Sister's Choice Quilts

There's Always Another Way To Do Things

I had a lovely telephone chat with my cousin René yesterday. She lives across the country from me, but we have so much in common! We talked for over an hour and I know if we lived closer we'd be in real-life contact constantly. She is a talented quilter and after catching up on each other's news, we got into a "quilty" conversation.

René is making a quilt using this block from the Judy Hopkins book "501 Rotary Cut Quilt Blocks". I have this book and use it all the time, as evidenced by all the Post-it flags marking my favorite blocks. The block she is working on is on page 66, called "Christmas Star". 

Take a look at the top row. That unit is darn tricky to make the way the instructions show. All those triangles with bias edges are such a pain. She wanted to simplify the construction and was considering drafting a paper piecing pattern and assembling that top row unit that way. Have any of you done that? Create your own paper piecing pattern?

When I looked at the block I first thought to simplify things by making the dark triangles into a half-square triangles on either side of the green flying geese unit. But of course, even better (fewer seams) would be to make two flying geese units. I really liked the look of the block and decided to see if I could redo it and simplify the construction.

Do you see what I did there? Instead of the awkward to construct top row unit as shown in the pattern diagram, I made two flying geese to achieve the same look. Of course, now I have a seam going through that center green triangle shape. It may not be quite as "clean" a look, but it sure does eliminate the construction frustration. The seam doesn't bother me, and I think once quilted, it wouldn't be very noticeable. 

I got the best results pressing seams open for a nice flat block. I was making a six-inch block and those pieces were tiny.

I think Christmas Star is my new favorite block. I will add this block to my Moda Blockheads sew-along project. It's a great choice as all the blocks in that sampler project have a star theme.

So let me know in the comments if you have ever drafted your own paper piecing pattern. Would that method be preferable to my choice to make two flying geese units for the section?  

Red Sampler Sew Along Week Nine

I feel as if I've been on vacation for two weeks. Today is the day I get back on a schedule though. I plan to make the most of any free time I have during the week and not lose momentum with my projects.

The red and white blocks above are week nine of Lori Holt's Red Sampler sew-along. Those cheerful red fabrics put a smile on my face. The little framed four patch is so cute.

I wanted to share a tool I have been enjoying a lot. It is called "Cute Cuts" and is a block square up trim tool by Lori Holt. You can buy the tools individually or in sets of various sizes.

If you love crisp, accurate blocks you might like this trim tool too. It is great for squaring up small 3 1/2 inch blocks, but I found it indispensable for trimming 3 1/2 inch block units in the 12-inch blocks I was working on recently. Looking at the photo above, you may think "Wow, Nicole was pretty spot on with her 3 1/2 inch unit".  Ahem, thanks, but check this out:

I was pretty close, and maybe it would have been just fine as is without trimming. However, if you love accuracy, you can see that there was a fair amount trimmed away to achieve the exact 3 1/2 inch measurement. My 2011 Designer Mystery blocks came out great, and I credit this trim tool and a lot of fabric starching for my good results.

Machine Binding Went Ok

I tried Vanessa's method for machine stitching binding yesterday and overall was very pleased with how it went. Vanessa is the designer behind Lella Boutique fabric, and has a tutorial on this technique on Instagram. 

Vanessa's method involves Elmer's School Glue, which many of you said you did not and would not do. Other than the glue, a number of people commented that they use her technique with success. A few folks said they never have had success with finishing binding by machine and much prefer the look of hand binding.

I had a very small table topper and decided to just go for it and try Vanessa's method. I know from experience Elmer's School Glue is water-soluble and did not think it would gunk up my machine. Why use glue at all? Well, it actually worked to hold the pressed binding down in place firmly and eliminated the need to use binding clips, which allowed me to stitch along more steadily without a lot of stopping and adjusting clips. I used such a minimal amount of glue. A super-light touch. You definitely do not want blobs of white glue oozing out from underneath your binding. Ugh.

 

I did put a pin at each corner, which you can see in the top photo. I thought it would hold the mitered corner in place better, and sure enough, it worked great. In the photo just above, you can see my stitching on the backside of the quilt. 

