Welcome back to the Basket Weave with QCT quilt along! This week I'm quilting the borders of the Basket Weave quilt panel using two designs from Quilter's Creative Touch 5 (QCT 5) beginnings.
Watch this video to learn how to quilt the designs in the quilt step-by-step:
Click Here to download the Basket Weave with QCT Info PDF. This includes a diagram with the designs placed in the quilt and the names listed.
Basket Weave Border Quilting Design
I designed the Basket Weave quilt panel to be easier to quilt with Quilter's Creative Touch 5 with corner blocks in the borders.
This is easier to quilt because you don't have to program a continuous design to turn the corners. I'm still wrapping my head around that technique and I found it pretty confusing!
Instead we're going to quilt one design in the border corners, then long designs - basically one single long pantograph - along the sides of the quilt.
Quilting the Border Corners
To begin, I first outline quilted around the corner blocks and the borders. This stabilized the fabric and ensured the spaces were more square and straight to the frame.
Then I selected the design for the corners which is just named 2. Seriously. 2. It's a really cute quilted block design that definitely deserves a better name!
When placing the design on the quilt, I use 4 points stretch and align the outer edges of the ruler foot I'm using with the outlines of the block.
This ensures even if the space on the quilt is stretched a bit and not perfectly square, the design will still be centered nicely within that space.
This also leaves a 1/4-inch margin between the quilting design and the outline of the block. This stops the design from accidentally overflowing the block and looking messy (not my cup of tea!).
Quilt the two corner blocks at the top of the quilt and then it's time to tackle a long border!
Designing the Borders
The long borders are created using the Pantograph tool and you'll need to first measure the space you're going to quilt in. My longer border measured 70 1/2 inches long.
The height of the space was 6 1/2 inches, but I didn't want the design to be this tall. Why? Because the long border tended to be a bit wiggly and not perfectly straight. I shared many tips in the video for helping you get the border straighter in the frame and running perfectly parallel to the rails of the frame.
But even with those extra steps - if I sized the design at 6 1/2 inches tall, it would run the risk of bleeding into the middle of the quilt or bleeding off the top edge which looks messy.
So instead I build in a margin for the design and this time much bigger than the other spaces. I sized the height of the design at 5 inches which leaves a 3/4 inch margin between the quilting design and the top and bottom edges of the border.
In short:
Longer Borders - 5 inch height, 70 1/2 inch width, Pattern A, and hit the + button to create 8 repeats of the design in a row.
Short Borders - 5 inch height, 40 1/4 inch width, Pattern A, and hit the + button to create 5 repeats of the design in a row.
Placing the Border Designs
Placing the border designs was very different from placing all the other designs in this quilt. For the first time, I wanted the software to maintain the height of the design rigidly. I didn't want the height stretched out in any way.
So to place the borders, I selected the 2 Points placement method. Make sure to watch the video on how this works as it allows you to see if the border design is running straight to the quilt with only those two nodes selected.
This did leave around 3/4 inch of space open to the top and bottom of the design on the borders. I filled in this area with a single line of quilting 1/4 inch from the edges of the border rectangle. When in doubt, fill up the space with a straight line!
Before You Begin Quilting
Make sure to check your bobbin before you begin quilting the long border designs especially. It is possible to recover from a thread break in the middle of the border, but it isn't much fun.
Of course when you change bobbins make sure to pull your machine to one side and test your stitches. You might need to adjust your tension slightly from one bobbin to another and it's also nice to figure this out off your real quilt!
Don't Leave Your QCT!
Lastly, I don't advise walking away from your machine as it quilts these long designs. Something can glitch and it's always faster and easier to fix the issue if you stop the machine as close to the break as possible.
If you have another machine in the room, consider piecing something fun, or stitching out an embroidery design, or maybe do a few jumping jacks. Here's a quick 10 minute workout from one of my favorite online exercise instructors.
So that's it for our Basket Weave with QCT Quilt Along! I hope you had fun and enjoyed quilting this fall themed throw quilt with me.
I learned so much about quilting with Quilter's Creative Touch 5 and about longarm quilting in general as I worked through this project.
Best of all, this throw quilt is the perfect autumn quilt for your couch or table! My family has really enjoyed this quilt on our dining table this season.
Follow along with more posts from the Basket Weave with QCT Quilt Along:
| Part 1 - Basket Weave Prep | Part 2 - Quilting the Center | Part 3 - Quilting the Borders |
