Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Quilting a spiral ~ what worked for me


I wanted to make note of these things for my own future reference, but hopefully you'll find them useful as well:
  • Baste your quilt well.  You will handle the quilt a lot and want the layers to stay put.  Also, quilting in the same direction around and around the whole time has the potential for a lot of shifting if your basting is insufficient.  I used a lot of pins but spray would work as well.
  • I found this printable spiral template at verykerryberry and found it to be very useful.  I wanted to be sure that I began with a properly started spiral and this did the trick.  The template doesn't look like much but it is all you need to get going in the right direction.  I printed it smaller than actual size because I wanted 1/2" distance between my quilting lines.  From there, I actually placed the paper template in the center of my quilt, affixed it with painter's tape, and sewed through the paper and the quilt with my machine unthreaded.  Then I traced over those stitching lines on the quilt with a washable marker and was good to go.
  • Use your walking foot.
  • Start with a very short stitch length!  I went all the way down to 1.5 (on my machine, 2.5 is the default stitch length).  The beginning of the spiral is the trickiest part and when following a very tight curve, a short stitch length is really important.  For the first few rounds I was literally sewing two or three stitches, then raising the presser foot and adjusting the quilt a bit, then a few more stitches, etc., just to be sure I was following my marked line.  Also at the beginning especially you will want to take it really slow.
  • I wanted my lines to be close together and I didn't want to have to use the guidebar for my walking foot (I hate that thing, mine doesn't stay put.) so I moved my needle position as far to the right as I could and then used the left edge of my walking foot as my guide. 
  • As I went along and the spiral grew and became easier to sew, I gradually increased my stitch length until I was up to a 3.0 on my machine, which is what I normally use for straight line quilting.  Unless you look closely you'd never know that the stitch length varies throughout.
  • You'll eventually get to the point of having a full spiral that goes out to the edges of your quilt, leaving the corners unfinished (the point I was at in the above photo).  From here you can just quilt one corner at a time, continuing in the same direction that you quilted the rest (clockwise in my case) and continuing to follow the edge of your walking foot as a guide (or your guidebar, if you're using one).
I hope you'll give this a try sometime.  It's a really fun (once you get past the first few rounds...) and striking way to quilt a quilt, adding lots of interest and texture.  I'll definitely be spiraling again in the future!
 

29 comments:

1 Kleep said...

That looks amazing! I love the colours as well. I've seen a few spirals here and there, but I don't know if I'll do something like that. We will see! Seeing this makes me want to!

2 liz said...

I love the way this looks and have admired it in many quilts, but I don't think I could do it on anything much bigger than a placemat! And the center is intimidating. Thanks for your tips!

3 Live a Colorful Life said...

Thanks, Heather, for these very helpful hints!

4 Alison V. said...

I definitely want to try this soon! :)

5 Krista@sewwhatscooking.com said...

Thanks for the post. I've been wanting to try this!

6 Linh said...

I' haven't done spiral quilting before but when done right like yours it's breath taking .

7 felicity said...

You did it all with a walking foot?! WOW!!! Fantastic!

8 Debbie said...

Well it looks beautiful and good for you for writing this all down for future reference and for the benefit of others wanting to try it. VERY cool!

9 Cherilyn said...

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing all your great tips!

10 nicole said...

Thanks for the tips Heather! I'm still in the middle of a spiral quilting session that has been going on far to long. I wish i had this advice when i started! But i'll definitely make use of it on the next one!

11 Izzy said...

Thank you so much for these tips! I really want to try this and your tips will come in handy when I do.

12 Adrienne said...

These tips are awesome! I have always wanted to try this but was not sure where to start. Think I will try on a mini!

13 DeborahGun said...

thanks for the great tips. One day I will try this!

14 Carla said...

Thanks for all the pointers ; )

15 Carli The Quilter said...

Thanks a bunch, I appreciate your thoughtful approach to your process so other can understand you!

16 Erica said...

Thank you for the tips, especially the one about shortening the stitch length, I would have never thought of that!

17 Suzanne said...

Fun! I definitely want to try this sometime!

18 Suzanne said...

Fun! I definitely want to try this sometime!

19 Susan said...

Your tips have given me the confidence to give this a try Heather! Thank you for sharing your expertise! I love your rainbow spiral!

20 Sarah @ Georgia Girl Quilts said...

This is great. I'm bookmarking your post for future use. I can't wait to try this!

21 Svetlana said...

thanks for the tips, your quilting looks absolutely amazing Heather. I have to give it a try one of these days, I especially love how you started the spiral, I find that part to be extremely tricky.

22 Kirsten said...

Your spiral quilting looks amazing Heather! Thank you so much for these great tips as spiral quilting is something I would love to try!

23 Poppyprint said...

Excellent tips!! Your quilting looks fantastic!

24 Fran said...

Your quilt & the spiral quilting look amazing, thanks for the tips, I'd love to give this a go!

25 Holly said...

This looks fantastic, Heather! Thanks for the tips, I hope to try spiral quilting for the first time soon!

26 Samantha said...

great tips Heather! Thanks for sharing :)

27 Claudia/Ompompali said...

Thank you so much for your tips. I have been collecting information on spiral quilting because I am so keen on trying it. Your tips are a wonderful help. Thank you!

28 Katherine said...

Great tips!

Could stare all day at this pretty quilt. :o)

29 Kimberly said...

This is way too stunning, Heather. But you knew that already, right?