Under the Pressure Foot # 33

It has been a long time since I have done a Under the Pressure Foot post July 2017, but today is the day for a post.
Let me start at the beginning. It is Friday 29th March which is my Demo Day in store, the month sees me demoing Ruler work quilting, answering questions and setting quilters on their way on their own ruler work quilting adventure using the Westalee Designs Ruler foot and templates.
The First group of the morning often set the tone for the day when I do a Rulerwork demo. I need to get an idea of skill level before we start. There is no point showing them beginner stuff if they are already past that stage and often no point showing the advanced stuff to a group of beginners as it may scare them off. So the first group in were ladies who have done some ruler work quilting but were looking for something more then me stitching sample designs on 12 inch quilting sandwiches even those my sandwiches are 18 inches.
 After a hearty chat with a cuppa it was decided I was going to quilt a large quilt sandwich with an all over design. The sandwich ended up being 24 x 42 inches and could easily become a quilted panel as part of a bag project or if you just wanted to quilt a quilt with an all over design.

It is the principals on how to get started that are important here. There are some simple steps that make this more achievable. I think that is where some quilters get stuck. They try and things don't quite work out how they wanted it. With a few extra tips to keep them on the straight and narrow a wonderful all over effect can be achieved. That is the main key (straight and narrow) to quilting a large panel with an all over design. You must spend some time at the beginning to set yourself up for success. Get out the chalk pen and ruler and measure up your space and consider your measurement with the template/ruler you plan to use. The ladies chose the apple core template. I then did the maths and double check the measurement of the space I want to quilt by dividing it by the template size which was 2". You want to make sure you fill the space evenly. So I draw up my box then using the straight edge of the 12" arc ruler stitched the box I want to fill. This holds the layers together and keeps your work tight and flat.  I drew in some reference lines to help keep me on the straight and narrow or I will be off on a crazy angle before I knew it. I put in 6" lines both way. Then I was off quilting stopping a couple of times to explain what to do if there is a problem like if you twist your template and wander away from your template, broken threads etc. I think the ladies enjoy their visit.

There was no way I would finish the whole piece in the time allotted for the demo. It means the next group get to see what was started and I continue on with that piece for the rest of the day. Along with me doing some basic beginner's stuff for the the ladies who had come to see ruler work quilt for the first time.  By closing time my piece was finished and I had a few workshop ideas to work on.
My piece finished.

Until Next Time
Keep Stitching
Cynthia