Fan Quilting - Turning Corners!

Happy Valentine's Day Monday, everyone!

I hope you've had a great weekend, and time to rest and restore.

Things are busy here with Quiltville Inn in full swing, and I so much look forward to my feet up with needle and thread time in the evenings after dinner.  It just smooths everything over and even contributes to a better night sleep I believe.

I also love the many questions coming in about how I'm doing this or that - the fact that you are interested enough to ask a question means I am not alone in wanting to do this!

I am also up to learning new things - ALWAYS!  So I am trying an experiment.

I used yellow chalk wheel when marking my Oak Leaf applique quilt - the one that sat partially quilted for years before I finally kicked myself into gear to finish it.

I have used the yellow chalk wheel before to mark quilts - but it was always on colored fabric, not on white muslin.  And guess what happened after washing?  There is still yellow chalk under the stitch dimples, barely visible, but it's there.  

I used the blue wash-out markers for quilting when drawing my border quilting design.  That washed out, but the tips on those don't stay "fine" for every long when drawing through a stencil and they can get kind of expensive.

In come the Crayola Ultra Clean markers for kids!

My friend Barbara who is here with the February Quiltvillians has used these for marking her hand quilting lines FOREVER and it has always washed out.  Sometimes it may take a couple of washings, but there has never been a problem.

So I drew up this little test sample and threw it in with Saturday's load of dishtowels I was refreshing.

IT ALL CAME OUT!

Then Sylvia (who is also at the retreat and joined in on our conversation) said "Now try it on dark fabric and see if any ghost lines are left!

I drew with the ones that would show up at least, not all did.

I ran another dark load and threw this in.

ALL MARKS ARE GONE!

And since that last quilting blue wash-out pen is out of ink, I'm moving on, living on the edge, and marking with these.  The quilt won't be washed until the quilting is complete - so they will be staying with me for a while.

This also gives me a chance to show you how I mark fans when it comes to turning a corner.

Fans begin in one corner and run off the opposite edge.  They stop where they stop.  Check out the "partial fan" where the next repeat just hits the wall.

With hoop removed and ready for marking the next side.

Marking the second side.

I generally only mark 4 fan repeats at a time, giving me just enough for my evening stitching ahead.

Could you mark the WHOLE quilt at once? Certainly!

Getting those stitches in - 2nd side underway.

Things end where they end.  there really is no lining up, or centering, or making things "match"  It's the perfect "It is what it is" quilting pattern - the texture is always great, and each quilt that you quilt turns out that much different based on quilt side, fan arc depth, how many lines per fan, etc.

Also - there are ZERO rules about quilting over applique.  Do it if you want, don't do it if you don't.

I can say that of all of the antique quilts I've studied over my life time - the ones that had no stitching over the applique (Or outlining on top of the applique, or detail stitching on top of the applique through the quilt) have a much higher possibility of eventually just falling OFF the quilt.  Something needs to anchor those applique pieces through all of the other layers if you really want them to stay put over time.

I was inspired to quilt through my applique because of other examples I've handled.  The applique lasted, because it was anchored with the quilting.  But it's your choice.

These other posts may give you more information on how quilts go round and round and round from the outside edge of the quilt toward the center where they just end wherever they touch.

You can use stencils or you can even quilt freehand!

More on Baptist Fans:

Baptist Fans Freehand!

More (Marking with a Stencil)

where was Mabel?

On the back of the couch while I quilted.  LOL!

The tail blur says it all!

Meals continue to be a hit at Quiltville Inn!

There is much cheering to happy quilt top finishes!

Tonni just had her last borders to go on her Rhododendron Trail!

Renee is on a roll!

Charlotte's Rhododendron Trail in greens and garnets.  Awesome!

Christine is Wonky Wishes making All the Way!

I spy some beautiful Moth in the Window blocks from the Addicted to Scraps book along with some Garlic Knots in progress!

We did a bit of Super Bowl construction of our own at the Cabin, where we are buried in the Season of Mud.

Stepping Stones weren't going to be enough!

The Hubster found a listing for a guy who was selling recycled AstroTurf from school football fields.

We needed a way to walk without being so muddy - and though this is temporary it can be rolled up and moved to where we need it to be.

Farmers are using it for their dairy cows as they go into the barn for milking - it keeps them out of the mud.

Gardeners are using this between their rows of plants to keep the weeds down and keep them out of the mud as well.

So why not use it for the mud alone?

Partial end zone going down the muddy hill.  LOL!

It has helped with getting the dogs in and out - I don't care how silly it looks.  Take that - mud season!

One other thing to do today - we are drawing for the winner of the paper back copy of Bruce Leonard's new novel, Quilt City Murders!

Quilting, Mayhem and Murder! Find Quilt City Murders in both the paperback and Kindle version HERE.

Who is entry 2448 out of 4796 entries?

Susan Carlson!  Congrats!

Susan, please look for the email I sent to the address you left with our entry.  Reply with your shipping address and I'll get the paperback copy of Quilt City Murders out to you.

I know you are going to enjoy it!

It's my last full day with the February Quiltvillians.  It's been a wonderful nearly-a-week and we have had so much fun together.

It's just super cold out this morning  Our high is only hovering at 31 today and we still have "Quilts Over the Porch Rail" photos to do!  We'll be bundled up!  At least the sun is shining.

How about your own weekend!  Did you get some stitches in to anything?  Did you quilt your way through Super Bowl Sunday?

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

If you can't solve it, it isn't a problem - it's reality.

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And sometimes reality is the hardest thing to understand and the thing that takes the longest to realize.

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Put your focus on where you are going to go from here.

Take a baby step in the right direction today!

Have a wonderful Monday, everyone -