Today’s Topic: Basics of Divide and Conquer Quilt Design
Welcome to Week Fourteen of The Better Machine Quilt-a-long based on my book 25 Days to Better Machine Quilting.
Find all of the previous Lessons HERE.
Sign up for emails of the class HERE.
Good Morning, Quilters!
Yesterday’s post was all about quilt markers, pens and pencils- including my list of five favorite tools. Thank you for all YOUR suggestions for quilt marking tools. I hope you will all check out the important tips included in yesterday’s comment section.
Frixion Pens
Several quilters commented that they love Pilot’s Frixion Pens. Frixion Pens were not designed for fabric, but many quilters love them. Frixion pens create a nice thin line that is easy to see and erases with steam. The color of the ink erases completely though a faint line remains. This line may reappear when exposed to cold air. According to my conversation with Pilot customer service, the only way to completely remove the ink is by using a product called Amodex Ink Remover or Motsenbocker Lift Off 3.
I don’t mind the faint line or that the line may return with cold air. However I stopped using Frixion pens because I noticed that it was difficult to remove the colored ink when I stitched directly over the drawn line. It seemed the stitching line trapped the ink and required a lot of effort to remove with steam.
Give them a try…and see what you think.
By the way, I LOVE doodling with Frixion Pens!
Basic Divide and Conquer Design
NOTE-We breezed through Chapter 14 on Marking Tools and today we are forging ahead with Lesson 15 in 25 Days to Better Machine Quilting: Divide and Conquer Design.
Quilt design is easier when you break it down into manageable pieces.
Often it is necessary to find the center of a block to help position a quilt design or stencil, for example. You could measure the width and length and find the center of each, but there’s an easier way.
To find the center of a square or rectangle, draw diagonal lines from corner to corner. The intersection of those lines is the center of the square or rectangle.
Easy Ways to Divide a Quilt Block
Once you know where the center of the block is, you can subdivide the square or rectangle into 1/8s.
Place the long edge of your ruler on the center point and then line up a horizontal line on the ruler with the edge of the square.
Repeat this horizontally. Line the long edge of the ruler with the center point and a line on the ruler with the edge.
This is the easiest way to divide a block into quarters.
And it creates a whole new canvas of shapes for inserting quilt motifs!
Extend the Lines for Larger Blocks
If your quilt or block is very large, start with a small square in the middle and use a yardstick to extend the lines.
Easy!
YOUR Assignment
Doodle: Practice subdividing a square and a rectangle in your notebook.
Choose just two motifs and create a variety of compositions. See how many combinations you can create!
You might like my latest WeAllSew tutorial for Butterflies!
Test your marking tools–Are they easy to erase? What happens when pressed with an iron–does the line disappear or is it heat-set?
If you have a Frixion pen, try stitching over the line and then steaming the line.
Tomorrow
More Ways to Divide and Conquer
Doodles from my Notebook
Channeling YOUR High School Geometry Teacher,
Mrs. Kennedy, Room 25
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ. For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com. Thank you!
Visit my Etsy shop: LoriKennedyShop for all of my books! They are ALL bestsellers!
