My mom asked me if I could demonstrate spiral quilting to her informal fiber arts group. Absolutely I said, why the heck not. I am certainly no expert in any area of quilting and have mucked up a few of her projects, so I feel honored that she would ask me.
I haven’t done a full tutorial here because there are so many resources online but I have provided a little list below to get started. My little secret, which is probably not so secret and really just common sense, is to start your spiral slooooooowly. Take a stitch or two, lift the presser foot and re-position your quilt. Once you are out of those tight curves, quilting becomes much simpler as you start to create gentler curves and the bulk of your piece will move out of the harp space.
I drew up some spiral templates on Adobe Illustrator and have provided them here in PDF form if you would like or you can grab them from below. Make sure there is no scaling when you print the templates off so the lines of the spiral end up 1/2 inch apart. What’s the easiest way to apply the template to your quilt? Print one off, lightly spray with 505 spray adhesive, and give it a whirl (start quilting). You really only have to make it around the spiral once and then can use your guide for 1/2 inch spacing.
Here is a short list of my favorite resources to get you started:
- Crazy Mom Quilts – spiral started with free motion foot
- The Quilting Edge – spiral started with walking foot
- Red Pepper Quilts – squared off (square) spiral quilting
And, Craftsy! This is how I got started. I purchased Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot taught by Jacquie Gering and I have to say it is a fabulous online class. There are lots of tips and tricks to get started quilting with your walking foot!
Here is my latest project using spiral quilting, look at all that crinkly, quilty texture! You get the density of lines quilted 1/2 inch apart with very little marking and hardly any stopping and starting.
Weekly sewing round-up:
- Still big-stitch hand quilting the ugliest quilt, about 1/3 done! I miss my sewing machine A LOT 😦
Cheers,
Amanda
Thanks for this template, funny enough I also registered for that class on Craftsy but I’ve only gone as far as the cross- hatch, echo-in and the one off spirograph but have been too afraid to take on spiral 😦 Your beautiful quilt from the new pattern and this post makes me want to give it a try!
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Thank you Olusola for your comment! The walking foot Craftsy class is really wonderful. It opens up doors in the quilting option department. I really love spiral quilting because you only have a few stop and starts and you end up with the same quilting density as you would with straight line quilting, but none of the hassle of drifting off your straight line or using registration lines. Happy walking foot quilting!!!
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And for some reason I was convinced it’s even more difficult than the straight line ones…thanks for proving me wrong 🙂
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The only tricky part is getting the spiral started. I go very slowly at the beginning. I start with a smaller stitch length and only take one or two stitches at a time before lifting my presser foot and readjusting the quilt. Once your spiral is about 4″ in diameter it gets easier. And the just easier and easier as the bulk of the quilt moves out of the machine’s harp space.
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Awesome, I have a couple of Quilt tops awaiting Quilting maybe I should try spiral on one to see how I get along…fingers crossed 🙂 I’ll let you know how I get on.
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Sounds wonderful!!!
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I’m excited that you are coming to our group! Thank you for agreeing to do a demonstration.
Will you have to wait long to get your sewing machine back?
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I am going to take it in this weekend and can pick it up on Jan. 26th. I have lots of projects lined up!
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