Our Quilting Room—a place quilters call home

My new favorite tool is the Blue Clover “blue” pen. This pen is really nice for marking the quilt top right before quilting. I used it for a grid outline on my latest quilt. To erase it you saturate the area with water. I used it on a white muslin and had no problems with it. They advise you not to leave the marks in for more than 2 weeks.

Pick out a piece of fabric and give a fat quarter to each of your friends. Set up a few simple rules – like the finished size of the quilt, theme or how much of the special fabric has to appear on the quilt top. This is a great way to think “outside the box” and try something maybe you never would have before. This is also a good “challenge” for Quilter’s Guild or Bees.

Lay a large sheet of tracing paper over the quilt top and lightly trace block/shapes. Remove the paper from the quilt and sketch out quilting options, laying it on the quilt top occasionally to “audition” options. Trace over the final design with a fine tip marker to have it for reference while quilting.

Another option is using a thin plastic sheet. Instead of sketching with a pencil, use a dry-erase marker. If you want to keep this design for future reference, you can trace over it with a permanent marker. Or you can simply erase the design when you are done and use the plastic sheet again on your next project.

A cheap disposable option is non-latex gloves. They give the extra grip needed and still allows you to remove pins and reposition the quilt easily. The only disadvantage is that your hands get a little sweaty.

Another favorite are cotton gloves with “grippers” on the palms and pads of the fingers made specifically for quilters. They are a little bit heavier but your hands will not get sweaty and you are still able to remove the pins. They may require occasional washing. There are several different varieties available in fabric and craft stores.

Use spray starch on fabric before cutting it if you know you will be handling it on the bias. It is also a good idea not to press with steam.

There is a good description of frabric bias here if you are not sure what it is.

There are two great ways to collect loose threads. One is to keep a scrap piece of cotton batting on the table or floor. Threads dropped on the batting adhere to it, making cleanup a snap.

The second way that my Mother and Sister use is putting the loose threads on their shoulders. I would not recommend going to the store this way though.

When you are finished with each project any piece can be cut into squares for use in a scrap quilt later. If you keep the squares color coordinated it makes it even easier to create scrap quilts.

I keep bins of squares cut to several different sizes ranging from 1.5” – 6”. I sort the squares by size and color, keeping all of the same size in one bin and the colors separated in baggies.

Use a tape lint brush along the backing and batting before sandwiching the quilt. This helps prevent any dark threads from getting stuck and showing through after quilting. —Grandma Bonnie