Baby Quilt, Serger Style

When I used to think of a serger, I always thought – clothes. We all know a serger is a super-useful machine for garment marking, but what if you used a serger for quilt-making?

Why not?! It would certainly speed up the process of piecing strips and squares together, and make the seams extra-durable because of the extra threads used in the serger, so, I thought I would create a baby quilt with the serger!

I am lucky enough to have an Janome AT2000D Air Thread Serger to play with. While all Janome sergers are great, I personally love this machine! Not only is it easy to thread, it’s very versatile and very easy to use.

You will notice in the above photo that I have my fabric close to the edge of the plate. I don’t want to trim any fabric off as the squares I’m using for my quilt top are pre cut to a specific size. I can take my chances that I don’t hit the cutting knife or I can drop the upper knife so it is completely and safely out of the way.

The Upper Knife of the Janome AT2000D locks in place when you want to trim the edge of your fabric.

Turn the lower dial to retract the knife so it safely tucks out of the way when you don’t want to trim the fabric.

I love that dropping and raising the cutting knife is so easy. A turn of the bottom dial and the blade disappears!

With the knife out of the way, I’m sure most of you noticed the fuzzies on my foot in the photo above. I left that on purpose as a reminder to clean your serger in between projects. When you use the blade to trim off fabric while you are serging, there are a lot of fuzzies, especially with some fabrics like cotton flannel. Maintenance is so important to ensure your machine works at it’s optimum performance.

I made two quilts with scraps that I trimmed off projects on my Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18 longarm quilting machine. As soon as I trim a big quilt, I take those strips and cut them into different size squares. I have several shoe boxes which I use to keep the different sizes, then use them when I need to make a quick, easy project.

This is the finished quilt top completed with the serger in the above photo. The seams are neat and cleanly finished; no stray threads! The quilt will stand-up to repeated washings and lots of wear and tear as the extra threads used on the serger strengthens the seams. It is definitely stronger with 4 threads instead of 2.

This is the finished quilt top with my regular sewing machine. I think the serger quilt top looks neater and the seams lay flatter without much pressing.

Quilt top done and all ready to be quilted!

Next time you need a quick, easy quilt to make, give your serger a try. It was fun!

Contact your local Janome Dealer to get your new serger and start creating fun things.

Happy Sewing!