More Fan Quilting

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

We have had a lovely fall here in Wisconsin, with some unexpected warm days even in November.  No snow yet, or at least no accumulation, which is good news for my husband as he finishes the leaf raking.  We're getting used to freezing temps at night, and frost on the grass in the morning.

Does anybody else remember when these little round dolls were trendy?  I bought this Pilgrim pair at a craft fair, probably in the 1990s.  They seem a little silly now, but they're a cheerful part of our Thanksgiving holiday..

Last week, I showed how I'm using this template (above) to quilt a Baptist fan pattern on my Shoofly quilt, one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts for this year.  Today, in response to a reader question, I'm going to show how I position the template.

 Traditionally, these fan designs, which mostly date from the mid to late 1800s, are marked on the quilt top completely ignoring the piecing.  It can be difficult to decide where to mark.  In the old days, the ladies often marked as they quilted, which can lead to some dead ends and strange arcs.  (The photo above is from an excellent article about the history of fan quilting.  Click HERE to read it.)

I needed a more organized approach, so here's what I came up with. 

The template is 8.5 in. square, with lines drawn for the quarter inch seam allowance on the sides.  My blocks finish at 9 in. square. 

Step #1:  On the first block of the row, I positioned the template on the right, with the template's seam allowance line lined up on the seam line between this block and the block below it.  I marked this, and quilted it.

Step #2:  Next, I lined up the template's center line with the seam allowance between the first block in the row and the second (the paisley square).  I marked those lines.  The lines on the right of the line only needed to be marked until they touched the quilting already done on the first block.

Before I could go to the machine, I needed to finish marking the paisley square.  To do that, I positioned the template with the bottom line on the seam line, and connected these new markings to the ones I had just done. Time to quilt!

Here's what it looks like quilted.  As I go down the row, I just keep repeating step #2.  I only do step #1 with the first block in each row.

There is a slight gap in the quilting between one row and the next.  I may fill in with arcs later, but it's only about 1.5 in. at the widest, so I may just leave it.

 I knew when I started that I wanted to try to line up the quilting with the piecing.  That's what made all the problems with the marking, because the lines had to show up on light, dark, and medium fabrics.  Another way to do fan quilting would be to mark it on the BACK of the quilt, which would make marking much easier, since you would usually only have one backing fabric to contend with.  But then you'd have to think of another way to anchor your lines.  (Maybe a striped backing?  Or basting lines? Hmm...)

Two of the three sections are quilted, and I hope to finish the last one today.  Then I'll be joining them together, and adding borders.

I am not letting this messy little boy anywhere near my quilts!  Little Buddy loves blueberries (can you tell?).  He had a day off from preschool this week, and we made blueberry pancakes for lunch.  There were plenty of berries left over for eating and apparently for squishing.  (You should have seen his hands!)  It's a good thing kids are washable.

Happy Thanksgiving this week to all who celebrate.  It will be different for us this year, and strange to not have the whole family here, but we will manage.  The health and safety of each one of us is important enough to do whatever we can to help.  I'm looking forward to next year, when we can put the virus behind us.

Stay safe, and thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

 

Linking up with:

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy  

Cynthia at Oh Scrap