QAYG - My way

Hi, I am Sheila from Bluepatchquilter  - thanks Lynne, for asking me to contribute to your blog.  I have been reading the QAYG threads in your flickr group and I have a theory that so many of us love patchwork, but quake a bit when we think about quilting.  I guess that is why long arm quilting services are becoming ever more popular.

I have been quilting since 1998 and still leave a quilt top hanging about for ages before finally giving myself a strict talking to and getting down to actually quilting.  Tales of throwing a rolled up quilt, secured by bicycle clips, over your shoulder before embarking upon a quilting session has left an indelible mark on my brain.

I struggled terribly with my first quilt - I had no walking foot, then in 2002 made a largeish quilt and followed the magazine instructions to quilt as you go.  This invlolved the strip method which I found really laborious although I was very happy with the added sashing element this method provides.

In 2004 I started teaching classes locally and devised my quilting in chunks method.  It is virtually the same method as decribed by Leanne and Marci in the post before this one, although the wadding is joined by hand (doesn't take too long and I don't do hand stitiching too often!!).  However, I wanted to avoid quilting and joining individual blocks. Most of the ladies who attend my classes don't want to heave big quilts through their machines, most had completed the beginners' quilt that I start them off with, it measures about 48" square and they all cope with quilting something of this size.

So I reckoned if , e.g., you made four this size it pretty much adds up to a double quilt size etc, etc..........
I have a handout available here for you to download that outlines the whole technique.

Basically you choose how many sections you wish to quilt. This picture is of a quilt I made using this method - it is a super - king sized quilt and in daily use on our bed, has been thro' the wash a few times now and is none the worse for being put together in this way. I divided the top into three, one 1/4, 1/2 and 1/4 and each part full length - I found thes long chunks ok to handle thro my machine.


Hope my contribution to the debate has been helpful.

Comments

  1. Hi Sheila,
    Fantastic quilt and I think your method for QAUG is very interesting. I'd like to give it a try but I'm having trouble downloading and printing from the site you linked to. Is there anywhere else I can get these directions?
    McKenna Textilediva.blogspot.com

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  2. Thank you for sharing your method. I am especially happy to hear that your quilt has survived much use and several washings and dryings and it still looks wonderful! I tend to think in about QAYG in quilt blocks, now I will think of it in quilt sections too which means less to join later.

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  3. Hi McKenna, if you email me I will send you a copy direct, will have to look into the problem.
    sheiladonnachie@btinternet.com

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  4. Yes, I too am so glad that it has survived several washings and has made it successfully through the wash! Originally I was just going to stitch the batting together by hand, but when Leanne figured out how to do it by machine, I'm not going back! Though I think your method would go together really quickly also! Thanks so much for sharing!

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