity foot, you can use all the wonderful Westalee templates that require the ability for the template to rotate around all 360 degrees of the ruler foot (i.e. their beautiful wreaths and spin-e-fex templates, etc), just pay attention to what you are doing!

 

Question #3:  Knowing what was said in question #2 above, can I use the Westalee echo guides with my Clarity foot?  I ask because the echo guide would touch all 4 sides of the Clarity ruler foot, including the back side.

 

Yes, you can!  The photo below shows one of the echo guides mounted to a low shank Clarity foot:

 

clarity-foot_echo-guides

If you have more ruler work questions, shoot me an email and I’ll try to answer them!

Trapuntoed Ruler Work-Part 2B

March 4th, 2017

 

RWT2AA

We covered the first steps in creating the trapuntoed ruler work block above in an earlier post; you can find that post by clicking here.  This left us at this step:

 

RWT2G

I used the same PTD 12 arc ruler to add 8 arcs along the outside edge, then I added a 1/4 inch channel, a 1/2 inch chaneel, and another 1/4 inch channel.  My goal in doing this is to have one channel I can fill (the 1/2 in wide channel), and an inner and outer channel to set that filled channel “off,” or make it more interesting and intricate with very little work.  Here’s what that looked like before I had filled the middle channel:

 

TRW2B1

…and here’s what it looked like once that 1/2 inch wide channel had been filled with a row of pearls.  Notice that the row of pearls really creates a visual ring around the mandala:

 

TRW2B2

This next move is kind of subtle.  I used a bluish-purple trilobal polyester thread to fill the long inner “triangles” with featherettes.  This was a subtle way of adding a new color to the design:

 

TRW2B3

I then swapped to a different thread color (light aqua), and added a different featherette design to the outer triangle shapes:

 

TRW2B4

I went to hyperquilt it but was timid at first and only hyperquilted every other featherette in the outermost triangles:

 

TRW2B5

 

And remember, the whole point of this “experiment” is that all these blocks will eventually be pieced into a quilt where all the ruler work will be trapuntoed, so I flipped this block over and trimmed away all the excess batting that fell outside the design, so here is what it looked like at the very end:

 

TRW2B6

This final shot below will give you a bit of a sense of the effect of trapunto.  This next shot shows the block after the quilt has been pieced and I’ve outlined “zones” of this mandala with invisible thread.  You can really appreciate the effects of the trapunto and I haven’t even quilted anything in the area surrounding the mandala yet:

 

TRW2B7

Stay tuned!