Sister's Choice Quilts

Getting Precise Seam Abutments

 
Here are my block units for Rummy (from Monique Dillard's new book Fat Quarter Winners), all laid out ready to stitch.  One thing that you will need to concern yourself with if you make this block, is getting those seam abutments lined up perfectly.  This can be an issue that drives quilters nuts, but I have a couple of tips that may help.

 
See where my ripper is pointing?  These are the points that are going to go wrong on you, if anything is.  Because of the strong light/dark contrast of my fabrics, if these seams are not perfectly lined up, it will show up like a sore thumb.  Seriously, if the seams are off by a thread, it will show and look uneven and make you cry.

So.  Take a deep breath.  Line up your block units and have a calm look. Put the two units together, and place a pin *precisely* where the two seams meet.  Put your pin straight in.

 

Turn the pieces over and look at the back side.  The pin should be coming out in exactly the corresponding point--right on the seam line and at the intersection where the two seams meet.

 
Can you see that?  Look close.  If the pin doesn't come out at exactly the point where the seam is, jimmy it around until it does.  There is only ONE sweet spot, and you need to find it.  This is SO important.

 
See where my pin is?  See how the sewing machine needle is coming down exactly in that same hole that the pin is making?  That is what you need to do.  Yes, it is fiddly, but you will be so happy that the seams abut perfectly and you don't have to do any ripping, you will thank me for this persnickettiness. 

 
Ideally, you do not want this seam to be off by a single thread, or you will see it and be unhappy.  It is an easy thing to get right, but you have got to pin.

 
Here is a photo of the whole stitching line, with my pins in place.  See those U shaped pins?  I love them for those places where seam allowances come together.  The U shape holds the seam allowances in place on both sides of the seam, so you don't get any of that fold over nonsense.  I want my seams to lie nice and flat, with no unruly flop over.   Really, is that a pet peeve of yours too?  I just hate it when my seams get sewn in the wrong direction.  These pins do the trick! 

For another look at how to get your seam allowances to behave, check out Lisa's blog post last week.  She presses her seams open (another technique entirely).  Go have a look. You will not ever have seen a more beautiful block in your life.  And it is the BACK SIDE of her block.  She is amazing, truly.

I hope these little tips were helpful to you.  I am a believer in pinning, as you may have guessed.  I admire folks who don't seem to need to do it, but pins are my little fail safe devices!  I think I may sound like a broken record to my daughter Sara, as I am always nagging her to pin more.  Pin or don't pin, as is your pleasure.  However, if I couldn't pin, I would be an unhappy camper!  My little crutches.

 

 

Eventide Tuesday--Let's Make Hour Glass Blocks

Our Eventide quilts require 42 Ohio Star blocks, and in each Ohio Star block, there are four "Hour Glass" units.  I have a couple of tips to share with you that might help make your hour glass units turn out nice and sharp.

Each hour glass unit is comprised of three fabrics:  two dark squares, one light square, and one "something else" square.  Four squares total.  The "something else" fabric can be just about anything you choose, it just needs to stand out from the other two fabrics and your center square.

Take your two dark fabrics and lay them right side up.  Place your light fabric right side down on top of one of the dark squares.  Place the "something else" fabric right side down on the other one.

Draw a line diagonally through the center of each of the two fabric combos.

Stitch on either side of your drawn line.  You've done this a million times when making half square triangles.

Cut those squares in half along the drawn line.

Press open, towards the dark fabric.  You now have four half square triangles, two with a dark/light combo and two with a dark/"something else" combo.

Combine a dark/light half square triangle with a dark/"something else" half square triangle.  Place right sides together.  You will have two of these sets.

Draw a line diagonally through the center of each top unit, and place a pin at the place where the seams abut.  Wiggle the fabrics together a bit, and you will feel with your fingers just how the seams meet up against each other.  Check your pin placement on the back side just to be sure you got it right.

Trust me, this is important.  If this seam doesn't line up right, your hour glass unit is going to be "off" and look funny and bother you throughout the rest of time.

Again, sew on either side of your drawn line, then cut apart on the drawn line.

Ta Da!  Like magic, you have four perfect little hour glass units.  See how the points all come together perfectly sharp at the center?  That is what that little pinning step achieves for you.  Do not skip it.

Trim off your little dog ears.  (I really dislike that term, are those bits ever called anything else?)

