How do you do it?

CarrieP · 01-17-2010, 10:17 AM

Seems like there are a few quilters out there! How about a little survey to get some discussion started?

Press open or to the side?

Prewash or not?

Machine or hand quilt?

Favorite type of piecing?

What colors do you gravitate towards?

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)?

Quilt yourself or send out?

Favorite foot?

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without?

How long have you been quilting?

CarrieP · 01-17-2010, 10:24 AM

Press open or to the side? I always press open. I am self-taught and didn't know you were supposed to press to the side. When I tried pressing to the side, I found that I lost a lot of my accuracy. Thus far I haven't had any problems with bearding.

Prewash or not? I used to prewash everything, but I've given that up. I really like the crinkly look of finished quilts that use unwashed fabric. At this point I only buy quilt shop quality fabrics so I haven't had a problem.

Machine or hand quilt? Machine! I have no patience to do things by hand.

Favorite type of piecing? I love paper piecing, even though it is time consuming! I also like to do reverse applique. I have the Dutch Treat book and want to pick a block and do a big wall hanging in reverse applique.

What colors do you gravitate towards? Blues, greens, purples. I really like to set things off with black.

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? I like to do wall hangings and baby quilts. I don't actually care for quilting, just for piecing and designing. Bigger quilts are too hard to quilt. Plus, I get bored really easily repeating the same blocks over and over.

Quilt yourself or send out? I've never sent a quilt out, but it sure it tempting (until I do the math on the cost). If I ever finish my Dear Jane quilt I will splurge and send it out to a professional.

Favorite foot? I love my walking foot! I don't know how I lived without it! I do all my paper piecing and quilting with the walking foot.

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? I have to have my lint roller to clean up ripped seams and my wrapping paper slicer to snip threads when chain piecing.

How long have you been quilting? I made my first quilt in 2004--a baby quilt for my nephew. I knew nothing! I didn't even know seams were supposed to be 1/4", how to chain piece, how to properly pin. . . .it was just a mess. Poor little quilt was well used, though. It was made out of Wal-Mart fabrics and has long since disinegrated. Just as well because it was a hot mess.

28peppermintgrove · 01-17-2010, 06:09 PM

Press open or to the side? Usually the side unless I'm working on something with a ton of seams and need to reduce the bulk.

Prewash or not? Not for me.

Machine or hand quilt? Machine so far.

Favorite type of piecing? I have yet to try anything special. I am fairly new to all of this.

What colors do you gravitate towards? Earthy greens and blues. I don't even think I realized it until I started going through my scraps for my latest quilt project.

Favorite types of quilts to make? Baby for sure. They're small and easy to quilt on my tiny machine. I love the accomplished feeling of actually finishing one, and you get that a lot more often with baby blankets.

Quilt yourself or send out? So far I have done everything myself, but I haven't made too many large blankets.

Favorite foot? Walking foot

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? I don't use it in quilting, but I have found so many sewing uses for my chopsticks.

How long have you been quilting? Almost two years. My first Mother's Day after my son was born I got a gift of fat quarters from my mother-in-law. I talked with a friend and got a book to help me out and started my first quilt.

UndrThTblNDrumng · 01-18-2010, 11:16 PM

Seems like there are a few quilters out there! How about a little survey to get some discussion started?

Press open or to the side? Side

Prewash or not? always... I didn't once (because the fabric wasn't supposed to shrink) and after I washed, it shrunk

Machine or hand quilt? machine

Favorite type of piecing? I really haven't done that much. Paper piecing is fun but I've only done small paper piecing projects... I can't imagine doing a larger one.

What colors do you gravitate towards? earthy colors

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? table runners

Quilt yourself or send out? I do it myself... though I'd love to have the $ to send one out. I had access to a long arm machine but we're moving way from it now

Favorite foot? I adore my walking foot too

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? I have a pair of gloves I used as a drum major in highschool and they have grips on them for holding my mace. Well, I use them when I'm quilting and they are awesome for maneuvering bulky quilts around.

How long have you been quilting? about 3 years now, but I'm not a die hard quilter so I really haven't made that many in that time.

sondray · 01-19-2010, 12:11 AM

[QUOTE=CarrieP;7857]Seems like there are a few quilters out there! How about a little survey to get some discussion started?

Press open or to the side? to the side

Prewash or not? not

Machine or hand quilt? machine

Favorite type of piecing? paper

What colors do you gravitate towards? blues

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? rag

Quilt yourself or send out? quilt myself

Favorite foot? walking foot

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? bamboo skewer

How long have you been quilting? 3 yrs

SarahG. · 01-19-2010, 10:17 AM

Press open or to the side? It depends - usually to the side, but my latest one I've been pressing open.

