Piecing: You will need basic sewing supplies and basic sewing/quilting skills to piece the quilt top. We will be making Flying Geese Units when piecing the blocks for this project. I have found the best way to make Flying Geese Units is to use the Marti Michelle Flying Geese Ruler. This ruler can be purchased in many local quilt shops or you can order this ruler below or directly from Marti Michelle at her website www.FromMarti.com Below are short videos on how this ruler works
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NOTE: Even though I LOVE using this ruler, the instructions for this project are written “generically” and it is NOT necessary to have this ruler to piece this quilt top. You will also need a pencil or permanent fine line fabric marker and a small ruler to draw lines onto the wrong side of the cut fabric pieces during construction of the quilt top.
Thread: I highly recommend using contrasting threads for this project. The contrast doesn’t need to be extreme—unless you want it to be. We want to be able to see our quilting and we also want our quilting to be seen by others when we are finished. Use what ever type of thread you and your machine are comfortable working with. Use as many colors of threads as you want on this quilt.
Quilting: The quilting is going to be all free hand, but we will be drawing registration lines on our quilt top. You will need a marker that you are comfortable using on a quilt top. I recommend the Mark B Gone, water soluble (blue) marker on light fabrics and a Chalk O Liner with Miracle Chalk power in it for dark fabric. I also like using Crayola Fine Line Washable Markers. Please note that the Crayola markers wash out with detergent and warm water.
I
use the Crayola markers only on my own quilts,
NEVER EVER on a customer quilt!
Quilting Designs: Before quilting on the quilt, I recommend practicing your quilting. I highly recommend purchasing a piece of clear, 1/8 inch Plexiglas (plastic). You can find this Plexiglas at your local hardware store and it usually comes in a piece that is 18 x 24 inches. I recently bought a piece of 18 x 24 inch Plexiglas and it was less than $10 ($6.50 to be exact!) Before using the Plexiglas, take either masking or duct tape (which now comes in many different colors) and place it over the cut edges of your piece of the Plexiglas. The tape serves two purposes. 1) It protects the edges of the Plexiglas. Sometimes the edges can be a little sharp and could scratch you or tear the quilt. 2) The tape will also make a boundary or edge around the Plexiglas. This will prevent you from drawing off the edge of the Plexiglas.
We are going to place this piece of Plexiglas directly on top of the quilt top and draw your quilting designs directly on the Plexiglas. I like to use a Vis-à-Vis transparency marker to draw on the Plexiglas. You will be able to see the quilt through the Plexiglas and see exactly how your quilting will look when finished. NOTE: The Vis-à-Vis transparency marker wipes off of the Plexiglas but it is PERMANENT WHEN DRAWN ONTO FABRIC! Ask me how I know this! Erase the marker using damp paper towels.
Other items you may want to have on hand to make the quilting easier—Temporary Quilt Basting Spray, any brand will work, 6 x 24 inch quilting ruler to make straight registration lines.
REMEMBER this is a FUN project! This project does not need to be perfect. World peace does not depend on perfect piecing or quilting!! This is a project “just for you” and to learn how to use your machine and quilt some new patterns and how to use them in different ways.