maggienoella Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 We have a paying client! And I don't really know how to do what she wants. It sounded simple enough. She has a jelly roll race quilt that is about crib size and all she wants is diagonal lines. She said to use my judgment how far apart to space the lines. I'm thinking 2" apart. I only have a ruler base and ruler at this time so do I just mark the quilt with something that will wash out or disappear and stitch the entire line at once? There are no borders to this quilt. Should I quilt corner to corner or mark and quilt 1" away from the long corner to corner? Do you have other suggestions? The other quilt is a cute, crib size trip around the world with a flange and a 3" border. I only have a few pantos for now, and she liked the large meander. I'm not ready for custom but would practice until I could do a good job on this quilt. She originally said she wanted something swirly but said she liked the meander. It has a large print paisley border that I would need to do something different in. I was thinking about a simple cable. Again, I only have my straight ruler but I do have time to order something. Any ideas? I guess I should've titled this post good news and bad news...the good news is we have a client and the bad news is we have a client! I'm comfortable with pantos now and I'm happy about that. Now I enter the stage of continuous and life-long learning. Thanks for your ideas and thanks for listening. Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleyl Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Diagonal is tough. I would mark it before loading. To me that would be a custom due to the amount of ruler work. Straight lines nit so much since I could use channel locks. I would just mark maybe 4 lines so like in quarters and do varying widths since unless thus is perfectly square and stays that way during quilting it would show otherwise as wonky lines. You have my congratulations and sympathy. You will still get an occasional one that gets you even after doing it for years. Hang in there and learn something new with each quilt. Shirley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeannieB Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 2" wide blue painters tape to mark your diagonals then use a ruler to keep your hopping foot off the tape, but right up next to it. Ive never used the tape with my longarm, but used it a lot when quilting on my DSM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witha'K'quilting Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 diagonal jelly roll race quilt: how about loading it crookedly(?) on the frame? then all you had to do is stitch horizontal lines. it will take a bit to make certain you don't stretch it out of shape...but should be doable. for the TAW quilt: consider doing simple piano keys in the border. the paisley print will not show much, so don't bother with elaborate quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Wiggly diagonal lines might even be easier for the jelly roll quilt. Chalk in some large v's that fit within your throat space then you can zig zag those, then move across 2" and zig zag then next ones save you winding one and off. The next pass make sure you touch the previous quilted rows. Think of the quilting on the old eiderdowns or mattress protectors, they look diagonal but you can see where they are actually zig zags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitepinesquilter Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 For the diagonal lines I was thinking like Kristina - having it lay diagonally and quilting straight lines - but I would (and have) sacrifice a cheap flat sheet and lay the quilt back on it diagonally, baste it down, and cut away the inside of the sheet (where the backing is). This way when the top is loaded aligned with the true quilt backing you have false "borders" and "sides" that are on the straight of grain. Someone else may have a sure fire way to do this with regular cheap muslin or something but I'm not that sure of myself. You can practice using your straight ruler doing piano keys - once you get the feel of your ruler and foot you'll be a pro at it! Piano keys are a nice border treatment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 I think for the diagonal, I would mark the rows about every 3 inches as guides for that row, and then do a squiggly line on each row. With diagonal, it would make it so much easier. 3" is just what I'd use, others may suggest something different. I find it easy to keep track of the row I'm doing, and not have wasted a lot of marking pen. I use the Kearing blue and white markers.. white for the dark fabrics. And I love them. Both disappear with water. Rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegates Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 When you say your customer wants "just diagonal lines" it sounds like she may think she is asking for something easy and simple and doesn't understand that it is a real challenge to get them right. I get a lot of "just do something simple, like stitch in the ditch". Most folks don't understand what is easy and what is hard on a longarm. It may be worth another conversation with your customer to explain some other options that will be prettier and easier to do. You don't want to lose money on your first paying quilt!! Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggienoella Posted October 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Well, I've learned a lot already...it's not as simple as she thought it was. She seemed pretty definite with what she wanted but I don't know if that's because she really wanted the diagonal or because she thought it would be easy and inexpensive. This is a good lesson for me to take the time to find out what the customer really wants. I felt rushed. I'm going to try the sheet idea although I agree that something else would be prettier. If it doesn't work out, I'll do it the hard way and take my lumps on the job. I'll do piano keys for the border on the TATW quilt; sounds perfect. And I think I quoted that price correctly. Thanks for all your help...again! Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmkeindl1 Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 ditto on the squiggly lines diagonally - that bias stretch makes straight line quilting easier to "pop" stitches and if it's a baby quilt that will be washed and used that won't hold up as much. Also, ditto on the paisley border - if the fabric is busy, don't waste time with a pattern that won't show. Photos please! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enchanted Quilting Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 I did squiggly lines on a quilt. The post was "An Avalanche of Fabric"...if you google it, it may come up. The challenge is that as the diagonals get longer, you have to move the quilt. It looks nice. Obviously I need to learn how to repost a pix I put up before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggienoella Posted October 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Oh yes, it's very pretty! but I don't know how to get it here...it was from Feb 2013 I think. Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyequilter Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 I use the R&S board 267-R, rounded continuous diamonds. It works great on those jelly roll race quilts! Good luck! dyequilter http://www.rns-design.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.A Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 Wow, Joan. I just had to post here & say that I am blown away by all the great advice you have received. Some really helpful ideas here!!! Love this forum. Nancy in Tucson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cegates Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Thanks guys for the squiggly diagonal lines suggestions! It was a perfect solution to a huge customer quilt I had just loaded. The quilt top is beautiful, 100 sawtooth star blocks, but she only wanted to pay for a large meander. I just couldn't do that to this quilt, so am using the piecing lines as guides to make diagonal squiggly lines. It isn't taking much more time than a meander (which I hate doing anyway) and shows off the piecing very nicely. Joan - I hope things are going as well for you. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted October 12, 2013 Report Share Posted October 12, 2013 Hi Joan. So great to read about your first customer! You're on your way! A hint about stitching diagonals-- you'll get a better result if you stitch all diagonals in the stitching field and then advance to the next area. This is instead of starting a line and advancing to complete the line from top to bottom. Stop your line in a seam to camouflage the starts and stops, and your starts and stops will be less evident if you stagger them a bit so they aren't in a straight line across the field. Remember as well to stabilize the top with pins. Sometimes diagonal stitching (on the bias) will distort the top if it isn't held in place and you can end up with the top pushed into a parallelogram. Another hint while you're stitching all the lines in one field--do all your stitching in one direction. All going up or all going down. This will alleviate the pull marks sometimes present with stitched parallel lines when adjacent lines are stitched in opposite directions. Have a great time, take some pictures when you finish, and enjoy the process. You only get one "first quilt" and I know you're ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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