Butterfly Appliqué Quilt

Butterfly Appliqué Quilt

Created by Diane Kron  | Jun 01, 2013

Are you ready to finish quilts with confidence? The Baby Lock TruStitch Stitch Regulator will help you achieve consistent, evenly-spaced stitches. This project explains how to use the TruStitch Stitch Regulator to quilt at your own pace and learn to master free-motion quilting. Madeira Cotona No. 50 Quilting Thread was used for the entire project; it is strong enough to use for the butterfly appliqué and will help the design blend well with the rest of the quilt. Create this cute quilt for a nursery, child or anyone who loves butterflies or a pop of color! Download appliqué design.

Step 1. Follow the manufacturer's directions to set up the TruStitch Stitch Regulator system. Plug in the cables and charge the Controller.

Step 2. On a flat surface, sandwich the batting between the backing fabric and the front quilt section. To hold the layers in place during quilting, lightly spray with temporary spray adhesive.

Step 3. Using the small wave on the wave edge ruler and one of the gel pens, place the ruler on the diagonal and trace along the edge of the ruler with the pen to create a guide line for stitching.

  1. In the sample, the first line was placed on the diagonal from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.
  2. Place the second diagonal line approximately 1/2" apart at the bottom and taper outward to approximately 1" at the top to create a fan effect.
  3. The third line placed will be approximately 1/2" at the bottom to 1" apart at the top.
  4. Leave a 1 1/2" space and continue to make wavy lines in this fashion until the entire piece has wavy drawn lines.

Step 4. Wind two bobbins with the same colored thread that will be used in the needle. Thread the machine and place the bobbin in the bobbin case.

Step 5. Attach the Baby Lock walking foot to the machine and stitch along the wavy drawn lines.

Step 6. To remove the colored wavy lines from the section, iron the section with a hot iron. Magically, the lines will disappear.

Step 7. Attach the extension table to the machine. Place the TruGlide over the extension table so that the small opening is placed under the needle area.

Step 8. Set the machine up for quilting by lowering the feed dogs and attaching the "O" quilting foot.

Step 9. After the Controller unit has been fully charged, remove the Charging Cable from the unit. Safety tip: Never quilt with the Controller Charging Cable attached.

Step 10. Place the Controller under the sandwich on the extension table to the left of the needle. Place the magnet on the top of the quilt top over the Controller to hold in place.

Step 11. Place the halo that came with the extension table down and around the needle to move the quilt during quilting.

Step 12. Set the Receiver to Regulated mode. Change the stitch/inch to 12 and set the Cruise to 25.

  1. The Cruise speed can be adjusted, but based on the quilt pattern that will be used for this project, we will set it at a slower speed.
  2. The Cruise speed is based on the type of pattern that will be used. For a stippling stitch, you might choose to go at a faster pace than if you were doing an intricate quilting pattern.
  3. The less detail in the pattern, the faster you can set the Cruise speed.

Step 13. The free-motion quilting will be placed between the rows of walking foot stitches that start out at 1" and radiate outward to 2" apart at the top.

  1. To make it easier to follow, draw a back and forth line between the rows of walking stitches from the bottom to the top.
  2. Free-motion quilt on the line to create the desired effect.
  3. Tip: If this is the first time you have used the TruStitch Stitch Regulator, make a sandwich with test fabric and do a test sew to get the feel for the system.
  4. Make any additional changes to the Stitch Length or Cruise speed at this time.
  5. As you finish the area with the halo area, move the halo to the next area that will be quilted. Finish quilting the top.

Step 14. Determine the placement of the butterfly on the quilt top and place cross marks at the center point. Place a placement sticker over the mark.

Step 15. Hoop the quilt top, placing the placement sticker in the center of the hoop.

Step 16. Set the machine up for embroidery.

Step 17. Retrieve the included applique butterfly design and center the design using the Positioning icon.

Step 18. Embroider the design following the color stops for placement of the fabric for applique.

  1. The first appliqued fabric is the pink and the last will be the orange fabric. To give the design a flat finish, use the Cotona quilting thread for embroidery.

Step 19. From the two remaining fabric sections, cut 2 1/2" wide strips. Trim the ends at a 45 degree angle.

Step 20. With a 1/4" seam allowance, alternate the strips while piecing the strips together. Press the seam open.

Step 21. Cut and piece the bias strip.

  1. To determine the width for each of the alternating pieces, align the 45 degree angle line on the ruler with the top edge of the section and left side of the ruler even with the seam line.
  2. Cut along the right edge on the ruler. Continue to piece the sections together in the same manner until you have a bias strip that is long enough.

Step 22. With wrong sides together, fold the strip in half lengthwise and press.

Step 23. Place the binding on the quilt 6" down from the top with the raw edges even with the edge of the quilt and stitch in place using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Step 24. Stop sewing 1/4" from the corner and cut the thread. Fold the bias strip us with the edge on the bias even the edge of the quilt top.

Step 25. Fold the bias strip down so that the bias is placed over the second quilt edge to create a 45 degree angled corner.

  1. Start to sew at the corner and continue down this side. Stop again 1/4" from the corner and cut the thread. Repeat these steps for the remaining two corners.

Step 26. After turning the last corner, trim the bias strip and tuck the end into the starting point on the bias strip

Step 27. Press the bias strip to the back side of the quilt top and hand sew the bias binding to secure.

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