At the time of this comment you aren't yet finished with your backing advice-tutorial and, agreeing wholeheartedly with your advice, I think I just might cry😢. 😊. I've FINALLY completed a family "honor quilt" for my husband, my high school sweetheart 😍,, who served during Vietnam era. It's been a challenge, but at long last Quilt top is completed. Exhausted, I chose a navy blue sheet for the backing. Wasn't completely happy with it. I'm laying out the quilt sandwich, pushing aside my OCD leanings... until I tuned in to this tutorial. My age or health just isn't enough to soothe my overactive conscience! Sooo. Back to the old drawing board. 😭😰
I love your helpful hints. They have really inspired me to do things in a different way than what I normally would have done. Thumbs up. So glad I subscribed to your site.
Hi Nancy. I know this video is very old and I’m not sure if you’ll see this. I am busy with my third quilt, having started sewing at age 63 in 2020 during Covid. My quilts are all reversible queen sized memory photo quilts totally hand pieced and hand quilted. I started this third quilt a month ago and it tells the story of my son’s career, hobbies and life path. The challenge is that he wants a solid colour for the backing, blue, which he has already chosen. As I’m using different colour threads which I will also use to enhance the story eg a road, trees, houses, photos, do you have any advice on how I can quilt it so that it is reasonably logical and pretty at the back? Thank you.
Hi :) - solid on the back is always a tough call. I would recommend that you use a very fine thread in the bobbin, like a Wonderfil Invisafil, that should work with most colors you choose for the top thread. Invisafil is a poly thread so be sure you use a poly on the top - any weight should work. Good Luck!! Nancy
Thank you so much for your tutorials. You are by far the best instructor that I have found and I have trolled through all of them trying to learn this craft. I am loving all of your fabric choices and am very frustrated because all of the fabric stores have more cutesy muted colors. I want vibrant color popping fabrics like yours. Where do you find yours? I also am looking for a pattern in the bright material that would make border prints. Can you help this frustrated quilter?
Hi Jona - i purchase all of my fabrics at quilt shops while i travel and i also love to attend quilt shows when there are vendors - like the AQS shows. i know that isn't always possible as there isn't as many shops around as their used to be. i would recommend finding a website that you like. i love www.ericas.com - they have the type i love. having said that, i love ALL fabrics :) - when you get the opportunity to attached shows or shops, purchase as much as you can - i don't purchase fabrics for a specific project, i buy what i love at that moment - having the funds to purchase what i love is the reason i have a "real" job :)
Hi - thanks for the question! Sometimes I do pre-shrink my cotton or cotton blend battings and sometimes I don’t.I will tell you why and why not, but I really recommend that you make some sample sandwiches of the battings you plan to use so you will know what you like and what you don’t. When I am making a guilt and plan to use a cotton or cotton blend batting in the quilt this is how I make my decision. Cotton and cotton blend battings have a tendency to shrink from 4-8% depending on the brand. Depending on how tightly you plan to make your quilting design, you can find that shrinkage to be a good thing or a bad thing. When your quilting pattern is a looser design, maybe 2-3” of unquilted space, I find that if I don’t preshrink my batting, after I wash the quilt those large spaces are too puffy - what I call “the Jiffy Pop Popcorn look”. For me, that is n=unappealing. If I plan an all over design that is tighter, I generally might not pre-wash the batting. Now, having said all that J - I always trim the quilt when I am done quilting down to about 1” of batting and backing and then I wash the quilt before I put the binding on. I find the binding lays much smoother if I do that J I hope this all helps!
Excellent information. Thank you Nancy!
You are so welcome!
Bet they love you in the thread shop hahaha! But seriously, thank you for the great tip xxx
At the time of this comment you aren't yet finished with your backing advice-tutorial and, agreeing wholeheartedly with your advice, I think I just might cry😢. 😊. I've FINALLY completed a family "honor quilt" for my husband, my high school sweetheart 😍,, who served during Vietnam era. It's been a challenge, but at long last Quilt top is completed. Exhausted, I chose a navy blue sheet for the backing. Wasn't completely happy with it. I'm laying out the quilt sandwich, pushing aside my OCD leanings... until I tuned in to this tutorial. My age or health just isn't enough to soothe my overactive conscience! Sooo. Back to the old drawing board. 😭😰
You'll have to send us a photo when you're done with it. Sounds like a very heart-felt project.
