More Apple Core

I quilted some more "Relaxed Diane-shiko," the Apple Core design above, this time on some lovely batik fabric that was stuck in a drawer and keeping the drawer from opening or closing. Imagine my delight to find this pretty piece and snip off a small square to practice this design.

This is the 1/2" grid design from my previous post called "Relaxed Diane-shiko," so check that out for the basics, how to quilt it, tips, etc. I promised I would move on from muslin and show you how it looks on real fabric, pretty stuff, that we use in quilts.

I did discover that learning a design on a solid fabric or muslin is best. When you quilt on a print you sometimes can't see your path well, or the design itself can be busy and distracting and prevent you from nailing the method. Once the mind/body connection is made correctly when you quilt it on muslin then move on to a print. I found I was a tiny bit distracted when tendrils of color were appearing as I quilted. This can cause you to lose focus and make mistakes. So can thread color; use one that blends nicely.

However! I tried TWO other samples before this successful one and gave up on them immediately. One was a mystery silk blend in a gorgeous deep teal, and no matter what marker I used I could not see the lines in the machine. Lights on, lights off, extra lights everywhere, whatever I tried the marks were obscured in reflection when the fabric was in the machine and every single marker line morphed into the fabric and was invisible.

Bye bye mystery fabric.

The second sample I used a dark murky purply/rust print that absorbed the lines instantly. Could NOT see them when in the machine. I tried to quilt both samples but one thing I learned and learned very very quickly is if you cannot see the lines you can't quilt this design.

No, you don't quilt on the lines but you absolutely need to see them to make the arcs and hit the intersections.

My advice is always, always, always try out your fabric before you mark it all in your quilt. Audition it. Be tough.

In the past I would have marked an entire border with the grid only to find out I couldn't see the marks while quilting the design. It takes a short time to try out the fabric, and if it doesn't work for this motif, switch gears and use something that requires no marking.

Below, a close-up of the quilting on the batik. I used YLI #100 silk thread in my favorite #241 shade, sort of a burnished gold. It isn't too contrasty, not too dark, so it blends well, yet you can still see the stitches. It enriches the fabric rather than making the quilting look thready. Your errors are not magnified, always a good thing.


Enjoy this design. I like the way you can see both the design and the fabric, just as you can in Diane-shiko.

Yes, it does look fancy but is relatively easy to master. I did try to go too fast again, my impatient nature takes over, especially as I get older, but slow and steady is the secret. Keep those hands moving smoothly too.

Good luck with this. I think it will be beautiful on your quilts.

Keep quilting, your work truly will get better every day.
Diane

Relaxed Diane-shiko

Sometimes we need a quilting design similar to a grid, but easier and faster. Diane-shiko has filled that need for me and for my students for several years now, and I still love it, the look of it, and quilting it. However, perhaps 2010 calls for a new, "Relaxed" Diane-shiko!

In this version, you have all the advantages of Diane-shiko with half the quilting, and less stress.

It consists of marking a regular, even design with either a ruler or Grid-Marker stencil (June Tailor) in a 1/2"format, but quilting around the marked lines free motion, not trying to stay on them, aiming for the intersections instead and hitting those precisely.

When I began this design, photo above, I was a little slip-shod, and sort of raced along thinking this will be fast and easy. Although, doing only the lines in this photo, or half of the Relaxed Diane-shiko, looks nice too! It gives an entirely different feel if it is only done in one direction, even though you must still mark the entire grid to get the intersections.

Going too fast and being lazy about hitting the intersections was a big Mistake! Take it slow and steady until you get the hang of it. I also did not put the magnifier on my Bernina and realized when I did look closely that I was "near" the intersections of the two marked lines, but not always precise. I put the magnifier on, slowed down a bit to a nice steady even speed, and not only did I hit those cross-points perfectly, but my eyes were not tired and didn't tear up while quilting.

I love my magnifier.

For this design, traditionally called "Apple Core," instead of curving down one line and then back up to your starting point as you do in Diane-shiko to create small pumpkin seed shapes, or footballs, you curve along the line, first to the left in an arc, then to the right, and hit the intersections to the end of the line.

Do NOT go back up to the starting point as we did in Diane-shiko.

Instead, you travel OVER to the NEXT LINE. Do not go back up the line you just quilted. Instead each marked line gets only one pass, either towards you or away from you, with a bit of "travel" in between lines to get to the next line.

When you begin going back up on the adjacent line, this is when you stop the machine, look at the design, and figure out how to form the design by analyzing which side of the line you create the next arc.

