How it's done

Here is how I deal with the fabric warts (thick seam intersections) of a double sided quilt. Using my hands.... one on the bottom and one on the top.... I feel for where the intersections are underneath that may cause a problem. I then mark it with quilter's chalk on the top. Like this.



When doing the stitching of the design I carefully avoid those marks. In the picture above I have stitched the feather spine. In the picture below I've stitched the feather plumes.

Another picture of how I avoided the marks. Can you see how the plumes are just a tiny bit odd shaped? A necessary step to avoid the fabric warts underneath.

On the blocks I did the same thing except I used a blue marker because of the lighter color fabrics. In some places I had to get very close to the warts. I was very careful and went slow. A stitch regulated machine helps but if you don't have one you will need to slow your speed down to almost a crawl when you near a mark.

Ok, let's talk about the oddities of stitching the designs. True there are places where the design is not quite right. You will see it because you have your nose a few inches away from the quilt. You need to be this close in order to see the stitching your machine does. But.... WHO is going to have their nose that near the quilt after it comes off the machine?

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Most people view a quilt from a standing distance. A quilter views it from about 6 inches away. Most people will see the overall design but the quilter sees the individual sections. Only another machine quilter (or a contest judge) will be able to spot the oddities. Hopefully they will ask you why you did that and you can teach them this technique too.

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I'm often asked why I so freely share my quilting knowledge when so many others charge for it. It all started with my grandmother. I spent many days with her when I was a child. She said the way a person lives forever is by how much others remember us and how much of ourselves we leave behind when we die. If we pass our knowledge to our children who pass it to their children who pass it to their children and so forth.... a part of us lives forever. People may not remember the person but they will remember the knowledge gained. So that's what I'm doing when I teach others the techniques I've learned. I'm helping someone from my past live forever while adding little pieces of myself too. Make sense?

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Enough deep thought for today. I have a doctor appointment this morning and need to get ready. Doctor appointments usually take several hours because I go to a clinic. The economy has many more people going to clinics these days. More people mean longer wait times.