2. Quilt a 4 Patch Block with Wiggly U Shapes

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

12 Responses

  1. Yay! I can't wait to get started! And, yes, you should make a tshirt saying just that!! LOL! I would be the first to purchase it. The more you say it, the more you believe it and then you will have so many loving free motion stitching in the ditch! 😉

  2. Angela Smith says:

    First, let me say I do not have my book handy, but I do have a question about how to end the thread for this block? Cut close or leave a long thread?

  3. Leah Day says:

    Hi Angela – Leave a long thread tail, tie a knot, and bury it in the middle layer of the quilt. You can find a video on this right here: http://www.leahday.com/shop/product/hide-your-threads-kit/

  4. JoAnne says:

    Is the only place to post your progress on Facebook?

  5. Leah Day says:

    Hi JoAnne – You can also post your progress to your own blog and link up with us on Friday. It's a great way to check out lots of different blogs and share your own progress.

    Cheers,

    Leah

  6. Toni Stolich says:

    Looks like Josh is getting really good at free motion quilting!

  7. Judy says:

    Hi Leah, Thank you for doing this project! I have a question about stitch length in our free motion quilting — About how many stitches per inch are you aiming for?

  8. Leah Day says:

    Judy – I have no idea how many stitch per inch because I've never taken a ruler to my quilt and measured! I'd suggest instead taking a look at your quilt and decide for yourself – does that look too big or too small?

    This is the Goldilocks Rule – what is the best for you? It's going to be slightly different for everyone, so I never like to put a firm number on it. Does that make sense?

    Cheers,

    Leah

  9. Snow White says:

    Wow! I just finished cutting my fabric. I will make my squares. When I start to quilt do I practice first on som scraps, or do I plunge in? I have never free motion quilted.
    Sign me afraid.

  10. Leah Day says:

    Hi Snow White – If you're scared to start quilting, try figuring out exactly what you're afraid of. Are you afraid of messing up a block you've pieced? If so, yes, practice on some scrap fabric first. Are you afraid of making imperfect stitches? This is normal, and ugly stitches are 100% okay. You have to sort out the issues as they show up to figure out exactly what works and what doesn't on your machine.

    The thing NOT to do is to stay stuck in that fearful place. You'll definitely never get good at FMQ if you never try it!

  11. Lin Ewen says:

    Hi Leah! I am ready to start quilting my first block, but have a question first. Did you ditch both of the intersecting lines? And also the 8" outer square? I am struggling to come up with a plan without a great deal of double up stitching.

  12. Leah Day says:

    Hi Lin – There will always be a bit of travel stitching involved. For this design, I stitched in the ditch through the middle of the block, then around the perimeter, then stitched some wiggly U's, then stitched the second ditch line down the middle, then filled in the remaining wiggly u's. Understand that you can ditch and fill at the same time – you don't have to ditch the block entirely first before stitching within the squares.

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