The arcs should not be parallel as you look to the ones you already quilted, but mirror image. You will get two that bulge out, and two that come in towards each other. It takes a bit of thinking, as this is something you did NOT have to think about in Diane-shiko, but it gets so much easier as you go along with line after line of arcs.

After you do all the lines in one direction, you can turn the work for the second set of lines, or quilt sideways like you would have to in a real quilt, photo above. Check which side of the line to make the arcs to successfully create the shapes. If you don't do it correctly, the design won't form, and it will look like a mass of curvy lines, but no pattern. Not worth the time to mark it!

So figure it out, mark a sample like I did in these photos, on muslin, use a matching color thread so your stitches blend and don't distract you.

Above, this is what the design looks like after both directions are quilted. You can still see the underlying grid I quilted around.

You will notice the "apple core" shapes that form. Some of mine are smaller and weirdly distorted. That was before I figured out how to do it, and didn't have the magnifier on. Now that I know how to do it, I know to be more careful to hit the intersections precisely, and have this sample for reference.

I only forgot once and started going back up a line as I did in Diane-shiko, but three stitches in and I knew it was wrong, said "oops" and back-tracked out and over to the next line. If it had been in a real quilt I perhaps would have taken out those few stitches. Maybe, maybe not.

I did mark it "on point" and it looks good, but you can do it straight of grain as well because your quilted lines are curving and shouldn't cause pushing/pulling of fabric and distortion. See what you like, and what works best in your design area.

Why mark this with lines and not a stencil of the exact design? You could trace the stencil and quilt on the marked lines.

Yes, you certainly can do that. But.....this is faster and easier, and you can adjust the spacing to fit your design needs. My sample is a 1/2" grid, but a 1" grid might work for a big simple design on a busy floral. It gives almost a basket weave effect, very pretty, not just strange wandering and doodling.

Plus, after years of teaching free motion machine quilting, I realize most have a harder time quilting on marked lines. These marked lines are there to guide you, but you don't quilt on them, but around them. You only have to hit the intersections, not stay right on the lines all the time. A full stencil of this design is fine if you can quilt on lines well. I think this is faster and easier.

Almost every skill level quilter should be able to do this design with a bit of thought, practice, and concentration.

Above, my finished sample with the blue lines removed. Nice dimension, the distorted or uneven shapes blend in nicely, although now I will be able to do it with more even shapes.

If this were quilted on a print or even a marble or tone-on-tone fabric the variation in shapes would be totally undetectable, because the lines are curved and confuse the eye.

Remember, the easiest of all things to quilt are short even curves. That is what comprises this design, so go for it!

Mark a small sample today, use these photos for reference, and add a new design to your library. The photos are close-up shots; the design doesn't look this HUGE in real life.

Yes, for you small-scale fans, you can do this even smaller on a grid marked less than 1/2".

Hope you like this - I'll try and get a sample done on pretty fabric and post it soon. Try a sample yourself, have it for reference, and I bet you have a spot in one of those tops that need to be quilted for you to use this lovely all-over design.

It can look traditional, sweet, funky, edgy - all depending on the fabric, scale, thread, color. You are the artist.

Meanwhile, keep quilting - your work gets better every day.

Diane

Diane-shiko Tips

Many of you have been quilting this design, shown above in my quilt Shadows of Umbria, as a way to obtain a traditional Sashiko look with the ease of machine quilting simple arcs around a marked grid. I get questions about it in my classes and when I teach the technique, so here are a few tips for you. It is explained, step by step, in my book Quilt Savvy: Gaudynski’s Machine Quilting Guidebook, with many detailed photos.

Marking: Clear, crisp, easy-to-see marked ½” grids are the best. I use a ½” marked grid, on point, and use the June Tailor Grid Marker stencil. It makes it so easy. If you can’t see a nice “intersection” of two lines crossing, you are only guessing at a particular point, and the final result will be irregular. Also, you are stressed while doing the quilting because you just can’t quite see where you should be stitching.

I avoid chalk markers, the Pounce type ones, fuzzy tipped markers from too much use, lines you cannot possibly see except on another planet with a different light spectrum. Get a new marker, press lightly on it, let the ink in it wick out to the fabric rather than pushing/pressing so hard the line is fat and blurred and bleeding. Be delicate and precise.

For dark fabrics I like the Clover White Marking pen. It dries and stays crisp and bright, and is ironed out at the end.

Marking is crucial for this design. All four lines of the design “cross” at the point where the two grid lines cross, and precision helps make the design look its best.

Speed: Another tip is to quilt this design at one even speed, not too fast. If you move your hands too fast, the stitches will be so large the design will not look clean and even, but filled with irregular big “basting” stitches. Smooth slow steady hands create lovely even stitches.

Run the machine at a nice even medium speed so it doesn’t sound like a runaway train. Too fast and there go your hands, whizzing away and missing the intersections. Too slow and the stitches get large and uneven, and there goes the look of the design.

Learn the sound of the machine for the correct speed. It becomes comforting and allows you to relax and let your shoulders drop, and arms rest comfortably. You really only need to lift and move your hands for this design, not your arms at all.

Moving the quilt smoothly: Make sure the quilt moves smoothly on the machine bed. Use a Supreme Slider (http://www.freemotionslider.com/) or starch the backing of your quilt. Make sure any Plexiglas has been cleaned and polished so it is smooth and slippery.

I never add anything to my surface, just keep it clean, and I don’t use any sprays near my machine that would settle on the surface and make it sticky. For me, the Slider really helps, but even without it, starching the backing, and my stainless steel bed of my Bernina make a huge difference in being able to move the quilt smoothly.

Look ahead of the needle. Visualize the half-way point on the arc and aim for the next point where two lines cross. Do not watch the needle itself.

Where to begin: I usually place one line of the arcs on both sides of a line forming little ‘footballs’ right in the center of an area as an anchor to hold it in place and then work from that.

Many times I do this from a design such as a quilted feather out to an edge and back perhaps twice, forming a "V," then cut my thread, place the needle at the outside edge or ditch and then work back to the design and “travel” on the edge, or the ditch, rather than on the outer edge of the design.

Visuals: It’s nice to do the Diane-shiko in a slightly different color thread than used for the design or different from the fabric color. But if you choose to try this idea, be sure and echo the design with the background thread color first, then proceed to do the Diane-shiko. This line of echo quilting in the thread color of the background quilting will give you a pathway for travel to the next line and will be undetectable.

Sometimes you have to slow down just a tad to do this travel quilting for a few stitches, and this is when you DO look at the needle and stitches. Being precise at traveling or stitching over a previously quilted line is crucial. If you can do this well, it will be undetectable and look fabulous.

I always place my Diane-shiko on the diagonal, or “on point.” I find there is less distortion of grainlines of the fabric, no pleating will develop, and the look is more elegant. Also, you won’t run into the "issue" of the design lines not being quite parallel to seamlines, a problem that can happen when you mark parallel to seams or with the grainline. It looks bad and can cause excess fabric pushing into pleats. In a very small area it works, but be wary of doing it on a large expanse of background.

Be sure and remove your marking thoroughly when finished. Check it under an Ott light or fluorescent light to be sure it is totally gone.

If you make the arcs correctly the finished design will look like interlocking circles. If the arcs are too skinny and flat it will still look great, but the overall circles will be flattened. Whatever you do, keep it consistent overall and don’t try and change to fatter arcs, flatter arcs, back and forth. Don’t over-correct if you find that the arc you just quilted is too thin or fat. Always try for the correct arc, and the few odd ones will simply blend in. Circles over circles will confuse the eye and no one will notice.

Words of Wisdom: If there is a bad arc, “let it go.” Don’t spend unnecessary time picking out quilting stitches. In time all the arcs will be great. If you stop all the time and un-quilt, you will always be making mistakes because a rhythm and muscle memory for the design won’t have a chance to develop.

Take breaks! Use a magnifier to see the marked grid! My Bernina has one available for purchase, a set of 3 wonderful lenses that do not make me carsick when I use them.

Use a slightly different colored thread so you can see the design, or blend it in with a matching color.

Use this design all by itself to cover and quilt a border, a block interior, a circle in appliqué, the center of flowers, on garments. Divide up a section into soft curves and do this design in one of them, other motifs in the remaining sections.

Yes, you can do this on a smaller grid such as 3/8" or 1/4" for tiny areas, or larger, perhaps a 1" grid. The larger the arc is, the more difficult, in a home sewing machine, to keep it smooth and all arcs similar.

If you do enough of this, it will get better and better. The biggest danger is to try and go way too fast. This design needs your concentration and focus but will garner results in the end. Everyone will love it.

Keep quilting, your work gets better every day.
Diane

Getting even

Even, consistent stitches in machine quilting are a result of everything being “in sync.” The speed of your machine, your hands and how smoothly and evenly they move, the set-up for your machine, even your mood can affect what those stitches look like.

One of the things I suggest over and over to students is to make more than small projects. Start at a 40” quilt. There is a lot of territory to cover in something this size, so you will have some time to build your quality and confidence.

A bigger project, like, oh, a bed quilt, is even better!