Lay out the other components of the Ohio Star block, and get ready to sew them together.  You will need the four hour glass units you just made, four light corner squares and a center square.  Now we are basically just sewing a simple Nine Patch together.  I sew my block together in three horizontal rows, top, middle and bottom. 

When I connect my three block rows together, I like to use U shaped pins to keep my seams lined up.  Pinning is good.  Sew your rows together and your block is done.

Now, just do this 41 more times, and you will be good to go.  lol  Seriously, it's fun.

 

 

 

Tools of the Trade

Thanks to all of you who gave me such great suggestions for making the paper piecing of Half Square Triangle units easier.  I have tried shortening my stitch length and that made a big difference.  Now I need some larger needles!  I will try out some of the other ideas for ripping the paper off and see how I do.

Here is a little tip I can can pass along in return.  I love my Precision Trimmer ruler.  I use it for my non paper pieced half square triangles.

 
You just align your block with the diagonal seam on the diagonal line, and the edges on the solid line and trim away.  Perfect HSTs every time.

If your block units are accurate, your blocks will go together like a dream!

Here is a picture of the ruler.  I know it looks upside down, but this is the orientation for the way I use it.  See the diagonal lines?  See the solid lines and the measurement notations?

 

This is how you use it when making Hour Glass units.

 
The diagonal markings have a little circle that you line up exactly dead center, where all your points come together.  In an ideal world, the dotted diagonal lines also will line up with your seam lines.

Trim the right side and the top, move your block around and reposition the ruler to trim the other two sides.

 
Perfect Hour Glass block!  Love that ruler.  If you don't have one, well, you should!

Have a lovely day everyone!

 

One Way to Make Half Square Triangles...Or Not

Thelma and I are using two different methods of making half square triangles for our Belle Meade quilts.  Please check out her blog post to see how she is handling these common and sometimes pesky block units.

My Bonnie Blue pattern for Belle Meade recommended that I use their Spinning Star triangle papers, so that is what I did.  Paper pieced half square triangles are super accurate, so that appealed to me.

 
The first step is to cut out squares of two different fabrics (mine are around 6 1/2") and place them right sides together.  Pin the triangle paper to the fabrics.  Notice that there are dotted lines and solid lines on the paper?

 
Stitch on the dotted lines.

 
Trim the edges off on the solid lines.

 
Cut on the solid lines to divide the four quadrants.

 
Cut on the solid lines to get your eight half square triangle units.

 
Using a quick motion, tear off the paper.  (Pretend you are ripping of a Bandaid).  Out of the eight, one of them usually comes off perfectly.

 

The remaining seven look more like this, and you have to go back and pick off the paper that got left behind.  Sigh.

 

Press your triangle squares open.

 
Trim off the two "dog ears", and you are done.  Eight half square triangles, in about twenty steps and as many minutes.

We need 656 half square triangles for this quilt.  I think Thelma got the better deal with the method she chose. 

Another Way To Do It

Hi there everyone.  Have a good weekend?  Me too.  While I was puttering around in my sewing room, fondling all the lovely cream colored strips my swap partners have been sending me for the Red and White Snowball challenge, I had an idea.

The swap strips are five inches wide, correct?  The pattern calls for 3 inch squares to make the half square triangles and 2 1/2 inch squares for the solid squares.   How could I use my five inch swap strips to the best advantage?

What if I used a different method for making half square triangles out of 2 1/2 inch strips?  Instead of cutting 3 inch squares, drawing a line, stitching and cutting in half?

I cut one of my 5 x 42 inch swap strips in half.  Then I cut the 42 inch strips in half so I had four strips 21" x 2 1/2".

 

I layered one light strip with one red strip, right sides together.

 

Then, I got out my fabulous Easy Angle ruler and started cutting triangles.  This tool allows you to make 2 1/2 inch half square triangles out of 2 1/2 inch fabric strips.  (Or 3 inch HSTs out of 3 inch strips, or  1 1/2 inch HSTs out of 1 1/2 inch strips etc etc).  Fabulous tool.  Comes in two different sizes, small and large.  I used the small size.

 

 

I got 12 half square triangles out of one 21 x 2 1/2 inch strip combo.

 

Stack them up and sew.

 

I use my Angler 2 guide on the throat plate of my sewing machine, so there is no marking necessary.  If you don't have the Angler 2, don't worry, just sew your 1/4 seam using your presser foot as a guide. 

 

And Bob's your uncle, you have 12 perfect little 2 1/2 inch half square triangles.  And with this method, you end up with a "dog ear" on just one corner of the square, so there is less trimming.  And no drawing lines.

