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Love Letter Pillow Cover Sewalong - Part 3 (Walking Foot Tutorial, too!)
We are now moving on to the quilting process of the Love Letter Pillow. If you aren't quite finished with piecing your final block, then refer back to Part 2 of the Sewalong for some piecing tips. For quilting, we have opted to use the Walking Foot designed for the Singer Featherweight. The teeth on the walking foot align to the teeth on the feed dogs so this will eliminate any unnecessary shifting and allow for more even feeding during the quilting process.
To begin quilting (this applies to any quilt) you will want to layer your project in what is called a "quilt sandwich".
It will layer like this:
For a full-size quilt, my long-arm quilter requires the batting and backing to extend beyond the quilt top for at least 4 to 6 inches all the way around. With smaller projects, it doesn't have to be this much, but you do want some extra for ease.
The Walking Foot is attached from the back of the machine with the fork arm placed over the needle bar at the same time as you attach the walking foot to the presser bar with the thumb screw. (Click here for a downloadable PDF for photos and further instructions on how to attach the Walking Foot to the machine.)
Before you stitch your first stitch there are a few things to know:
You can stitch along the block seams at a distance from 1/8" to 1/4" to the seam to quilt your stitching lines. This essentially outlines each piece. I opted to quilt the entire heart as more of an outline, however, so that it didn't look like a "broken heart" by quilting any center lines.
When you are finished quilting, clip all your loose threads being careful not to cut any of the locked stitches. Next, trim your batting and backing.
Walking Foot Tip: This tool is excellent for basting, sewing binding on or when working with knit fabrics!
Proceed and complete the next step in your pattern - sewing your pillow back until it is ready for binding. When you're finished, advance to Part 4 of the Love Letter Pillow Sewalong - Sewing the Binding!
