Dot to Dot Quilting~A How-To

First off, I hope that everyone has a great holiday today. We  are having a big ol family get together, but we will also be remembering Grandpa, a veteran. We will also be giving thanks that we are free due to the sacrifice of so many.

Ok, back to quilting……Today’s quilt is one that I quilted for Robert Kaufman’s quilt market booth, and it’s a perfect example of dot to dot quilting

When I am quilting any quilt, I try very, very hard to avoid marking. Not only does it take time to mark it, it takes time to remove it as well. And there is nothing more frustrating than marking a quilt and still missing my mark!  So when I can, I like to use the actual block as my guide. Here is a diagram of how I quilted the design in the gray diamonds.

Here’s how I quilted this design:

Step 1: Starting from one of the corners of the diamond, quilt a straight line that stops approximately 1″ inside the next corner of the diamond. I don’t mark the exact point, I just eyeball it and go for it!

Step 2. Pivot and quilt a line that actually touches the opposite corner than the starting point.

Step 3: Quilt another straight line that ends 1″ inside the next corner.

Step 4: Continue quilting until you end at the starting point.

Step 5 (optional): If you wanted you could leave the inner diamond unquilted, but in this example, I quilted a figure 8 design from the starting point to the opposite corner.

This quilting is fast and easy and I think you will find that even if you don’t mark the points, it will be close enough!  Use this design in diamonds or squares  to add a custom look to your quilt without taking much longer than other designs!

The rest of the quilt:

In the border, I quilted a feather……Just love to quilt those feathers!

A shot of the back…..the waves on the fabric and the curves of the quilting really made a trippy illusion. It made the fabric look like it was moving!

What do you think? Is this a design that you could see yourself using on future quilts?? I sure hope so! I’ll be back with more Quilt Market recaps this week!

Happy Quilting