Borders using Path Pattern.

This is part of the handout from a borders class with Helen Baczynski describing how she uses path pattern for borders.

This is the easiest method for placing a border design because iQ will space the repeats evenly. There is no math involved. 

A pattern can turn the corners easily when using path pattern. This is the one method where it is best to pre-plan the border of the whole quilt if you want the pattern to travel around the quilt and have all four corners looking good, especially when the quilt is a rectangle.

Of course, this makes the border perfectly straight so the real border block should be marked and the pattern adjusted slightly when work begins on the real quilt. 

If a pattern does not turn the corners nicely, then it’s best to make all 4 sides separate paths and perhaps to join the patterns at the corners with an added geometric shape link. 

Sometimes the best solution is to dead-end the borders and add a cornerstone motif at each corner. Another alternative is to make the pattern start at the center of each side and travel out to the corners, or start at the corners and meet in the middle of each side. 

I never spend too much time trying to make a pattern turn a corner or connect at the corners. 

Setting up the whole border.

Start by measuring the quilt then create a block for the whole quilt – this example is 55”x70”. Check that this block is centered on the grid. 

The border is 5” wide, so create another block 45”x 60” and center it inside the bigger block.

Next add the pattern that will be the path – the square from the geometric catalog - and change the height and width so that the pattern runs in the correct position within the border. For example, if the start and end point of the border design that is to be stitched is at the lower edge of the design, then the square path should be placed close to the inside of the border block.

In the following example, the start and end of the pattern is at the center of the design so the square path is placed in the center of the border.

(If the path is not in the correct position, it can easily be adjusted later by selecting ‘modify path’ on the path pattern page.)

Move the start/end point of the square to the center of one of the sides. The grid can be used to place the pattern correctly.  Select smooth and round out the corners of the square by setting smooth to 100%. This should make the pattern turn the corner pleasingly.

      

The path is complete.

Select a pattern for the border and change the number of repeats until all 4 corners look good. My example uses Loes Tulips Border. It has 30 repeats. The height was changed to 130% so that the border space was filled.

                             

 

Note: if the corners aren’t looking good, select modify path and move the s/e point. That little move may make the corners look a lot better.

The path can be deleted once the border pattern is in place.

Setting up each side separately.

When setting up individual borders on the real quilt, line pattern can be used to make the path.

Mark the border block first using either mark on quilt or trace on quilt. Here I have marked the top border and a little way down each side border. I have added a diagonal line at each corner. 

The most efficient way to mark the line pattern is to trace the seam line between the border and the body of the quilt. This will reflect any crookedness in the piecing so the pattern will follow this and look more pleasing. An absolutely straight pattern placed in a crooked border will look wrong.

Move the path to the correct position within the border bearing in mind the position of the start and end points of the pattern that will be following this path. If they are at the center of the pattern, move the path up to the center of the border.

  

    

Change the width of the path until each end reaches the diagonal line at each end of the border block if the pattern is to meet at the corners. (Mark the diagonal using line pattern) If you are placing corner stone motifs, there’s no need to change the width of the path.

Select the pattern that will ultimately be the border design. Change the number of repeats, and also the height of the pattern if necessary, until you get a pleasing result.

Notice how the path for the Betty Flower is in the center of the border whilst the path for Elephant is at the bottom of the border.

If the pattern doesn’t cross the marked diagonal line at the corner of the quilt, the pattern should connect at the corners without a problem.

In this example, the top border would be quilted, then the body of the quilt, then the bottom border. The quilt would then be turned to mark and complete the side borders.

Stitching the pre-planned border.

A pre-planned border allows you to quilt the side borders as you go but the pattern will have to be split down the sides into sections that can be quilted each time the quilt is advanced.  The side borders can be split ahead of time or after each advance of the quilt because bringing the machine to the front will show how much can be quilted. Just look for the green needle crosshairs.

When the quilt is advanced, iQ will need to be realigned first to one side border before stitching, then realigned again to the other side border before stitching that one. Use the end of the stitching as the reference point for realigning.

It’s necessary to mark the sections of the border blocks within the stitching area after advancing to make sure the pattern is aligned correctly.

The bottom of the newly marked border section should pass through the end point of the pattern that will be stitched next.

The first picture shows where the needle was used to determine where to split the pattern.

The second picture shows the newly marked block and the third picture shows the pattern that needs to be altered to fit onto the real quilt (inside the newly marked block).

      

 

When the block is marked on the screen, it’s easy to move the pattern into the correct position using stretch once iQ has been realigned.

