Last Friday I discovered that my Juki's bobbin winder quit working. That made me very nervous and it was the final push that I needed to take my machine in for a cleaning/service appointment. (It was way overdue. I think it had been since 2010!) I haven't quilted anything on the Juki in a long time, but as soon as went to the shop, I wanted to stipple ALL the quilts! (Of course!) Thankfully, I have another machine so at least I could sew something.
I pieced a few quilt backs, taking time and great care to line up the repeats. They aren't perfect, but close enough so the repeat doesn't jar the eye. I could have pieced in scrappy strips, but sometimes it's nice to have just one backing fabric for the whole quilt. (I go through phases....)
After I did it once, I thought I would try it again. It's very satisfying. I could see this becoming a compulsion!
Here's a quick rundown of how I did it. First off, I worked on the floor, so the fabric was well supported and wasn't hanging off the ironing board. I creased the fabric by hand, pressed it with an iron, then ran a thin strip of white glue to hold things in place. (I don't have a special glue tip or anything.) Press again. Glue the entire length of the pieces together. Then, open up the seam and sew as carefully as you can on the crease/fold. I trimmed off my selvages afterward, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. It worked very well! It's just advisable to watch where you place your hot iron. Berber carpet melts under a hot iron. (It was very minor thing...it could have been so much worse!)
30 comments:
The pieced backings look great and I like one print of fabric for a back as well for the most part:)
A nice clean machine is like new all over again!
Love the quilt backs Amanda, I will give it a try on the backing of my next quilt :)
I found out the hard way about carpet and irons not being friends, my daughter accidently knocked my clover mini iron off the dining room table the other day....now I have a nice hole in the carpet :)
I have moved cupboards around to hide it ;P
Hugs Heather x
What timing. I have some fabric that I need to match the repeat for the backing of a quilt. I hadn't yet looked into how to do it, so this was a great tip to have show up in my reader! Thanks!
Your quilt backs look great!
My Juki's bobbin winder quit working too (so I bought a Sidewinder, what a waste of money)! So, it was an easy fix? I guess I'll take her in.
I wish I would have seen this tip last week - after I quilted my newest quilt, I wished I would have lined up the backing!
Love how you matched it, I can be a little compulsive about that too, I've actually started doing "scrapped" backs where you might use some fabrics from the front side to add to backing. But there is something to say about a large pieced back looking like one piece, again...great job!
Nicely done! You make it sound simple :-)
Wow, they look pretty perfect to me! BTW, upholstered furniture burns pretty easily, also, like my husband's recliner - ooops! I thought the iron was cool enough to set down on it, but NOT!
great idea to use glue. good to know the Juki is up and running again.
Did the repair man say why the winder stopped working? On my Juki I notice there are holes near the bobbin winder but the manual doesn't say to put oil in those holes. So I am wondering are those holes there so the winder stays oiled? Also, thanks for the tip on matching your print. I have a large back to piece soon. I'll definitely put this tip on my Pinterest page for future reference!
Great lining up of prints. Yes, I go through phases too.
Wow great job. I am finishing up the top to a quilt that I want to use one piece of fabric on. My problem is I can't get down and crawl on the floor. If I did they would have to call the para medics to get me up:)
Very nice! Whew...miss a big repair with that one.
I love those roses in the yellow! So pretty. I think I have it in blue and pink. :)
Yay for getting stuff done!
I dropped an iron on my Mom's Berber carpet when I was younger. It left a nice iron shaped melted spot... Right where it could not be covered by furniture, only a rug. We all learned to ignore the mark. ;). The glue is such a good idea.
Yay for a quick repair! I know my Juki needs a trip to the shop for a cleaning and a check up but I don't think I can live without it for more than a day :)
Saved as a favorite, I like your blog. watch At Middleton online
You without your Juki is like imagining you without a limb. and glue...the readily available resource. Who knew? Why, you, of course!
Nice job on piecing the backs together. Glue. Great idea.
You matched those up so well! I love those little elephants so much!
I've never ironed my carpet, but we did burn a large hole with a worklamp (unshielded light bulb) that fell right after we moved in. We're lucky it wasn't worse, but my daughter's bed has to stay in the same spot in her room forever...
Hi....I am thinking about buying a Juki for quilting my own quilts. I was wondering which machine you have. I know there are many models out there but I like the one you have. Could you contact me and talk me through the process you used to choose your model?
email me at skeetersawatcomcastdotnet please and thank you
good to see the machine is repaired, the juki seems to be only just arriving in the UK, plan to have a look at the next stitching show in march. Greta quilts with very nice bacs
Those matched seams look perfect! Thanks for the heads up about the carpet!!
I just had my Pfaff serviced last week and am having my Bernina in this week. It feels like one of my children is away at camp for the week ;) I am glad you got your machine back and are up and running again. Your backs are perfect, nice work!
ack! Glad your carpet survived!
Glue is so magical. :)
Never thought about using glue, I have always just used a million pins and hoped for the best.. LOL. Fantastic idea!
Love the glue idea, it turned out perfectly!
I am impressed with your taking time to match the fabric. I used to do that when making window treatments. Hmmm, will have to try it when piecing backs. Looks great! Happy you got your Juki back from repair!!
This page definitely has all the information and facts I needed about this subject and didn't know who to ask. watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug online
Amanda, do you open the seam that you just glued? I'm confused!
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