Prewash or not? Yes, I always prewash!

Machine or hand quilt? I've only done machine quilting so far, but I would like to learn how to do it by hand as well.

Favorite type of piecing? I don't really know all the different kinds of piecing...I just sew the pieces together normally with my machine?

What colors do you gravitate towards? I like blue and green, so one of my quilts is that. Another is all reds. I like vibrant colors mostly...no bland stuff.

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? Bed size.

Quilt yourself or send out? Quilt myself! I don't want someone else finishing up my own quilt.

Favorite foot? The standard - my walking foot.

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? I can't think of anything that's not a quilting tool...

How long have you been quilting? 3 years. But I've only completed 1 queen size quilt so far. I have another queen size top completed, but it needs quilting. Now I'm working on a BOM quilt and have completed 5 blocks so far. And I'm gathering fabric for more quilts too!

stacy_smile · 01-28-2010, 08:16 PM

Press open or to the side? usually to the side, because I quilt in the ditch a lot, but I'm starting a twin size that I'm going to have quilted professionally so I'm going to press the seams open on it.

Prewash or not? depends - sometimes I do, sometimes I don't - usually dependent on how excited I am to start the project and if I want to take the time to do it or not!

Machine or hand quilt? Machine!!! I don't have the patience for hand!

Favorite type of piecing? Just basic and easy! (but I'd like to try paper piecing - it scares me though!)

What colors do you gravitate towards? I usually make baby quilts, so whatever colours I find for that, but I would love to make some stuff for myself in burgundy and browns.

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? Baby quilts - they're quick and easy and people love them!

Quilt yourself or send out? So far I've quilted them all myself, but I'm about to make a twin size quilt for my sister as a grad present and I'm going to send it to be professionally done.

Favorite foot? My quarter inch foot - easy to get the perfect 1/4 inch seam, but my machine has dual feed, so I don't need a walking foot

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? My serger! (it's just a large tool!)

How long have you been quilting?I made my first quilt 3 years ago for my cousin's baby and that started my addiction. I haven't made a whole bunch in that time, mostly baby quilts and smaller things.

briggszilla · 02-02-2010, 10:29 AM

Press open or to the side? Open! It's how I was taught and side just doesn't feel right.

Prewash or not? Depends on how lazy I'm feeling lol

Machine or hand quilt? Machine

Favorite type of piecing? Varies, don't have a favorite

What colors do you gravitate towards? Again it depends!

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? Art, but I love them all.

Quilt yourself or send out? Self

Favorite foot? I just use the standard one on my machine...I haven't really experimented with other foots. I know I probably should.

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? Does paper to draft out my patterns count?

How long have you been quilting? 10ish years off and on, I took a sewing class (not home ec...SEWING!

) in high school when I was 14 and have been doing it ever since when I get the urge.

Quilt2much · 02-07-2010, 03:32 PM

Seems like there are a few quilters out there! How about a little survey to get some discussion started?

Press open or to the side? Usually to the side.

Prewash or not? Usually not.

Machine or hand quilt? Machine, although I have quilted one or two small projects by hand.

Favorite type of piecing? For many, many years I only did traditional patchwork piecing. Lately I've been experimenting with different types of applique.

What colors do you gravitate towards? Earth tones.

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)? I have a few traditional pieced patchwork UFO's I am determined to finish, then it will be strictly art quilts.

Quilt yourself or send out? I will do up to a full size quilt on my machine. Anything bigger gets sent out.

Favorite foot? Depends on the project.

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without? Does my microwave oven count?

How long have you been quilting? My mother got me hooked over twenty years ago. Have been quilting on and off since then.

Perimyndith · 02-11-2010, 05:11 PM

Press open or to the side?
To the side.

Prewash or not?
Not. I'm too lazy.

Machine or hand quilt?
Usually neither. I usually tie the quilt with yarn ties or (for a baby quilt) embroidery floss ties.

Favorite type of piecing?
patchwork

What colors do you gravitate towards?
Bold ones

Favorite types of quilts to make (art, baby, bed, etc)?
Mostly baby quilts, sometimes bed quilts.

Quilt yourself or send out?
I've never quilted anything larger than a baby quilt; bed quilts I always tie.

Favorite foot?
The standard one that came with my machine.

What tool that's not a quilting tool can you not live without?
Rolling cutter

How long have you been quilting?
I don't know, I probably made my first solo quilt 10 years ago? My mom is a huge quilter and I don't really remember life before learning to sew. I do a lot of non-quilting sewing as well.