Anchor the start point of the pattern then swing the end point so that the pattern is centered in the real border. Because the block was marked passing through the end of the pattern, it’s easy to swing the pattern and keep the length of the pattern the same. Delete the original perfect border to make the image less confusing.

The modified border pattern will not match with the next section that’s yet to be quilted – look at the left hand screenshot below. Ignore the blue pattern.

             

 

Remember, as you stitch, the quilt shrinks so with each advance the pattern may not line up perfectly as it does on the screen.  This doesn’t matter – pay attention to the quilt and re-align to the quilt. The image on the screen may look badly misaligned but don’t worry, it’s the quilt that needs to look good, not the image on iQ.

Stop stitching the side borders when you get close to the bottom of the quilt.  Advance the quilt and stitch the bottom border before finishing the two side borders.  This will enable you to adjust the last section of each side border so that they connect to the corners correctly.

This is an example of how a pattern appeared misaligned on the screen, and how it really stitched out. This is a corner that was stitched after turning a quilt, but it can look just as misaligned on the screen as you work down the sides. Pay no attention to the part of the pattern you’ve already stitched on the screen. Sometimes it is best to delete the parts that have been stitched to avoid confusion.

 

Creating a circle of pearls.

I recently made and used this circle of pearls pattern on a quilt.


Several people asked how I created it so here are the steps, but first you need to create and save a continuous pearl pattern. I described how to do that in the previous blog post.

Starting at the main menu.
Design/Sew Quilt > Start New (answer any pop up questions appropriately)
Block Pattern > Enter Rectangle manually > use the default of 10"x10" > continue > Finished Select Circle from the geometric catalog (if you have re-organised your pattern catalogs, use search to find circle) > continue.
For this exercise, we'll make the pattern 10".
Touch width and make it 10" by sing the keypad. Touch height and make it 10". Finished.

Copy Pattern > touch the circle > continue.
Grab the center reference point and move it until it snaps on top of the center point of the original circle.
Scale > change it to 90% using the keypad. Finished.
Copy Pattern > touch the smaller circle > continue.
Again, grab its center point and move it until it snaps to the center points of the other circles.
Scale > change it to 80%.
Your screen should now look like this.


Finished.
Add Pattern > Path Pattern. Touch the middle circle to be the path > continue.


Now you need to find the continuous pearls you created. Continue.
This is what you should see.


iQ will always start out by making 20 repeats. In this case, that looks good to me, but see what happens when you change the number of repeats. Experiment and play. Take the number to extremes what happens with 50 repeats? What happens with 4 repeats? Playing like this helps you understand what iQ can do and how you can customise patterns.

When you've finished playing, put the repeats back to 20.
Finished.
Add/Edit pattern > Delete pattern > touch the circle that was your path - the middle circle. Continue > Yes


Now you have a pattern similar to the one I used but it is still three separate patterns. To make it one pattern, they need to be combined.
Touch Combine Patterns > touch the inside circle > continue > touch the pearls > continue.
Now you have to choose a transition. For my pattern I chose continuous because I wanted a continuously stitched design, and that little joining line was so short it was hardly noticeable, especially since I aimed to placed it at a seam line.
I then touched the outside circle to combine it and again chose continuous as my transition.
Finished > finished > Save Quilt/Pattern > Save a pattern from the quilt.
Give your pattern a name and save it in a catalog that makes sense to you.

When I created the pattern for my quilt, I traced the outline of the star as my block then created the circle of pearls to fit outside that star. Its size suited that quilt. My saved pattern may not work on too many other quilts but it wouldn't take very long to create a new one if I needed to do so.
I used the same pattern for all my stars - I realigned the center of the pattern to the center of each star as I worked on the quilt. There was no need to mark every star block because I had made the pattern so that it didn't touch the star - it floats around them.

iQ Project #1. Part 5. Placing the Border and Sashing Patterns.

Simple Custom Quilting.   iQ Project #1. 2017

5. Placing the Border and Sashing Patterns.

In this installment, the quilt map and plan is completed. This is the last time we will be working in demo mode.

I am not writing every single step because by now I think you should be able to know when to touch finished or continue. However, if you get lost, watch the video again, and if necessary, write down all the steps I take.

There is one place in the video where I could have done things differently so watch the video, then read these instructions to decide what you will do.

This is the link for watching the video on Youtube.

Starting at the main menu, retrieve your saved quilt map with the block patterns in place. (Hint: edit/sew existing)

Add pattern > block pattern > select the top border block.

Path pattern will be used to place the border pattern. Path pattern is a fast way to put a border pattern in place because it automatically combines all the repeats and they can be customized as a group to fit the border pleasingly.

