Hello my quilting friend! I have a question, : is there anything in quilting - a technique, method, machine, or tool that you consider cheating?

This is a bit of a hot-button topic and I'm sure there's something out there that's caused you to raise your eyebrow at least once. That's why I decided to take on this topic - Is This Quilt Cheating? - in this week's podcast.

Have you ever taken a quilt to a guild or class and felt criticized for using machine embroidery, cheater cloth, or fusible web to hold the pieces together?

At some point, we pick up on these cues and it can effect the decisions we make on our quilts and the techniques we choose to use. But when you really think about it - isn't this a bit silly? So long as we're making quilts and enjoying the process, isn't that the whole point?

Just in case you've missed a podcast episode, don't forget you can find them all linked up right here at LeahDay.com/Podcast

Another reason to watch this podcast episode is to see me cleaning my 100+ year old Singer 27 treadle base. I was inspired to learn more about treadle machines while writing about the Grandmother character in my upcoming fiction novel Mally the Maker. 

This reminded me of my grandma and her Singer treadle and before you know it, I was looking to buy one!

I've ended up with two treadles in the past two months and now I'm working on restoring a Singer 12 and Singer 27.

Thankfully the 27 is in great shape because I purchased it from a woman in my area who had kept it in her family for at least three generations. The irons are in great shape and have terrific movement, but they were a bit dirty and needed a good scrubbing.

Did you know you can take the irons off a treadle cabinet with just four screws? By removing the cabinet, it's so much easier to clean all the nooks and crannies of the cast iron and oil the machine so it's back in perfect working condition.

Be looking forward to next week's podcast episode with Cheryl Warren which will be all about collecting and preserving vintage sewing machines.

Do you remember your grandmother or great grandmother sewing on a treadle machine? Please reply to this newsletter and share your story. I would love to hear from you and even feature a few of the best stories in next week's treadle themed newsletter!

With all the beautiful pictures of elaborate free motion quilting, amazing designs you can create with rulers, and even more things you can do with machine embroidery, sometimes it's important to remember that you don't have to quilt your quilts so densely.

Crazy as it sounds, sometimes the best way to quilt your quilt is right in the ditch.

This is a great way to secure the layers of your quilt together so you can take out pins and sometimes it's all you need to finish a project.

This quilting tutorial is from the Heart Medallion Checkerboard mini quilt along. We still have a few bundles of this Heart Medallion fabric so you can still piece this quilt and quilt it with me!

This week I've also shared a new tutorial on quilt marking. This is one of my favorite ways to speed up the quilting process.

Wait? I know you're thinking - doesn't marking a quilt take extra time? How in the world does this speed up the quilting?

I find marking the lines on the quilt can take the guess-work out of which designs I'm quilting and where. I make all of those decisions in the marking process so once the quilt is on the machine, it's a speedy process of simply quilting on all the lines.

Just in case you ever worry about it, no, marking your quilt top is NOT cheating.

There are some quilting designs that you have to mark, especially if you want the lines to fit a space symmetrically. Quilt marking is just another important skill to add to your quilting toolbox so I hope you'll check out this tutorial and begin marking your quilts with me.

Just in case you're needing a new marking pen or pencil, Click Here to check out the fabric pen and pencil I recommend. Often the hardest part of the marking process is which pen to choose. I know from experience that not all fabric markers will come out in the wash so make sure to test it first before marking your quilt top.

Each week I share a new machine quilting design tutorial. I hope you'll follow along each week and try out the designs. Just a little bit of time quilting every week can make a big difference in your skill level. This week's design is Concentric Circles and this is definitely a design that should be marked on your quilt top to get started.

We mark the starting rings of Concentric Circles because it's really tough to quilt small circles perfectly. Mark that shape, then quilt on the lines with walking foot quilting or free motion quilting. I find the smaller circles easier to quilt with free motion quilting, but the bigger circles easier with walking foot quilting.

Yep, I will switch out the feet and change my machine's settings in the middle of a quilt if a different type of quilting will make the process feel easier.

In order to achieve this pretty effect of perfect circles within circles, you will have to break thread with every single circle you stitch. But there's also a cheat method too and I call that design UFO. Come check out the tutorial to learn how to quilt both designs.

So where will Concentric Circles work best in your quilts? This is a design that will add drama and elegance to your quilt and it's find to add just a little bit here and there. I used Concentric Circles in the center of the Love the Light Wholecloth and I think it was the perfect choice:

What do you think of this wholecloth design? Can you believe this was quilted with walking foot quilting? You can find this pattern in the book Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day. 

I loved pushing my walking foot to the limit on this quilt and proving that you can make fantastic quilts with this simpler form of quilting.

Be looking for next week's newsletter with more news on my treadle sewing machine adventure as well as another sewing machine that will be making a debut in the quilt shop as well. Hint... hint... More details coming soon!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day