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Discover the necessary tools for lap quilting, including an electronic sewing machine, sharp scissors, rulers, irons, and more. Learn how these tools can enhance your quilting experience and improve your stitching precision.
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Here are suggested tools that will be helpful when quilting! Get a sewing machine you can be creative with. I suggest an electronic sewing machine with electronic foot controller so you can easily control the feed of the fabric and the speed of the machine. It helps to be precise with the seams. Machines are priced from $299.
Look for a machine with a bed extension and a front drop in bobbin. This machine is a basic and easy to use.
Spend a little more and get a wider arm extension. You can then fit a bigger quilt under the machine. You may also look for a machine that writes sewn letters. That way you can personalize.
I believe you should always look at electronic sewing machines because the ease of operation. Electronic machines preset the stitch length and width to make the optimum stitch. When you turn on the machine it is ready to sew. You do not need the instruction manual to do the most basic sewing. Threading should be easy to follow. Most machines now number the steps or draw them on the machine.
Here is a list of other supplies you will need. I will cover how you will use them as we talk about technique. • Good sharp scissors and trimmers • Seam gauge • Thimble • Seam ripper • Safety pins • Steam iron and pressing mat • Thread in a neutral shade
Fabric markers like a wash away pen • Clover chalk in white for dark colors • Seam presser • Highlighters • Template plastic • Permanent marker
Walking Foot • ¼” foot • Free motion foot • Quilter’s gloves • Hand sewing needles assorted • Hand quilting needles – start with size 7 between • Layout area
The ¼” foot is a great guide foot to get accurate ¼” seams. ¼” is the standard use to piece patchwork. There are many styles of ¼” feet and they all offer a guide for you to sew a perfect ¼”. Here is how it works. When doing any type of patchwork or strip piecing you will need a guide to help you.
The plastic see through rulers come in handy. Most rulers are marked every 1”, ½” and ¼”. Ruler also have a 45 and 60 degree angle markings for triangles. For Lap quilting the 12 X 12” square and the 24” x 6” rulers are perfect for the rotary cutter and needed for strip piecing.
Buy good Quality scissors. They will last a life time. Make sure the shears are heavy enough to cut through heavy and dense fabrics with ease. Bent handle Shears are created for cutting out your fabric and pattern, If you are sewing with a lot of jersey knits you will need serrated shears. You will need to purchase some 5” or 6” trimmers for notching and clipping seams and cutting threads. Pinking shears are great for seam finishes and notching outside curves.
Even if you do not iron your clothing anymore, you will need a good steam iron to sew with. It does not have to have a lot of bells and whistles but the iron has to give good steam. Buy a plug in iron. Cordless irons do not work for sewers.
I use a pressing mat. This one is great as I can turn it over to use the rotary cutting mat on the other side. I use a paper towel as a pressing sheet and wet it when I need more steam.
I also made my own 18 ½” square pressing board to block my finished border blocks. You can use cardboard for a backing ( nothing real heavy). I used foam core board insulation and cut the board 24” square. I cover the right side with a double faced quilted muslin. I fasten the quilted fabric to my board with duck tape. Next I drew the square 18 ½” finished square size with a wash away marker. Each square needs to be trued or squared up so the quilt will go together smoothly.
To cut the batting I used an 18 ½” square of poster board. In my case for a twin size quilt I folded the batting in 1/3’s and placed it on my rotary cutting mat lengthwise. I used my rotary cutter and 24” X 6” ruler over the poster board for size and cut the batting in 18 ½” squares. Since my quilt finished size was the same length as my batting I was short on the number of squares needed by 18 ½”. It is hard to cut batting straight so I will buy enough batting the make 3 more 18 1/2 “ squares. I used Mountain Mist.
Best Press is a light starch spray that will give the fabric a light stiffness and make it easier to cut and sew the fabric.
Fabric I use 100% cotton for quilting. You can use blends but they do not piece as well, press as well or have the vivid color as 100% cotton. If you question the colorfastness of the fabric , prewash the material before use. Otherwise I use most fabric right from the bolt. Most quilting fabrics are 45” wide. Since this is a standard measurement it will help you calculate yardage. Straight of grain lines follows the selvedge.
www.fabric.com has a design wall to save your collection before purchase and plan your quilt. It is confusing to shop in the fabric department so before you go shopping look at your fabrics and decide what you need to supplement. Find a favorite fabric that tells a color story you want in your space or home. I suggest a fabric with multiple colors and the print should be medium to large in size.
Next take your favorite statement print and try matching it up to various prints of different sizes, try solids too. Making some quilts takes as many as 6 coordinating prints. A Lap Quilt can use 3 prints in the block and 1 in the border and one on the back. The prints should compliment each other. Blend and eliminate anything that you do not like.
Watch out for directional prints. You have to use them carefully!
Always look for blenders and batiks that make good backgrounds. These are fabric you buy to put in your stash because they can be used many ways. I always have muslin and black fabric on hand. My favorite solid fabric brand is Kona Bay. I use Roc-Lon muslin 403 as a brand of unbleached muslin. ( Roc-Lon was founded in 1832 in Baltimore, MD.)
IN the Lap Quilt book there is a reference chart on yardage for the blocks by size of quilt. I used much more fabric because I used strip piece methods plus patchwork methods. I think the strip piece methods take a lot more planning to cut. I used a combination of 10 different prints and solids in my quilt. That includes the borders and backing. The backing and borders fabrics were used in some of my pieced blocks. I call the background color a key fabric. Buy an additional yard of this fabric because you will need several 12 ½” block backgrounds. My key fabric was the black print. I will introduce Electric quilt as an additional way to plan a quilt.
You will need to know the size quilt you want first. I chose my colors from fabrics I had gathered and determined would give me enough to make the back and borders. ( I cut those pieces first so I could use the rest in my quilt.) Electric quilt is a one user program so it makes copys hard but I did make you a yardage chart as a guide for a double size quilt.
When I cut my templates from the template plastic I need some old scissors. I also needed a hole punch and a 1” ring to hold the templates for easy reference. It kept the templates from getting lost.
