Sunday, February 6, 2011

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT PICKING OUT QUILTING STITCHES - BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK

Whenever I do a project I learn something.  With this one... I need a lot more practice with feathers before I actually commit to putting them on a quilt.  I think I am going to start making up a bunch of little simple Amish-type quilts to practice.  I'm not much for just doing practice squares.  
Maybe something like this:


without the sawtooth sashing.  That would make it harder to put together and defeats the purpose.

Okay, the reason for the post.  The easy way to remove machine quilting stitches.  Okay, first off, there is no easy way.  So get a cup of something warm, gather your tools, seam ripper, tweezers, magnifying glasses, and a strip of old batting to place all of the cut thread.
Start clipping the stitches on one side.  I did the top.  You can clip every other, every third.. depending on how tiny they are. When that is done, just pull the bobbin thread out ( the back).  You can spray away the blue marks with water, but never trust that it is gone until you have soaked your entire quilt in cool water (no soap).
I have decided to quilt 1/4" lines around the outside border.  I know the chicken's way out.  That's why quilting is the hardest part for me.  It can make or break the look of your quilt.  And when it is on a little quilt, it pretty much has to be perfect.  And I'm definitely not perfect.

2 comments:

  1. I loved my Clover seam ripper. I snapped the end off last week when I closed my sewing machine rolling tote. :( The tweezers are invaluable and thanks for the hint to use a piece of scrap batting.

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  2. Yikes, I feel for you! Hate to pick out machine quilting. I don't have a stitch regulator and some of my stitching gets pretty small! I saw a gal using a lint roller to pick up all the threads off the quilt~~I'll have to try that one too.

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