If you find working with black thread on black fabric tricky like me, here is a tip that may just help you! I wanted to stitch a channel around this block 1/2″ out from the seam line but I struggled to see the seam line to get my ruler lined up with it.



I could have chalked/marked the line in, but I didn’t want to mark this clients quilt. In coming – blue painters’ tape. It has a 1001 uses, and that’s just for quilting!

I have taken a piece of blue painters’ tape and stuck it along the seam/ditch. I can then line my ruler up on the edge of the blue tape to get my stitch line.

 

(On my ruler I am using the first 1/4″ marked line on the ruler against the tape + the width of my foot = 1/2″ out from the ditch).

 

I used the same piece of tape and moved it to the next seam/ditch and continued around the block.

About the quilt:
Quilt pattern is Night Sky by Jaybird Quilts
Pieced by Julie M
Custom quilted by me – on a Handi Quilter Infinity
Quilt size 120″ x 120″, over 1 million stitches, close to 17hrs of actual stitch time (needle going up & down), 19 bobbins (@215yds each) and 28 thread colour changes.
Each coloured block was quilted using rulers and free motion fill designs.
The black background I used the straight ruler to get the 1/2″ channel line, I used one computerized design from my ProStitcher between the blocks (the star in the circle) then free hand filled the rest of the black background.
It was a repetitive quilt but super fun to do!




Article written by: Heather Hopkins