First we need to place the pattern that will be the path that the pattern we want to sew will follow.

Select line in the geometric catalog.

Move the start end so that it snaps to the center reference point of the border block.

Stretch > anchor the S > touch the end point and move it until it snaps to the center reference point of the left hand end of the border block.

Finished > add pattern > path pattern > touch the line (the path)

Select Simply Feathered e2e from the project pattern catalog.

Note that iQ always puts in 20 repeats as the first choice. That’s too many for this project.

Reduce the number of repeats to 4.

Flip Y.

Notice how the pattern is placed too high up in the border. That’s because the start and end point of a pattern is always placed on the path. There are a few ways to move the pattern into the correct position but in the video I use modify path. This moves the path, but I cannot see the path pattern so it’s a bit of guess work as to how far I need to move the path. I tap, tap, tap the down arrow until I think it looks about right.

Alternatively, I could have selected Offset on the path pattern screen and moved the feather pattern down into position.

(Note: try both methods to see which one you prefer. If you see the pattern distorting at the start end when using offset, turn warp off. With warp on, iQ is trying to make the start and end point stay on the path.)

Pay attention to the end of the feather at the border cornerstone – it should not cross that diagonal line.

Finished > add/edit pattern > delete pattern, and touch the line to delete it.

Modify pattern, and touch the feather border pattern.

Use the grid, set to a quarter inch, to fine tune the position of the feather pattern. Zoom in and pan to see how it appears at the cornerstone end of the border.

Move the pattern until its position is pleasing to you. Make sure the start point is at the center of the border block and the end feather doesn’t cross the diagonal line in the cornerstone.

When you are happy with the pattern’s placement, touch finished.

Copy pattern. Select the feather border pattern.

Flip X. Move the copy so that the two start points snap together.

(Note: we will be stitching the border patterns from the center out to minimize fabric draw up.)

Copy pattern > touch both border patterns.

Rotate 90º and move them into position in the side border. Zoom in and pan around to check the position.

When you are happy, touch finished > copy pattern > select all 4 border patterns.

Rotate and move them into position.

Zoom in to check the corners and use the grid to check their distance from the inner edge of the border.

After placing all four border patterns, touch finished.

Add pattern > block pattern > select block and touch the top left sashing block.

Choose lob cont.

Use move and stretch to position it at the left hand end of the sashing block.

Finished > repeat pattern > touch lob cont.

X repeats > tap the plus sign until the top sashing is filled. Zoom in to check the intersection between the repeats. There should not be a gap or an overlap. (Note: if you see either, touch X distance while you are zoomed in, and alter it until the repeats match perfectly. iQ alters every repeat so you only need to stay zoomed in to one intersection. There’s no need to check the others.)

Y repeats > tap the plus sign until you have 4 rows.

Y distance > 12” > finished.

Add pattern > block pattern > select block > then get lob pattern again.

Move it and rotate it into position.

But wait – what could I have done differently at this point?

Think about the other choices I had on the add/edit pattern screen.

Yes, I could have selected copy pattern and simply copied one lob from the top sashing and rotated and moved it into place, then used repeat pattern as I did in the video.

I also could have copied the whole row, rotated it and repeated that row.

Or I could have copied all the lob patterns and rotated them all then moved them into position.

You can see that there are several different ways to get the end result you want. No one method is right or wrong, it’s simply what works best for you and, sometimes, which method is fastest, or which one you think of at the time. It was only after finishing the video that I realized I could have used any of these other methods.

If you want to try out each method, follow what I do on the video, then delete all the lob patterns and try another method.

The final step is to place the double heart pattern in each corner of the border.

Copy the double heart and move it into position, altering its scale to fit the space. The diagonal line and the grid will help position the pattern to your liking.

When you like it, copy, rotate and place the copy in the second corner. Use the grid and snap grid to position it.

Finally copy both the hearts, flip Y and move them into position.

Save the quilt with a new name. This allows you to keep a copy of the quilt with only the block patterns so you can audition other border and sashing designs.

We will start stitching in the next installment so if you want to sew along with me, you need to have the quilt top ready. It might be a good idea to mount the quilt sandwich and completely baste the three layers together so that you can take the project off your machine between installments. Ofcourse, you could also wait until the end to do the stitching.

Background fill using echo and path pattern.

This video shows how to use echo and path pattern to create a background fill. This method eliminates all the jump stitches that go across a motif when you use pantograph pattern for a filler (if you don't split the rows). It works best for patterns with a fairly smooth outline. You need to choose the fill pattern with care, checking all around the motif to see how the fill turns corners because sometimes they become too distorted.
Try this and see how you like it.