And here is the top side of the quilt. You can see that I stitched in the ditch, and it looks pretty darn good. On the backside, there are a couple of places where the stitching just missed the edge of the binding and will need to be tacked in place with a stitch or two by hand. With luck, maybe I will get better at this and not miss the edge next time. 

Overall, this is a great method. Of course, I was working with a super small project which was easy to manipulate through the machine. I am very pleased with how it turned out and will definitely try it again in the future. And honestly, the glue thing was just fine. I preferred it to messing with binding clips.

Do let us know if you tried this method and what you thought!

Machine Binding: Shall We Give It a Try?

I have always had an issue with hand sewing quilt bindings. My problem is that I procrastinate something awful and put off finishing those bindings for a very long time. Years in fact. It isn't that it is difficult, I just find it B.o.r.i.n.g. It is better when I can sit with an audiobook and listen to something entertaining to pass the time. For the past couple of years, my schedule has been so busy that I just don't have time to sit for an hour or so at a time to do this handwork. Many people advise me, "Oh, you should do it in front of the tv in the evening". That just doesn't work for me. I am rubbish at sewing in the evening. The light is never good enough and I drink a couple of glasses of chardonnay every night, which does not lend itself to nice stitching.

So, my quilts pile up. They are quilted, the binding is partially sewn on, it just needs to be sewn down by hand. And I do not do it. I am not kidding, I must have ten quilts sitting around waiting for me to finish the binding. Hang on a minute, I am going to go count them. Be right back.

Eight.

Better than I thought. But still. I just sent five table toppers to be quilted, which will bring my total up to 13, so there.

This brings me to the point of this blog post. I discovered a tutorial by one of my favorite quilt designers, Vanessa at Lella Boutique. On Instagram and on her blog, Vanessa demonstrates her method for stitching quilt bindings by machine. The process involves Elmer's School Glue, believe it or not. Her Instagram post is a video, and her blog post goes into great detail with photos as to her binding method and machine stitching process.

So, what do you think? Do you want to take a look at her method and give it a try with me?

I won't have a chance to sew again until Sunday, but with luck, maybe I can have one or two bindings done to share on Monday? If any of you try it as well, please report back to us and let us know how it went, ok?

 

 

The Perils of Bias Binding

I don't typically make all my bindings on the bias, so when I do choose to do that, I pretty much have to re-invent the wheel.  There many ways to go wrong with the technique for making bias bindings, and it is a wonderful opportunity for me to be all kinds of stupid.

The directions are kind of confusing, at least to my feeble brain.  I have done it a number of times before, and if I prevail and use the brain cells I have left after decades of chardonnay consumption, I can usually do it again.  Basically, you take a square of fabric and cut it in half on the diagonal.  Then things get tricky.  You sew a tooth shaped thing, which you open up and draw lines on.  You make a tube like shape, but be sure to off-set the drawn lines and sew another seam.  If you get this step wrong, you will end up with 20 circles of binding.  Don't ask me how I know this.  if you get it correct, when you cut on the lines, you will have a nice long strip of continuous bias binding.  Works great if you can wrap your mind around the instructions.  

My first set came out nicely.  But it wasn't enough in length to go around the quilt.  So I had to make another set.  Only somehow I got the stripe going in the opposite direction with my second try.

What?  No, are you kidding me?  That is not the effect I am going for.  I got it right on my third attempt, and managed to use more fabric making binding for one quilt than has ever been achieved in the history of quilting.

Starching Fabric

I have had so many people ask me for more details regarding starching fabrics prior to cutting them out.  I will be happy to share with you what my process is, where I got the idea to do it, and why it is working out well for me.

First of all, I do this outside on a sunny day.  I spread a towel on my outside table and lay out my fat quarters one at a time.  You can also do this process very easily with layer cake squares or charm squares.  What I use for the process is cans of inexpensive spray starch from the grocery store.  I have tried both Niagra and Faultless, and prefer Faultless.  Faultless seems to spray more evenly with less foaming.  You will go through these cans of starch like nobody's business.  A fat quarter bundle could take 3 cans.  Your finger will get tired of pressing the nozzle, so I recommend a detachable spray paint handle that you can get at any hardware store.  It just pops on the top of the can and makes spraying a lot easier. 

