Have you ever wished you had a long-arm sewing machine to be able to make your own quilts (or quilts)? Have you ever checked the price of a long-arm sewing machine to find that it is definitely out of your budget?
If your answer is yes, take advantage of this method of making quilts! The model is called "batting buddy" and you can make it even without buying the expensive pattern found in stores.
The basic idea is to sew the quilt squares as if you were following the "foundation piecing" technique. The only difference is that you will need to sew each piece directly to the back of the quilt through the batting. Follow these instructions to understand how.
Steps
Step 1. Choose a simple shape for the blocks you will sew
Diagonals are good for creating quirky and peculiar motifs. Remember that you will only do straight seams, as you would for "foundation piecing".
Step 2. You will need squares of two different sizes:
one larger than the other by 2.5 cm per side. You can do all the work using just a roller cutter and a ruler. The larger squares will be used for the background fabric and the smaller squares for the padding and exposed parts. The squares used in this example were 18 cm and 13 cm respectively, with the larger squares 5 cm longer on each side.
Step 3. Place a square for stuffing in the center of the wrong side of a square for the background
You can now place the first decoration pieces of your block.
-
Image Starting with your first piece Place your first piece of decoration on the pad face up. If you want neighboring pieces to be adjacent, create a cardboard template to align the pieces with.
-
Image Putting the two blocks together Place the second piece face down with the edges aligned with the first piece.
Step 4. Sew a seam along the edges
Sew the two pieces together on the batting and fabric for the background.
Step 5. Open the two pieces of fabric and iron them so open
Place the third piece in the same way as the second: line up the edges, sew them together, open the two pieces of fabric and iron them open. Continue like this until you have reached the edge of your block. End each piece at the edge of the batting.
Note: if you are using polyester padding, be careful to iron the pieces with a cold iron; the hot iron could compress the padding. A cotton batting is best for this project
Step 6. Tuck in the 2.5 cm margin that runs all the way around the block
Cut away any pieces of fabric that protrude outside the edge of the batting - if you are careful you can do this with the roller cutter and ruler.
Step 7. Repeat the procedure for all four sides
You have completed one quilt block, now make the others and join them like this:
- Place one block next to the other by aligning the edges of the background fabric. Make sure the edges of the batting are also aligned.
- Sew a seam along the 2.5 cm flaps of the background fabric, just outside the batting. Be careful not to get the batting in, otherwise the seam will curl.
-
Bb8_97 Open the fabric on both sides and iron it open.
Bb10_562 -
Bb11_575 From the right side, fold or roll the fabric flaps inwards and pin them.
-
Bb12_954 Topstitch along the folded flaps.
Step 8. Sew a row of blocks together like this
Step 9. Sew the rows of blocks together by sewing a seam along the edges of the fabric, ironing them open and making a topstitch along the entire edge
The maximum length of the fabric under your sewing machine will be 25-30cm - a length that your sewing machine can handle.
Step 10. Fold the outer flaps inward and topstitch to finish the edges
-
Back 2 The back of the blocks is already quilted. And all this without having to follow a pattern or use a long-arm sewing machine!
Advice
- This procedure works best with thin padding, but thicker padding can also be used.
- As long as you sew the blocks together in rows, and add the quilt one row at a time, you will never have more than one row width under the sewing machine.
- Use a table next to the sewing machine to support the weight of the quilt as you sew.
Warnings
- You need to iron the open pieces of fabric if you want to add a nice touch to the quilt.
- The polyester filling may compress and / or melt if the iron is too hot.
