(Day 29 of a 31 Day Series)
STOP!! Don’t run in the other direction. You’ll want to read this post, trust me.
I’ve given you lots of ideas for quilting designs that can be quilted with your walking foot during this “31 days” series. As I mentioned before, using a walking foot does not eliminate the hassle of wrestling your quilt top into that itty bitty space to the right of your machine’s needle. Some of you may have heard of a “quilt as you go” (QAYG) method and for some it will be a novel idea. Basically the method involves quilting up your quilt blocks one at a time (or smallish sections of your quilt) and then joining the quilted sections together to form the quilt. Most quilt blocks are in the 12”-16” range so this is very manageable in even the tiniest sewing machines.
Until a few weeks ago I was really only aware of two ways to do this. Both involve leaving a narrow un-quilted area around your blocks, then joining the blocks together, and a generous amount of hand sewing on the back of the quilt. I always found the method confusing and, since I really dislike hand sewing, cumbersome. Check out this really great tutorial that explains both method’s very well at The Quilter’s Cache. (Make sure you read all 3 pages.)
To be honest I have NEVER done QAYG. The hand sewing always deterred me. My world changed dramatically when Maureen posted a fantabulous tutorial of her version of QAYG. Seriously you HAVE to go check it out. It is revolutionary – well ok it really is simple and my jaw dropped and I couldn’t help but think “duh!” Did I mention there is NO HAND SEWING!! *insert hallelujah chorus*
Ok enough already – get over to Maureen’s lovely blog, bookmark her, follow her, but don’t stalk her! Tell her you love her, she’s a genius, and tell her we are so lucky she joined the quilting world (she’s only been quilting a short while) – oh and tell her I sent ya!
Will you look at that gorgeous straight line quilting!
I really want to know if you have done QAYG, what you liked and didn’t like about it. What do you think about Maureen’s method?
~ Norma
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9 comments :
this has been one heck of a generous project on your part. All of your ideas so far are terrific and this one by Maureen is wonderful. Thanks for sharing that link too.
I'm currently doing a QAYG and am following instructions from The Quilter's Edge. I am at the point of joining the blocks. Maureen's method look a little different to me. I'm going to follow TQE directions. It scares me a little. I loved making the blocks and the straight line quilting.
This method looks a whole lot better to me than the one I used before. Am going to use it on my next quilt! Thanks for sharing :)
I dont' really like Maureen's technique because the back is not on when it is quilted. And then you still have to wrestle the entire quilt thru your machine to secure the back.
I have never made a QAYG quilt. But I plan to someday. I have my batting squares made. I think I will connect them using Quilting Twin's method.
http://quiltingtwin.blogspot.com/2009/02/mereth-found-this-pile-of-qayg-blocks.html
I think it might be easier. No hand sewing either.
i've done a couple qayg quilts joining them with sashing, hand stiching the back ... enjoyed doin this! when i finished stitching, the quilt was done. maureen's tute was really good, but her backing had loose 12 inch squares! is that too much?
I made this quilt over a year ago and I still down't understand how to make the backing look professional. I don't care for the way the original author finished hers, it looks sloppy. See: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindielee/9262968143/in/datetaken/
I am so enjoying the 31 days of walking foot info. I have tried free motion quilting but I need lots, maybe years more practice. Regarding the quilt as you go, I do quilt as you go, but not Maureen's method. What is the point of quilting it without the backing,and adding backing later? I have used info from The Gourmet Quilter to sash my blocks together, no hand sewing!! I have made several quilts, the most recent for my daughter that I cut out diamonds to make stars back in 1974. It has 18 (15 inch)blocks, and each block has a different backing so the back is very attractive also.For this I quilted each block the same, with my walking foot, stars and hearts. Another quilt I made was dachshunds, of all colors, each block quilted differently,and each backed with a different fabric.
I am currently making a very large quilt using a QAYG method I found on YouTube by Leah Day. It requires no hand sewing and looks great! I like being able to try more intricate designs with her method.
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