The starch cans are piling up in my recycling bin and I am now on the hunt for jugs of spray starch like Grandma used to use, which can be diluted with water and would be far more economical than these silly cans.  I would mix up the starch in a basin and dip my fabric pieces in it.  You want to fully saturate the fabric with starch.  Soaking wet is what you want.

Once the piece is fully wet with starch, you want to air dry it.  Don't put it in the dryer for goodness sake.  That would result in softer pieces of fabric and negate the effect of all the starch you just infused into the fabric.  Hang it on a clothes line, or a drying rack, such as the one in the photo above.  If it is a nice day, your fabric will dry in a jiffy.  You want it to completely air dry.  Don't cheat and try to hasten the process with your iron.  if you did it right, when dry, you will have pieces of fabric that will stand up on their own, they are so stiff.  Like lightweight cardboard.

Take your dried pieces in the house and now press them out nice and flat with your iron.  I use steam.  I fold the fat quarters nicely and am good to go whenever it is time to cut things out.

Someone asked if I prewash my fat quarters or precuts prior to starching. Good heaven's no.  Someone else asked about shrinkage.  I have noticed the slightest bit of shrinkage when pre-starching and air drying.  Barely noticeable.  Insignificant.  Another reader asked if Spray Sizing would work.  I suppose so, but you may not get as stiff/crisp results.  I think sizing spray may be more expensive than spray starch.  Mary Ellen's Best Press is a very nice product, but you will go broke if you try to use it for this method I am describing. 

I got the idea to spray starch my fabrics prior to cutting from Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  She has a tutorial on how she does it and I pretty much just copied her.  She also did an excellent YouTube video for Fatquartershop.com on her method, which I recommend you watch.

Why would anyone go to this trouble of pre-starching fabrics prior to cutting?

Once you try this, you won't go back to cutting and sewing unstarched fabric.  The starched pieces are a breeze to cut out.  The fabric doesn't shift, it stays put while you run your rotary cutter through it.  You will get a more accurate cut, and that is a fundamental component of successful piecing.  Start out with an accurate and precisely cut unit and half your battle is won.

So if you find cutting starched fabrics is wonderful, just wait until you start stitching your starched fabric units.  If you are stitching bias edges, the starching seems to keep these stretchy edges under much better control.  Your stitching, whether on the grain, against the grain or on a bias edge will be much more precise.  You will be amazed.  Your fabric will stay put, not stretch and be completely under your control.  Furthermore, if you are working with tiny pieces, you will love how much more accurate your stitching is and how well your units go together.

I am a total convert.  It is a time consuming step when you are itching to jump in and cut out that fat quarter bundle, but believe me, you will be glad you took the time to pre-starch once you give it a try.

Great discussion and tips from commenters, be sure to read below.  Also, check out this link Annie provided:

http://www.generations-quilt-patterns.com/starch-quilt-fabric.html

It is a wonderfully informative piece.

Moda BlockHeads #5

It was Lisa Bongean's turn to design a block for the Moda BlockHeads Sew Along.  She loves her teensy pieces, that girl does.  She has an excellent tutorial on her blog, with tons of photos, demonstrating her method for making the block, every step of the way, including pressing photos.

She gets very precise results, so I decided to use her triangle papers and make those 3/4" half square triangle units.  I had purchased some of them when I was working on the Magic of Christmas blocks, which had some really small units.

I did it just as she directed, and my half square triangles all came out perfectly.   Most triangle papers have a quarter inch seam, but hers are 1/8th inch.  The units come out so flat and square.  

I also did not follow the pattern directions for making the flying geese units.  Lisa gave the unfinished sizes for the two flying geese units in this block, so I used my Fit To Be Geese ruler by Open Gate Quilts and made my geese a bit larger and trimmed them down. Using that ruler for the geese and the triangle papers for the half square triangles made this block a dream to sew together.  The units were tiny, but they all fit together great.

