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Tips for using fusible foam and quilting

Updated: Apr 13, 2022

Welcome to the second week of Spring Mystery Project Sew Along for the Sip Tea and EPP party with Larisa@stitchingnotes and Irina @nordiccrafter. We are absolutely smitten with all the delightful tumbler arches you have been making during the past week. Once again, we would like to thank you all for sewing with us and trusting us to lead you on this mystery adventure.

It seems that many people have made 2 arches and some even more. For this project we will need only ONE arch made of 8 tumblers. If you made more than one arch, you can use it for another make.

Today is all about quilting. For those of you who is scared by the word "quilting" let us reassure you once again that it is going to be very easy and smooth. We will take you step-by-step through the entire process of simple cross-hatch quilting. We are still going to keep it a secrete what we are making, but we are sure some of you might have guessed already what it is. Let´s the quilting fun begin!



Applying foam interfacing

We shall start with making a quilt sandwich from the background fabric, fusible foam and quilting cotton pieces. They are all the same size 8 1/2" x 11" (21.6 x 27.9cm).


Larisa and I are using different types of fusible foam interfacing. My foam is a double-sided and Larisa´s is a one-sided (single sided) fusible foam.


If you don't have fusible foam, use two layers of standard batting. It would work well too.


Often, when you open a package with fusible foam it has folding creases. It is easy to get rid of them by using steam in your iron. Just make sure the iron doesn´t touch the foam. Steam the piece from both sides and all creases will vanish. Let it cool down for a minute and then cut to size. Here you can see how I do it.


1. If using fusible double-sided foam, align your background fabric (the solid colour linen or quilting cotton) on top of the foam piece with the quilting cotton at the bottom, making sure the foam faces the Wrong Side of the fabrics. Starting from the centre, fuse

the fabric with a warm iron moving towards the sides, first on the background fabric side and then on the quilting cotton side.

Since linen tends to shift, after fusing it check if you need to trim any excess of fabric around the foam.


2. If using one-sided fusible foam, align the background fabric (solid linen or quilting cotton) on top of the foam piece and fuse two layers together using a warm iron. Starting from the centre, glide the iron towards the sides. Flip it over, place the piece

of quilting cotton on top of foam (non fusible side of foam faces the Wrong Side of the

fabric). Give another gentle press with a warm iron on both sides and use

pins or wonder clips to hold it together to prevent shifting if needed. Usually the non-fusible side of a single sided foam is quite "sticky" and the cotton stays in place nicely.


Quilting


Marking the grid

You will need a fabric marker and quilting ruler to mark the cross hatch quilting design.

Larisa uses Frixion ball pen that is easily removed with a press of a warm iron. I am using Leonis water soluble fabric pen that disappears when you spray water.


Check Larisa´s blog post here to see how she marks the grid and quilts as we do it slightly differently. All markings are done on the background fabric.


1. Mark vertical centre line at 4 1/4" (10.8cm) from the left edge of the quilt sandwich.


2. Mark horizontal centre line at 5 1/2" (14cm) from the bottom edge.


3. Align the 45 degree line on your quilting ruler with the vertical centre line and mark the first diagonal line. Mark parallel lines 1" (2.5cm) apart.



Tip: It is very important to space the lines evenly. This is why you should always align your ruler on the first diagonal line in the centre. For example, if you are marking 3rd line (that is 2" from the centre diagonal line), then align a 2 inch line on the centre line rather than marking the line 1" from the previous line. For the 4th line, align the 3" line on the centre line etc. This way you can mark the perfect grid and all diagonal lines will cross on the vertical and horizontal centre lines.


4. To mark the other diagonal on the grid, simply align the ruler lines along the marked lines starting from the centre.


You can see the marking process in this video .


Quilting

Chose the color of the thread that blends nicely with your background fabric. In this project we only add texture with the quilting and we don´t want the thread to be too visible. I am using Aurifil 50wt, color 2600 as a top thread and Auril 50wt color 2000 in the bobbin as it suits better my quilting cotton fabric.



Machine quilt through the 3 layers with a regular stitch length

(2.5). Use a regular sewing machine foot and alternate direction of your

sewing for each line (video). If hand quilting, quilt only inside the traced

template.


I usually start in the middle, keep the needle in needle-in position through the quilting and try to quilt continuously without cutting the thread in between the lines.



Once the quilting is finished, trace the template. To mark centrelines on the Template, fold the template in half lengthwise to mark the vertical centreline, fold it again

across to mark the horizontal centreline, unfold. Align the template on

the quilted sandwich matching centrelines (check the video ). Pin the template and trace it. Cut the shape on the traced line with scissors without adding any seam allowance.


Decrease the stitch length to 2.0 and stitch around the piece at about 1/8" (0.3cm) from the edge to secure the quilting.




We hope these tips will help you to go though the quilting process without fear.


Happy Quilting! ❤

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1 Comment


rosi.w
Apr 12, 2022

Thank you for such clear instructions.

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