Beginner Quiltmaking class

Hi everyone

Since the arrows on my pattern were NOT the clearest - here are some pictures of the front and the back of the blocks that we are making. Hopefully that will clear up any confusion you had about the direction in which to press the seams.

The front of Block A and B - note how neat the intersections are at the corners of the white square.  This is in part because of the direction the seams are pressed on the back and don't forget I use the STILETTO or Quilter's Awl instead of pins. 

Here is the back of Block A and B.  Notice that the seams in the top and bottom rows are pressed TOWARDS the center while the blocks in the middle row are pressed AWAY from the center.  That means the seam allowances are NESTING  - they are NOT overlapping. When the seam allowances are going in the same direction it is much more difficult to get accurate seam matching.   Note that those last two (in this case horizontal seams - are pressed AWAY from the center)

See how the seam allowances are nesting (going in opposite directions).  From the left - the green one is going down, the middle white one is up and the right green one is pointing down.   

And notice how the edges of the block are straight - no pieces are hanging over.

All blocks should measure 9 1/2" when they are sewn. Basically the UNFINISHED size is 9  1/2" and the FINISHED size (when sewn into the quilt) is 9 ".  It is important that you understand the difference.  We will discuss more at the next class if that sounds like Greek to you. 

The right side of Block C and D

The wrong side of Block C and D. The seams in the middle row are pressed towards the center. In this case - we are pressing those last two seams TOWARDS the center. 

I hope that makes sense - if not - e-mail me and we can figure out what to do.


Good luck!


Have a great day!!


Ciao!

Tutorial on TWIRLING SEAMS

Good morning everyone!!!!    So exciting to hear from people who read the blog.

And what exciting stuff do I have to talk about today????   Well how about twirling those seam allowances?

First - let me just update you on a couple of things.................

My binding/border/backing project for last week. Had to go with that blue binding - NO more of that floral fabric left. 

Remember my January project for 12 for (20) 12. I was teaching a class the other day and flipping through a book and found that project - can you guess what year the book was??????

Yep - that would be 2003. I guess this qualifies as a UFO. Still haven't had a chance to quilt it, but I see there are a LOT of "free" days in March. 

Blocks from Farmer's Wife

The last two blocks of Farmer's Wife homework for Feburary

Twenty one blocks from Farmer's Wife  - only 90 to go. 

And now the twirling seams demo.......................

Here are the HST (or any other block component) laid out and ready to sew. One other note of interest - normally we press the HSTs to the dark. In this case - I pressed some to the light - where I would have TWO seams going in the same direction. - look at the two HST in the bottom right corner. If both the seams are pressed to the dark - I have more bulk at the intersection so I look at the block (laid out like above) and decide which ones need to be pressed in the opposite direction

Then I sew them together in FOUR patches (that would be FOUR 4-patches). Here they are laid out on the ironing board ready for pressing. NOTE that I kept them together as four patches. The arrows are pointing to the thread that connects the pairs. And note that EACH four patch is laid out in the SAME configuration. The left most pair of the 4 patch is pointing up and the right most pair is pointing down. You can reverse this direction, but you MUST BE CONSISTENT throughout your project. All to the left or all to the right. The minute you switch one of them, the twirling thing WILL NOT work. Now to press - just flip the pair open and press - this positioning already has the seam allowances going in the right direction

Here are the pressed pairs - the arrows indicate which direction the seam allowances are pressed.   Do you see what happened from one photo to the next??????   NOTE - the pairs are STILL ATTACHED - DO NOT cut them apart. If you do - it just means there is MORE likelihood that they will get turned around when you sew them into the four patches. 

Here the four patches are laid out in the block configuration (the arrow is pointing to the thread that still attaches the two pairs) (yes - the others are attached as well - I just drew ONE arrow)

Sew each of the pairs together (along the side where they are attached in case you get mixed up and turned the block around from picking it up to getting it to the sewing machine) - and now we are going to twirl the seam. Look at the wrong side of each pair. See this little piece of vertical seam ABOVE the horizontal line

Take your seam ripper and RELEASE the stitches. DO NOT cut that thread - just release it on BOTH sides of the seam

Then split that seam in the center and notice how the four seams will go in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction (the direction depends on whether you flipped the left most pair up or down).

Here are the FOUR four patches. And NOTE - if the centers do not match - I don't care. I aim for accuracy, but I don't aim for perfection. Life is too short to be worried about silly little details like that. If someone is going to zero in on those imperfections, then they need to get a LIFE. But I want my work to be neat and tidy and more or less accurate - I just don't stress over whether it is off by 1/8" or 1/16". If the piece is going to a competition - you bet - I will redo and redo until it is perfect, but for a quilt like this - what is the point???????????????   

The back side of the previous picture - note that the seams of ALL four of the four patches are going in a clockwise direction and so when the four patches get sewn together - the seams will nest into each other at ALL four intersections

Then sew the four patches together to get two HALVES - and note that you can continue to twirl the seams on those two seams. Notice in the center - those seams will NEXT perfectly to each other. 

Lastly sew the two halves together and YES - you can twirl all three of those intersections

You can ONLY twirl the seams if you sew in FOURS and TWIRL as you go. If you sew in rows or want to twirl once you have finished the block - it WILL NOT work.


Hope that clears up that mystery. Let me know if there are any questions.



Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1



Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y Seams Tutorial

Ah those DREADED Y seams. I actually do not mind doing these seams - my only issue - you CANNOT sew them quickly. They take TIME.

Hopefully the following will help you make your seams as nice as mine are.