I am having a lot of fun with this project, and find that I am being challenged to do a thing or two I had been resisting.

Prepping

I admit it, I tend to be a prepper. I like to get my things lined up and ready to go for faster and less interrupted stitching.  If I am hopping up every five minutes to cut out fabric for another block, or press a couple of half square triangles, I don't find sewing such a relaxing experience.

I like to prep my block units ahead of time.  The little basket above has my block units all ready to sew for the Civil War Stars project Barbara Brackman is hosting.  There must be three or four dozen blocks ready to sew in that little container.

And when I sew, I usually make a large number of block units that need pressing all at one time.  For instance, the star blocks all have flying geese units.  I will make dozens of them and then get up and press all at one time.  I think it is a more efficient use of time to do it that way, rather than hop up and down to press the flying geese for one block at a time.  

Make one side of the of flying geese, press, make the other half of the geese, press, then sew the blocks together and press.  The end result is that I have a dozen or so finished blocks all at one time.  

Works for me anyway!

This is how I work on the Past and Present blocks I posted on yesterday.  Each stack has the segments for the four block units required for one larger block.  What you see in the photo above is the units for sixteen block quadrants or four full sized blocks.

Another advantage of having your block units prepped and ready to sew is that if you have fifteen or twenty minutes you can sit down and actually accomplish something without too much dithering around.  You are all set to go.

Orange Peel Block Tutorial

Lucky me, I have had lots of sewing time this week.  I am still working on getting the border on my Rhubarb Whirl quilt, and won't subject you another photo of that thing in progress.  It's coming along very well.

Do you remember me posting about wanting to make an Orange Peel quilt awhile back?  (Sometimes this block is called Flower Petals or Melon Peel).

I think this block is usually appliqued, either by hand or by machine.  I tried doing that, and my results were not so great.  I got better looking blocks if I did hand applique, but honestly, do I want to be working on this project until 2025?

So.  I ordered an acrylic template set from Baycreek Quilting Templates and decided to try machine piecing these blocks together.  And you know what?  I think I like making them that way.  Make no mistake about it, these blocks do not go together like greased lightening.  The cutting is fairly time consuming, but the piecing is easy, and I will be happy to show you how I do it.

FIrmly finger press the center points on the peel and background units.  Can you see my little creases?  I am going to match those up.

Place a pin where those center crease marks line up.

Place pins at the beginning and end of the seam line where you will be stitching. 

Notice my pin placement.  Take just the teensiest "bite" out of the fabric with the pins.  I don't know why this is important, but it is.

Stitch those two curved pieces together, slowly, with your needle in the down position.  Your background piece will be on the top.  Here is another tip--take a *narrow* quarter inch seam allowance.  Don't think about it too hard, but just try to be on the narrow side of a quarter inch.

No need to get up and press, unless you want to.  I just finger pressed the stitched side, and then repeated the procedure for the other side of the unit.

And there you go, one of the four units you need to make one block.  I know, it isn't a quilt you are going to get done in a weekend, but if you make a few blocks a week you will have it done before you know it.

Oh Well.

Here is Metro Hold the Lattice.  I have the rows almost half sewn together.  I made the top with a collection of Circa 1934 fabric and the Quick Curve Ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I took liberties with the pattern (actually called Metro Lattice) and left out a pieced lattice that I didn't particularly care for.

Here are the issues:  The points of the pinwheels don't particularly line up at all.  I suppose that was the purpose of the lattice in the original pattern directions--to separate those pesky things even more.  They kind of sort of float, especially when viewed from a distance, but trust me, it isn't so beautiful up close. The second issue is when you sew the blocks together, the corners where all those seams come together are horribly bulky.  I hope my quilter doesn't break a needle.  If I have it quilted.

Maybe once it is quilted and balled up in a chair or something it won't be so noticeable.  

Not real happy about this project.  But is is pretty from across the room.

I tell you my next project is going to have all straight lines and not require anything to match up.