I love your helpful hints. They have really inspired me to do things in a different way than what I normally would have done. Thumbs up. So glad I subscribed to your site.
You are so welcome!
Great info and tips, thank you!
I love you’re videos! You give such great information and explain why you’re doing the process and the outcome.
Glad you like them!
Thank you for the Very informative helpful tips Nancy 😘
Glad you liked them, Di!
Hi Nancy. I know this video is very old and I’m not sure if you’ll see this. I am busy with my third quilt, having started sewing at age 63 in 2020 during Covid. My quilts are all reversible queen sized memory photo quilts totally hand pieced and hand quilted. I started this third quilt a month ago and it tells the story of my son’s career, hobbies and life path. The challenge is that he wants a solid colour for the backing, blue, which he has already chosen. As I’m using different colour threads which I will also use to enhance the story eg a road, trees, houses, photos, do you have any advice on how I can quilt it so that it is reasonably logical and pretty at the back? Thank you.
Hi :) - solid on the back is always a tough call. I would recommend that you use a very fine thread in the bobbin, like a Wonderfil Invisafil, that should work with most colors you choose for the top thread. Invisafil is a poly thread so be sure you use a poly on the top - any weight should work. Good Luck!! Nancy
@@QuiltingWithNancy thank you for your response. I am hand quilting.
Thanks so much for ALL of the tips and tricks. 8-)
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for your tutorials. You are by far the best instructor that I have found and I have trolled through all of them trying to learn this craft. I am loving all of your fabric choices and am very frustrated because all of the fabric stores have more cutesy muted colors. I want vibrant color popping fabrics like yours. Where do you find yours? I also am looking for a pattern in the bright material that would make border prints. Can you help this frustrated quilter?
Hi Jona - i purchase all of my fabrics at quilt shops while i travel and i also love to attend quilt shows when there are vendors - like the AQS shows. i know that isn't always possible as there isn't as many shops around as their used to be. i would recommend finding a website that you like. i love www.ericas.com - they have the type i love. having said that, i love ALL fabrics :) - when you get the opportunity to attached shows or shops, purchase as much as you can - i don't purchase fabrics for a specific project, i buy what i love at that moment - having the funds to purchase what i love is the reason i have a "real" job :)
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ awesomeness as always
Thanks again!
Why do you spray glue and pin baste? I have only spray glued. But I've only quilted lap quilts. Is it because it is so big?
Yes :) - and I do it just to be sure the fabrics stay in place on smaller quilts too, but always on larger quilts.
Tank you!!!!
Hi, I was wondering if you said to wash and dry the cotton batting? If so, what temperature?
Hi - thanks for the question! Sometimes I do pre-shrink my cotton or cotton blend battings and sometimes I don’t.I will tell you why and why not, but I really recommend that you make some sample sandwiches of the battings you plan to use so you will know what you like and what you don’t. When I am making a guilt and plan to use a cotton or cotton blend batting in the quilt this is how I make my decision. Cotton and cotton blend battings have a tendency to shrink from 4-8% depending on the brand. Depending on how tightly you plan to make your quilting design, you can find that shrinkage to be a good thing or a bad thing. When your quilting pattern is a looser design, maybe 2-3” of unquilted space, I find that if I don’t preshrink my batting, after I wash the quilt those large spaces are too puffy - what I call “the Jiffy Pop Popcorn look”. For me, that is n=unappealing. If I plan an all over design that is tighter, I generally might not pre-wash the batting. Now, having said all that J - I always trim the quilt when I am done quilting down to about 1” of batting and backing and then I wash the quilt before I put the binding on. I find the binding lays much smoother if I do that J I hope this all helps!
😍😍😍