It’s Tuesday! Time for another blog!
When I am custom quilting, I find great satisfaction in finding a way to stitch out my designs with no or few stops and starts. I really think through how I can stitch things out in an order that catches all parts as I go, so that I do not have to stop and move to another spot. It is impossible to completely eliminate stops and starts in custom quilting but with a little thinking, the number of stops and starts can be greatly reduced.
I will use this unit as an example….
Here is the order I stitched it out in….
1. I stitched in the ditch of the circle in the piecing.
2. I stitched a few stitched down the previous stitching and then echoed the stitching in the ditch of step one.
3. I again stitched on top of precious stitching to get to the Background between the spikes and I stitched the radiating lines.
4. After stitching the third ray, I was at the center, so without moving my ruler, I restricted the third ray so I was now at the outside. By not moving my ruler and with stitch regulation you cannot tell it is stitched twice.
5. I continues with the rays till I got to the part where I marked the circle. See last weeks Tuesday Tips for how I marked the circle that disappears under the piecing.
6. Using my curved ruler (this one is from Quilted Pinapple) I stitched on my mark for the circle, but just between the next two spikes.
7. Now, while I was there, I stitched the echo and the rays.
8. Then I stitched my snaking lines between the units, again while I was there, by stitching over a few stitches I had already stitched to get there.
9. Now I worked my way back to stitching rays by following a row of stitching.
10. When I was finished stitching all the rays I came back on the other side of the circle with loops….
Finished! All in one pass!
It is one of those things I call age myself with. Sometimes as I quilt the first few units, a better way comes to me….it kind of evolves as I go…..
That’s it for today! Back to my machine and another beautiful quilt! Stay tuned….can’t wait to show you next weeks tip!!!
Rose City Quilter 
Hi there,
Just want to say thank you for these wonderful tutorials. I do not have a long arm but I love readying your tips. I quilt baby quilts and small charity quilts. Even though I do simple quilting with my domestic sewing machine, I really love other people’s exquisite work with long arms. It is fascinating and I appreciate learning how you do it. So, thank you very much for all your pictures and explanations. !!!
Jean Stipelcovich IG Rescue South Texas Treasurer
Thank you!