Machine quilting with rulers plus a lovely win!

I have been lucky enough to have spent a few weeks this year working with Bernina at the Craft and Quilt Fairs demonstrating on the Bernina Q20 using rulers to achieve fun designs- some basic and some that look difficult but are surprisingly easy.

It looks tricky in the beginning, but the rulers can help the home quilter achieve fantastic designs with just a simple curved ruler. I use my Bernina 440 to demonstrate at the classes-  a machine with a smaller throat space, it works quite well, however at home I use my larger machine. Ruler work on the domestic machine can be a little cumbersome with a very large quilt, but is able to be done. 

My  advice is to break the quilt down into smaller ' quilt as you go' sections if you are struggling with a large quilt and want good accuracy.

Complicate looking yet simple designs can be achieved with a simple curved ruler, I have added some sample pictures below, 

basic markings are on the stitching line only

- not ruler placement -

 always remembering that the stitch line is always 1/4 inch away from the ruler edge.

I now use a small strip of non slip mat under my rulers, it is not stuck on- just sits under the ruler to stop slippage- if it gets dirty or I need a different size, I cut a new piece, - it comes on a roll and is really quite cheap.

Two simple block designs, no marking as I have used my seam intersections  for ruler placement guides. The rulers allow me to make the 'skeleton' of the design then fill with fun and individual fillers.

This is a simple border designs using a curved ruler, the a straight ruler for the

 piano key work.

  A skeleton waiting for filling, this is using a few simple curved rulers over a chalked grid.

Before

After

I had a lovely treat this week, 2 wonderful ribbons from the Modern Quilt Show Australia that was held in Sydney last weekend. My quilt Shirts Refashioned was juried in and then won a Judges Commendation in the Improvisational category and a Judges Choice! 

I am pretty happy with that result!

These are some of my husbands old shirts, they are really soft and well worn, it seemed a shame to send them to Vinnies, so I cut them up and repurposed them.

The ribbons are particularly impressive too!