The sample of quilting, above, is from the border of my quilt “Shadows of Umbria” and shows how Diane-shiko can be used as a border design. Believe me, after quilting this border on an 85” square quilt I could just about do this design with my eyes closed, and my stitches were nice and even.

It’s harder for me to demo a small sample of a design in class, just sit and begin it and quilt for students, as I am doing it without any warm-up. I have to depend on the fact I’ve done it a lot so that my brain will remember how it all goes and be able to replicate the design.

Quilting on a large quilt gives me the opportunity to really burn in that mind/muscle connection. As I work on one type of quilting until all of it is completed, I can see it smooth out and get better each day. Then I switch to another type of design.

Jumping between designs does not let you build your skill level as successfully.

I take frequent breaks, don’t work when I am tired or in an impatient mood. Quilting is the part of a quilt that lets you escape, sit and hear the comforting rhythmic sound of the machine, in your space with your things around you, in a little cocoon of contentment. At least that is what I am hoping for!

The stitches will even out. They always do. Show them who’s boss.


Keep quilting, your work gets better every day,
Diane

Speeding

Faster than a speeding locomotive…. Is that how fast I should machine quilt? I get asked this so frequently and usually say “quilt as fast as you can, yet still feel comfortable and in control, and maintain quality in your work.” This is not a race!

We all have different standards in our work, so what is “in control” for one seems totally ridiculous for someone else. Some quilters quilt slowly at one consistent speed on the machine, pacing hand movements to keep stitches consistent and even, working at a smaller scale. Others do the “pedal to the metal” method and may have mild anxiety attacks keeping up with their speeding machines, and tend to quilt in a larger scale. Speed is a very individual thing, no right or wrong.

Your friend or everyone on your quilting forum might tell you to speed up and you’ll be better! Another friend will say slow down, you’ll be better! Actually, you have to listen to your own needs, personality, and quilting style, and then, you’ll be better.

I use all speeds in my quilting. I learned to quilt by applying the same kind of operating methods with my sewing machine that I used for sewing garments, or for piecing quilts. If it was a long smooth seam, I pressed that pedal and went fast, guiding the fabric with my hands, letting the feed dogs make the even stitches.

Sometimes I would back off on the foot control, when I needed to sew carefully, stitch by stitch. Inserting a collar, setting in a sleeve, sewing on a patch pocket—all techniques I did much more slowly. In piecing, just the same. Some long strips could be sewn together at a fast speed, yet setting in a “Y” seam needed a more cautious approach.

Naturally when I began to do free motion machine quilting I used these same sewing machine operating techniques and still do. I quilt faster now, because it is second nature to me, and repetition makes everything easier after awhile. But I still slow down when I get into tricky places, have to really nail a difficult design, or when I’m doing particular designs that might need more care to get them right.

And that means slowing down both the speed of the machine, and my hands. Many quilters slow their hands, that’s natural when there is a tricky spot or you can’t quite see, but fail to slow the machine as well. Larger galloping stitches are the result. Hands and foot must work together to create beautiful stitches.

Some designs I still do at one even speed, like “Diane-shiko,” a background fill done on a marked 1/2" grid, below, that I use in place of traditional cross-hatch grids. Even with this one-speed design, after I’ve quilted it for awhile at a session, I find that I am quilting faster than when I began. You get comfortable, into a rhythm, and learn where to look to allow you to go a bit faster---and maintain the same quality.






Most of my students tend to move their hands too fast, and run the machine too slowly. Learn to run the machine a bit faster, and slow down your hands for beautiful, even stitches.

Some are very, very fast quilters indeed. If you experience a sense of glee at your fast speed, and look at your finished quilting and like the results, then you are in the right speed zone.

Never apologize or worry about the speed YOU use. Do what is comfortable for you. The quality of a quilt is not based on how long it took you to quilt it, but the final outcome. Enjoy the journey.

News! My little red silk "quiltlet" pictured at the top of the post is now available for purchase with a bid now. Proceeds go to support the "Sew Red" campaign by Bernina, for the American Heart Association. It is about 9" x 12" on red silk dupioni, quilted freehand in red silk thread. The central motif is one of the original designs I did for the Bernina 830, only this one was done free motion with a little artistic license. If you are interested in more information, contact Bigsby's Sewing Center, 262-785-1177 or by email: bigsbyssewing@sbcglobal.net. We all thank you for your support. It's a beautiful little quilt.


Information on "Diane-shiko" is in my book, Quilt Savvy - Gaudynski's Machine Quilting Guidebook.

Happy quilting,
Diane