I like to put kids names on quilts while quilting them. It makes the quilt more personal. I have one customer who is making quilts for her grandchildren. I have quilted their names onto each.
I find adding words or names to free motion quilting fairly easy. The biggest problem I have run into is making sure I have enough space for all the letters. So in that case, it helps to mark the quilt with the words or name you wish to quilt. (It also helps in getting the spelling correct.)
But what if you are following a paper pantograph design?
I had the opportunity to try figure this out. If you do not have a computerized longarm machine, I do not. How do you add a name to a design? Here is what I did:
- On a blank piece of paper, I wrote out the name I wanted, in the size I wanted, to incorporate into the pantograph design.
- Then I trimmed the paper down to just the name.
- Once I quilted up to were I wanted the name to appear on the quilt, I inserted the paper with the name under the plastic sheet on my machine. In this case, I wanted the name near the bottom right corner. The plastic sheet holds the pantograph in place on my machine. If your machine does not have one, you could use a sheet protector or a piece of clear plastic vinyl.
- With the name in place, I used a wet erase pen to draw lined from the panto design to the name. This can be a bit tricky. You may have to quilt the letters in a couple of steps. With the quilting line going back to the panto design, then back to the name and back to the panto design again. If you need to dot your “i” or cross your “t”, it is sometimes easiest to do so as you are quilting the letter rather than coming back after the fact.
Now I’m ready to quilt the name. I did find I should have used a different color. I had the black marker handy. As I was quilting, I found I would have preferred a different color for the new lines I drew. It would help to distinguish from the original lines.
Notice I said I used a wet erase pen. What is that, you may have asked. They are similar to the dry erase pens. The difference is you need water to erase them. Why would you want that? Well, have you ever got dry erase ink on your clothes? It can be tough to get off. With the wet erase pen, there is little chance for you to get the ink on your quilt. Getting dry erase ink on your quilt, or a customers quilt, would not be a good thing. Wet erase ink will not rub off, like dry erase ink, onto your fabric. They can be found next to the dry erase pens.
I loved the way this came out. So did my customer.
What do you think?
C
It looks great!
Thank you.