Quilting Rulers at Lullingstone Quilt Show

Last weekend I was at the Lullingstone for The Quilters’ Guild Region 2 quilt show and had my first introduction to quilting with rulers. You can just see the Guild flag on the gatehouse to Lullingstone Castle, Kent. (See the blog post here for more about the location; the green tunnel at the top of the post is in the World Garden.)

I had heard quilters talk about doing ‘ruler-work’ and I have to admit that it sounded rather difficult – something like ‘algebra’ or ‘mental arithmetic’. However, a workshop at the show by Parrs Rulers made everything clear.

It took three trains to get to Eynford, the nearest station to Lullingstone (seen below) and then a mile or so walk to the castle. I had my sewing machine with me to use in the workshop. I missed a footpath sign and was wonderfully given a lift by a fellow quilter and her husband along the narrow road to the venue.

All the effort was worth it for the excellent demonstration and teaching session by Shirley of Parr’s Free Motion Rulers. I was able to borrow a foot for my Bernina which is specially adapted by Parrs. It looks like this when installed on my (much-travelled) machine:

The foot fits into the groove cut into the rulers that Parrs produce, like this straight one, for example.

Here is a straight one in action:

The two shapes on my practice piece below were made using the straight ruler. As this is all free-motion machine embroidery (with the feed-dog down) the challenge is to regulate the length of your stitches whilst also concentrating on the design you are aiming to create.

The curvy patterns were made with this ruler:

This was my first attempt.

Next came these shapes, made with the same ruler.

I also had a go with a spiral ruler:

Here’s the sample:

It’s very good, if you teach beginners (as I do – see the Classes section of the website!) to put yourself in the position of a learner again. I found the ‘ruler work’ to be both challenging and enjoyable. I bought the special foot and two rulers, plus an excellent mat to put over the extension table of my machine so that the quilt sandwich moves smoothly across it.

On the way home again, I found the footpath away from the castle without any problems and pulled my sewing machine behind me back to the station! I enjoyed the quilt show (no photos for publication allowed unfortunately), bought some fabric (of course) and learnt a new skill.

I plan to continue to make small quilts for our local Special Care Baby Unit (see the post here) and think these will provide an excellent opportunity to practise what I have learnt.

This is the link for Parr’s Rulers: https://www.parrsfreemotionrulers.com/

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‘Colours of Mexico’ is a pattern for a kingsize quilt. Find it here