Carefully cut out the components for your Y seams. Can you see why it is called a Y seam??????

The difference between Y seams and a regular seam is that you do NOT sew all the way from one end to the other.  So we must mark a start point. Here I am using a regular ruler and a pencil to draw a small line that will mark the intersection of the two seams. Remember SCANT 1/4" - notice the 1/4" line on the ruler is JUST beyond the edge of the fabric. 

Here you can see the intersection marked. That intersection is where I am going to start sewing. 

Line up the two pieces. It is best to line up the two side pieces first - in this case, I am lining up the orange and the green which you just see peeking underneath the orange fabric

Then starting at that marked intersection (and DO NOT forget to anchor that end of seam by using the FIX button on your sewing machine if you have one OR you must start a couple of stitches ahead and reverse two stitches OR start and then reverse and then go forward again). The only problem with the last method is if you have to rip - you are now ripping THREE seams in that tiny spot. Not fun.

You can see in the photo above that my machine was temperamental and started ONE stitch after the intersection. 

I went back and added an extra stitch. This is a messy fix - but it works. 

Now we are going to add in the third piece (see how messy that extra stitch was - you can see it on the green). You can see the light piece in behind the green. I want to exactly line those points where the arrow is. 

Starting just at the end of the previous stitching, I stitch from the center to the outside.

See where all three pieces are just touching but not really

This is the seam from the light fabric side. You notice that I did NOT mark the intersection on the light fabric which would have allowed me to match up that intersection and the intersection on the orange.  I should have and you will see why in a minute. 

The stitching from the green side

The light side (the seam allowances are NOT even because I did NOT mark that intersection and the light fabric is a bit off kilter)

The stitching from the orange side and here you can really see how much extra the light fabric is sticking out. 

Here is the piece from the right side. Because I added that extra stitch - I got a bit of thread showing through at the middle intersection which I just trimmed off with my scissors. And you can see on the left (green) side that there is a wobble - this is because I did NOT match up that right angle on the light fabric properly by NOT marking the intersection BUT it still works. 

The wrong side - note that you press the first seam open and the other one lies flat. I press ONCE all three seams are done. 

Now I sew the components together - YIKES - ANOTHER Y seam

First get rid of the dog ears and notice how nicely the points line up in the corners - no overhang

Mark the intersection

And then sew - I NEVER pin any of these seams. I use the STILETTO - It is a great tool and is a super substitute for pinning. It means you pin on the go. Pins can shift and are BAD news. You should try to get used to using the stiletto - yes it feels weird at first, but I swear that is how I achieve my accuracy. 

Here is the new piece - notice the first seam pressed open and the other one if flat

Add the bottom triangle - that was easy - but HEY - this looks wonky. Yes - even my stuff gets wonky

Nothing that a little trimming won't cure

And VOILA - there is the finished block with TWELVE Y seams. 

I went to the gym at 7 AM this morning. Oh boy - good thing no one is around cause I am PUMPED up. That adrenaline is coursing through my veins and I have lots of work to do - just perfect.


Have a great day!!!!!!!



Ciao!!!!!!

Do NOT read e-mail BEFORE you go to bed!!!!

Yesterday was the same crazy day that all days are. I taught a class (Miranda Bag) - it was part one and they all got homework and in two weeks - hopefully we will be putting the bags together. Let's just say that it is different to teach sewers versus quilters. Especially when it comes to cutting.

Then back home to finish up a customer quilt.

Another quilt DONE!!!!!

Drop M off at her drawing class and then I bundle myself off to a small quilting group that meets once a month. Even had to buy dinner on the way and eat it while we chatted. Then back in the car - pick up M from her class and arrive home.

Ah - things are calm - things are quiet. I have NO appointments for the next day (today), however I have LOTS to do.

Then I read e-mail and BANG - my whole day goes to he##. The editor of the magazine wants a picture of a project that I am working on which is supposed to be done by the end of March. You know me - I have started, but nothing is sewn together. NOPE - the editor wants a picture of part of the project as a preview. CRAP - so guess what that means - I have to try to put together part of the project which I do NOT want to do. But I will get a small portion together and pray that I don't have to rip any of it out. You will see what I mean when I get the project completed.


I get asked often - How do you twirl the seams on the back to reduce the bulk???   Here is a tutorial for you. Hopefully that will make it easier to understand.

One of the first things - I cannot stress enough - find your 1/4" scant seam allowance. Keep the seam allowance consistent AND watch your stitch length - don't make it too big. Also NO need to reverse at the beginning and end of each seam. OK - let's look at how to twirl the seams.

The arrow is pointing to the vertical seam allowance that is ABOVE the horizontal seam allowance. 

Take your seam ripper (a GOOD seam ripper) and just pull out the stitches on BOTH sides of that small part. No need to cut that loose thread off. 

See the stitches pulled out (sorry - had to find a different block  - the original one did not focus properly)

Then split the seam allowance - the right one goes in the opposite direction of the left one

If you make four patches and twirl the seam and keep consistent with your pressing,

You can do entire quilts like this

The safari quilt to date

I am making great progress on the safari quilt. I looked at the list of the projects for 12 for (20)12. OH MY GO - they all seem HUGE.


Anyway - I had best go because not only do I have to come up with some part of a quilt for the photograph, but I have to prepare for my classes on Saturday. And stay tuned because I have a GREAT tutorial for you on Y seams. Because YES - I finished yet another block for Elm Creek.

This block has TWELVE Y seams in it - yet it measures EXACTLY 6 1/2"

Have a great day!!!!!  


Ciao!!!