Ruler Quilting on the Patchwork Mosaic Block
It’s time for our second quilting adventure on the Patchwork Mosaic block and this time I’m playing with ruler quilting! Learn how I quilted a straight line design with rulers over a quarter of this block at a time in this new tutorial:
Click Here to find the Patchwork Mosaic quilt pattern! This pattern takes 14 scrappy 5-inch squares of your favorite fabrics and turns them into this super sized patchwork block. It’s a great choice for using up scraps and learning how to piece two fun units: quarter square triangles and hourglass squares.
Last week I quilted this block with a very different pattern and on two very different machines! Check out this quilting tutorial to see how I quilted the Patchwork Mosaic block the first time with walking foot quilting on a treadle and ruler quilting on the Eversewn Sparrow 20.
Quilting with Rulers on a Longarm Machine
When I first looked at the Patchwork Mosaic Block, I knew I wanted to emphasize the center diamond shape with straight lines. Concentric Squares would have been easy to quilt on my home machine with a walking foot.
It’s not nearly as easy on a longarm machine because I’m limited by the size of my frame. In order to quilt across the entire length of the block, I’d have to advance the quilt through the frame halfway through the square.
I wanted to quilt diagonal lines, but couldn’t fit it fully in my frame. So I quilted the lines in quarters and it worked great!
So I decided to instead cut the squares into quarters. I quilted irregularly spaced straight lines on a diagonal angle and used the straight lines of the Slice Ruler as a guide. This worked great and I was able to quilt two quarters of the block before advancing it in the frame to reach the second half.
I marked the seamlines in the middle of my block with 1/4-inch wide masking tape (yep, that’s an affiliate link) just so I wouldn’t overshoot the lines.
Quilting Loopy Line in the Border
With the center diagonal design knocked out, I knew I wanted to quilt a simple, open design through the background around the block. Loopy Line is a great choice because it doesn’t require travel stitching and you can wiggle it into and out of almost any space.
Loopy Line was a great design for this border because I could wiggle around the whole block without making a mistake.
I quilted down around the first block, then rolled the quilt back so I could reach the top of the block and wiggled through the entire area consistently. You would never know this border was quilted in three different sections!
I can’t decide which design idea I like better this month. Both were fun and I learned something new!
Longarm Quilting Challenges
All around, quilting on a longarm is different from quilting on a home machine. I find I have to stop and think through my design choices, especially on these super sized quilt blocks. The time I take to consider the design, trace my finger over the quilt and plan my path is never wasted. It always makes quilting over the block that much faster and easier.
Check out our new quilting group, now off Facebook and so much more fun!
Have you quilted your Patchwork Mosaic block yet? Send me a picture here and I’ll share it here so everyone can see it!
You can also join our Quilting Friend’s Club and share pictures and make new friends with quilters who are also participating in this quilt along. This is an optional membership space that’s not required to participate in this quilt along, but you may find it’s a fun place to hang out!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
Find more Friendship Quilt Along Tutorials
Check out the other tutorials I shared for this Patchwork Mosaic quilt block:
