How do you quilt on vinyl and leather?

Published: Thu, 12/13/18

Quilting on Vinyl and Leather with Katie Baker

Hi ,

Have you ever tried quilting on a weird material like vinyl or leather? This week I chatted with Katie Baker from Baker Lane Studio about quilting on unusual materials. Click Here to check out the podcast.

Katie first quilts on vinyl or leather, then cuts up the quilted panel and turns it into a handmade bag as you can see on the right.

These bags look amazing and the definition of the free motion quilting designs add so much to their design. Make sure to listen to this podcast and check out Katie's shop on Etsy!

Easy Walking Foot and Ruler Foot Quilting

On Monday I shared the first quilting tutorial for the Friendship Sampler Quilt. I decided to quilt my Scrappy Star block with super simple straight line quilting.

I used my walking foot to stitch in the ditch and a ruler foot to do echo ditching and quilt some evenly spaced straight lines.

Click Here for the quilting tutorial and video. Be sure to watch through to the very end--I was filming late and got a bit silly, which turned into a fit of giggles that I just couldn't shake!

Quilt a Scrappy Star Quilt Block on Your Home Machine

Yes, this is a simple, minimalist quilting design. You really don't need tons of stitching in order to secure your block together. As long as you have enough quilting to secure the batting inside, you can leave spaces in your quilt open.

I'm going to keep the quilting very simple this year because I'm making a new king sized quilt for my bed. I want the finished quilt to be soft and cozy, with just enough quilting to last the test of time.

Just in case you've missed a few newsletters, the Friendship Sampler Quilt is our latest yearly quilt along. Yes, we're starting a bit early this year in December, and will be wrapping up in November 2019.

For the first time, I've written the pattern for multiple quilt sizes. Choose from crib, throw, twin, queen or king so you can make the perfect sized quilt you need.

Each month a new block pattern will be released for you to purchase and I'll share new quilting tutorials each Monday to guide you through piecing the block, then quilting it on your home sewing machine.

New this year - I'm going to quilt a second block on my longarm! I need 2 of each block anyway and I figured this would be a great way to show you many different types of quilting. Our first longarm quilting video will be coming up this Monday so make sure to keep an eye out for it on the Free Motion Quilting Project.

Click Here to find the Block 1 pattern for the Friendship Sampler Quilt and find all of the tutorials I've shared so far linked up together too.

Take a Class with Leah for $5.00 Off This Week

Would you like to take a quilting class, but without the hassle of hauling your machine and supplies across the country and never having exactly the right tools on hand because you forgot them at home?

That is exactly the reason why I teach quilting classes online through Video Workshops.

Video workshops are allow you to watch and learn at home, anytime, anywhere! I create quilting workshops by filming 10 - 30 videos that guide you step-by-step through a project.

To make the videos easy to watch, I organize them together within a PDF learning guide which includes extra instructions, quilt patterns, and worksheets to go along with the class.

Learn more about the quilting workshops that are on sale right now:

Mega Star Walking Foot Quilting Workshop - Jump in to an easy quilt project you can make quickly on your home machine. This workshop is all about building MEGA skills! Learn how to piece a quilt from huge half square triangles, then how to machine quilt it yourself with your walking foot and three super sized designs.

Quilting a King on Your Home Machine - If you're ready to go BIG, this is the workshop for you! You'll learn how to baste a huge quilt in sections on a regular dining table, then how to quilt it on a small home sewing machine, without breaking your back.

Heart & Feather Wholecloth Quilt - Ready to take your quilting skills to the next level? In this workshop we learn all about wholecloth quilting - a different form of quilt where the design is entirely created by your quilting stitches. Does this sound scary? It's actually a terrific way to build your skills quickly on very small project.

Waterfall Bargello Workshop - Learn all the steps to piecing and machine quilting a stunning Waterfall Bargello Quilt. Unlike most classes on bargello quilts, you're going to learn far more than just how to piece a beautiful quilt top. You'll also learn how to audition quilting designs and how to mark the surface so your quilt design is easy to stitch. You'll then learn the basics of both walking foot quilting and free motion quilting, and use these skills to quilt the Waterfall Bargello with a stunningly simple design.

Beginner Free Motion Quilting Fillers - This is a great workshop for confident beginners looking to expand skills with new designs. In this workshop you'll learn how to quilt 30 designs and how to put them all together to create a cool beginner sampler quilt.

Free Motion Quilting Basics for Beginners - This workshop is all about the basics from picking out thread and needles to learning about speed control. If you're really confused and overwhelmed by free motion quilting, this workshop will give you plenty of confidence with a series of practice exercises including a full sized quilt perfect for beginners.

Yes, all of these video workshops are on sale for $5 off this week only. Click Here to shop now.

The Best Foot for Microstippling

Stippling is one of the most popular free motion quilting designs. You can quilt it on a huge scale and cover loads of space with every wiggle and wobble you stitch. You can also quilt it on a micro scale and use it to flatten out the background of your quilts.

Why would you want to flatten the background? This helps your quilting motifs like feathers stand out much better. Yes, this is a bit of a show quilting technique, but it’s still a terrific design to know how to quilt.

I’m quilting on the grace Qnique 14+ / 15R and stitching on the Continuum quilting frame, trying out three different feet to see which is best at Microstippling.

I love this machine because it’s very simple to use and has been the perfect size to see if I would like quilting on a longarm frame. Click here to learn more about this machine and frame.

Click Here to watch a video to see which foot was the best for microstippling.

That's it for this week. I hope you're enjoying this holiday season and looking forward to the festivities ahead. I'm planning to make lots of small gifts this weekend including ornaments and fridge magnets and probably some cookies as well.

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day

P.S If you're looking for a great gift for a daughter or granddaughter, you might want to check out Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt. This is my quilt fantasy novel about a 10 year-old little girl that gets lost in a magical quilt world. Click Here to check it out and hear me read the first chapter.