Baptist Fan

I wondered what you were asking so I went over to my search thing ( I like WebCrawler) and they had a couple of you-tube demo's, assorted templates and a fine quilter fanning with a long arm. See if there's anything there that calls you. Looks like big fun. Polly

I had to get on Google Images to see what this looked like...wheww....looks like A LOT of work to me! I really like it though. Are you planning on using it on your shirt quilts E.P? If you do it by machine how do you start and stop at the end of each rounded curve? The hardest part for me to figure is the the actual sewing direction you use in quilting by machine so you don't have to stop at the end of each line. Does this make sense? I'll be interested to read the replies to your question. Donna

I have done a BF on an entire couch sized quilt. It was not bad, once I got into the rhythm of it. I marked the quilt first (washable marker) using a template made from a pattern. The curves really helped to soften the look of the quilt.

Mary

I have, ep.

I do not like marking a quilt, so this is what I did. It might give you a start.

I cut out a quarter-circle about an inch to inch and a half diameter from just ordinary paper (can't remember which at the moment). I placed it in a corner, doesn't matter which one, so that the two straight sides of the paper were against the two straight sides of the edge of the pieced top, where you want to start the fan shape - perhaps inside the border?. Now, quilt round that quarter circle from the top to the bottom (probably doesn't matter which way you go, but I have to choose one to describe it!). I allowed a quarter inch between one line and the next, so sew a quarter inch (or a foot width) along the bottom, and stop. Sew back round the first quarter circle - using the foot width is probably the easiest actually, rather than trying to keep a mathematical width. When you come to the side line, sew up your required distance, and back round again, following the previous quarter circle sewn. Continue to do this until the first 'fan' is finished. Then: Place your paper quarter circle to the left, say, of what you have just finished, so that the base matches the bottom line, and the top is a little way up the last sewn quarter circle. Over sew from where you finished, up to the top of the paper quarter circle and start the same procedure all over again. The little bottom and side line stitches between the curves will be pretty much invisible, as they can be in the ditch - if you have put a border on.

Hope that gives you an idea. . In message , Edna Pearl writes

Yes, I found the same demo's as you. I think I'd go nuts using five separate templates.

Thanks! ep

No, on a St. Louis block I'm about to finish piecing. It's all straight lines and very regular; I think a Baptist Fan would soften the look. I propose making the quarter-circles two inches apart, because that's the width of my patches.

you do it by machine how do you start and stop at the end of each rounded curve? The hardest part for me to figure is the the actual sewing direction you use in quilting by machine so you don't have to stop at the end of each line. Does this make sense? I'll be interested to read the replies to your question. Donna<

Pat explains this really well in this thread. The short answer is to use the ditch or an adjacent line of quilting as a "highway."

I recently machine-quilted an echo inside the geese in a Wild Goose Chase as an experiment in traveling between quilting motifs. It worked just fine. I started at the top of each goose triangle with a darning foot, holding the quilt package still for a few stitches to make some anchor stithes, quilted within the triangle, then anchored again. Then I just picked up the presser foot without cutting the thread and moved on to the next triangle down. I trimmed the excess thread after I finished quilting the whole thing. It was a lot of snipping before and after the first washing, but it looked pretty good.

ep

I'm may well mark, too, Mary. Thanks for your response.

rp

Beautiful explanation, Pat. I've printed it out and will try it on a swatch.

ep

Glad it helped, ep. It gives you somewhere to start anyway - you can develop your own from there. . In message , Edna Pearl writes

THANK YOU, Pat on the Green, for such a good detailed description. I think I've got it! Edna Pearl, thank you for your answers too. Good luck with your quilting and for starting this thread. It really helped me alot also. Donna

If you google on "baptist fan pantograph" and look at the image results you can see how to do this pattern w/o any backtracking. You could probably just mark the outer curves and to the rest by eye. Or somehow use the seams of your blocks as alignment points to do the whole thing w/o marking......can you tell I don't like marking quilts! :)

Allison

Thanks, Allison. I did find an example --

But I agree with the viewer that I'd like it better if I "connect" the fans. Donna, you might like this idea.

And I think you're right that the blocks could serve as guides for the fans. I've been tracing it with my finger though, and I just can't get it right.

Today, I'm going to cut out three templates -- 2, 4, and 6 inch diameter 1/3 circles -- and see how nuts it makes me :-) Playing with them might give me a better idea of how to freehand the fans without marking.

ep

Hello Edna: Lucky me, I have purchased a stunning large WH that has MQ with the Baptist Fan design. After reading the excellent report of Pat on the Green, I went and inspected my WH. It appears the quilting was organized in a manner very similar to what Pat described. The quilter started in the lower right corner. In this BF there is a quarter circle at the start that is about the size of a computer mouse. I think it is a tad too empty there. If I were to do this, I would either make the quarter circle smaller or go back and add a bit of a freeform motif in the quarter circle. HTH. Pat in Sunny Virginia

Thanks, Pat. You've all been so helpful! I am really excited about this. But I think it's time for me to turn my attention back to the shirt quilts. This other quilt will be something to look forward to when the shirt quilts get too monotonous!

ep