Zigzag Quilting
February 27, 2018
Recently I made an oversized pillow for my upcoming book, Christmas Figs, with the lovely ladies at FQS and I needed to quilt it. Well my long time friend and quilter, Diana, no longer lives right around the corner from my house so unless I wanted to ship the pillow to her in the Pacific Northwest, I needed to figure out a solution on my own. Plus there was that whole deadline thing happening too.
So I had seen some "uneven" straight line quilting that I loved before, something about the lines the moment they became uneven, made the entire thing feel like hand quilting to me. I wasn't sure why it felt so different from regular straight line stitching but I absolutely loved the effect of it. I experimented with the method a little bit with some pillow props at the last Market and I was very happy with how they turned out so I decided that I was going to do my version of utility stitching or quilting on this book project.
I made my zigzag stitch as long and as large as my machine would allow and I played around with the proportions a bit until I liked how the lines felt when they were next to each other. It took a few different experiments and had one that I liked and voila... Insta zig zag straight stitching that looks almost like large hand stitching when it is done. Seriously... I love how the finished look feels all vintage and slightly puckered and yet even all at the same time.
Many of you wanted to know how I did it when I first showed this pillow on Instagram so hence this post. That is all there is to it. Aurifil ivory #2000 thread on the machine and in the bobbin. I seriously recommend that you try it!
Love, love, love the pillow pattern and the quilting stitch. This is definitely on my 2018 must-do list... 🇦🇺
Posted by: Pat Gabrielides | February 27, 2018 at 03:32 PM
Yikes! Diana moved? Is she still quilting? Your pillow looks great. I might need to try this out on a small quilt:)
Posted by: Jeanie | February 27, 2018 at 07:04 PM
Beautiful! I use a three-step zigzag on my quilts a lot. It’s simple and charming.
Posted by: Annie O | February 27, 2018 at 08:28 PM
What does that mean “3-step zigzag”?
Posted by: Joanna | February 27, 2018 at 08:29 PM
Beautiful pillow and quilting!
Posted by: Hildy | February 27, 2018 at 11:58 PM
Oh my goodness. What a beautiful pillow and a very cool quilting idea!
Posted by: Suzanne Scarola | February 28, 2018 at 06:24 AM
3step zig zag is a stitch on sewing machine. My Viking Sapphire has this stitch.
Posted by: Peggyv253 | February 28, 2018 at 07:35 AM
Is this house pattern in the Christmas Figs book??
Posted by: Sharon Ernst | February 28, 2018 at 07:38 AM
I love it! Thanks for explaining...I am always looking for a new way to quilt my projects and this one will be added to the "repertoire" :D
Posted by: Monique | February 28, 2018 at 07:53 AM
This is my go to quilting method when I have a deadline and my Long Arm Quilter isn't available to me. I love the texture it creates.
Posted by: Stephanie | February 28, 2018 at 08:30 AM
It's 3 stitches up on the zig and then 3 stitches down on the zag. I have a Sapphire too. :-)
Posted by: Karen Seitz | February 28, 2018 at 09:45 AM
when can we get th3e pattern? I love it!!
Posted by: Maria Elena Blecha | February 28, 2018 at 10:08 AM
This will be in a book that releases in May/June!
Posted by: Joanna | February 28, 2018 at 10:13 AM
Fantastic!! I love how this looks and will try it soon!! I bet it would look great on a lap quilt and give a super texture after washing!
Posted by: Cathy Melancon | February 28, 2018 at 10:24 AM
Thats not a stitchI have but it sounds like fun!
Posted by: Joanna | February 28, 2018 at 10:36 AM
Yes it is !
Posted by: Joanna | February 28, 2018 at 10:36 AM
In May in the Christmas Figs book :-)
Posted by: Joanna | March 01, 2018 at 04:35 PM
Love it.
Posted by: Patty Flynn | March 02, 2018 at 08:24 AM
oh my gosh that looks just adorable on there!! love the houses and the pillow!! so cute!
Posted by: sheri forrester | March 03, 2018 at 02:28 PM
Looks really good. Can you tell me how far apart you did the lines? Thanks!
Posted by: Linda Smith | March 04, 2018 at 06:20 AM
about ⅜/ ½ apart
Posted by: Joanna | March 04, 2018 at 04:22 PM