Using the envelope method to finish the Autumn Bliss Tabletopper

There’s always room for one more fall project! In yesterday’s post I put together the one of a kind embroidered Autumn Bliss Tabletopper using the PFAFF creative 3.0. Today I’ll show you how I quilted it.

I tend to finish most of my smaller quilting projects using the envelope method; it requires no binding as you sew the seam to join the layers before you quilt it. Here are the directions to complete your tabletopper using the envelope method.

1. Layer the batting on a pinning surface and place the backing fabric on top, right side up. Place the tabletopper top right side down on top and pin around the edge to sandwich all three layers together.
2. Leave a turning gap of approximately 2″ – 3″ along one edge; I like to leave it on a piece of continuous fabric and along a short edge if possible. You can see my turning gap in the photo below – the gap is after the two pins right beside each other.
3. Sew around the edge backstitching at the beginning and ending of the stitching to secure the stitches at the turning gap.
4. Flip the sewn topper over to make sure all three layers are sewn together then trim each corner to remove excess seam bulk. Pull the tabletopper through the turning gap and finger press the edge of the topper flat so that the backing fabric lays flat and doesn’t show over onto the front. I use my finger to push out the corners so they all look the same.
5. Finger press the turning gap seam allowance closed and pin in place. Topstitch around the tabletopper.

It’s now ready for quilting.

You can see in the photo below that I used a light brown thread for the topstitching, then switched to white for the quilting. I quilted in the ditch around the blue churn dash pieces and beside the brown borders. Then I quilted a grid, three across and three down, through the embroidery design and then quilted two large rectangles on the diagonal through the design as well.

I should mention that when I quilted the tabletopper with the creative 3.0 I used no basting pins. The IDT system engages with the regular presser foot which helps to evenly feed the fabric layers under the needle. No pinning saves me lots of time – and my stitches still look great too!

After I quilted the center of the topper I decided to add a decorative stitch to the outside strip borders. I chose a built-in leaf stitch and adjusted it using the options on the Color Touch Screen. I increased its length and stitch density to the maximum limit – the machine beeped at me to stop!

It’s also possible to reverse and mirror a built-in stitch design. I did that with the leaves and made two columns of leaves going in the same direction on both coordinating border strips on the tabletopper.

I really enjoyed quilting the Autumn Bliss Tabletopper. Choosing an embroidery design from PFAFF’s creative 3.0 built-in stitches is as much fun as quilting it!

PFAFF’s creative 3.0 turns quilting designs and embroideries into useful projects. This tabletopper is for me! Check out the next post to see another creative 3.0 creation.