You will need 40 2 1/2 inch red strips and 40 2 1/2 inch light strips to make 480 half square triangles with this method.

 

Use your remaining 2 1/2 inch red and light strips to make your strip units as directed in the pattern instructions.  (36 2 1/2 inch strips each of the reds and the lights).

I think this method makes better use of the fabric strips.  Otherwise, you are wasting fabric when you cut the strips 3 inches wide as the pattern instructions call for.  And I don't know about you, but I get really tired of drawing those stitching lines on hundreds of fabric squares.

Just another idea!

 

The Angler 2 Revisited

After my post yesterday, bemoaning my lack of time to work on my Charming Girls Quilt Club project, I got more questions about the blue tape on the bed of my sewing machine!  What is that tape for?  Why do I have blue tape on my Bernina?  The blue tape isn't anything special, it is just some painter's tape my husband had out in the garage.  I like using it because no matter how long you leave it in place, you can still pull it up easily without damaging the surface of whatever you stuck it on.  Ok, I realize you don't want to know the details of the TAPE, but rather my purpose in using it.  LOL

 

You place your two squares for the half square triangles under the needle, ready to sew.  Instead of drawing lines down the middle of the square, you use the guide lines on the Angler when you stitch.  It is easy to position the Angler perfectly because they give you a little template that you use to get it lines up perfectly in the first place.  Once the Angler is positioned, you remove the template.  (See the rectangular area around my presser foot and needle? Where the plastic has been cut away?  That is where the template was positioned to get every thing lined up).

Notice how the top tip of the square pictured below is lined up with my quarter inch sewing foot?  Notice how the bottom tip is lined up with the right hand guide line of the Angler 2?  (I put some extra tape there as well to make it show up more).  The method is that you stitch along, constantly keeping your eye on that bottom tip and making sure it stays right on the line.  You will have perfectly straight stitching lines every time.  When you get to the end, just flip your square around 180 degrees and repeat the process for your second stitching line.  When you are finished, just cut between your two sewn lines as usual and you will have two half square triangle units.  You can still chain stitch tons of them just like you do with other methods.

 

It really is a fabulous product.  I understand that there are other manufacturers with similar products out now, but this is the only one I have ever used.  

Below, I have re-posted something from a couple of years ago where I raved about this product.

For my Carrie Nelson class project "Jellystone", I have been making half square triangles.  A lot of them.  Around 300 to be exact.  The method we used in class was the traditional way of drawing a line from corner to corner on a light background square, sewing a quarter inch on each side of the line, then cutting on the line to get your two half square triangles. 

That means you have to draw a lot of lines to get 300 half square triangles.  I get bored drawing lines, and want to just get to the sewing part.  You may notice that my square in the picture above has no line drawn on it, yet the stitching looks pretty good, yes?  I am about to share a little secret with you.  It is called the Angler Two.

This little gizmo is a miracle.  You just line it up and tape it to the throat plate of your sewing machine, and line the corners of your square up with the proper line and sew away.  You can use this for making half square triangles, flying geese, snowball blocks, you name it.  It is a huge time saver, and I really recommend it.  How accurate is it?  I will show you.

 

Here is a finished half square triangle made with the Angler Two attachment.  And below is the square lined up with my 2 1/2 inch square ruler:

I LOVE the Angler Two!  You still have to trim off your dog ears from all your squares though.  If only they would come up way for us to skip that step...

You Simply MUST Trim

I know I have harped on this subject in the past, but it is so important, I feel I must get up on the soap box again.

This past weekend I made 40 quarter square triangle blocks for one of the borders for my Summer Wind Moor is Moor quilt.  A quarter square triangle block is made of two half square triangles sewn together and then cut apart, giving you two quarter square triangle blocks.  They resemble little hour glasses.

You may think that if you cut properly and sew with an accurate scant quarter inch seam that your little hour glass blocks would come out just fine and dandy---ready to go.  However, you would be mistaken.

These blocks require trimming.  I love the Precision Trimmer ruler.  See in the photo above how the edges of the block hang out over the 3 1/2" measurement line?  That is how much the block is off!

 

You line the diagonal lines right along your seam lines and trim off the excess on two sides.  Swing the block around, reposition the ruler and trim the remaining two sides.  It seems like a lot of trouble, but honestly, your blocks will be dead-on perfect if you take the time.

And besides, when you look at the pile of trimmings left over, and add up the total measurements the blocks were off the correct size, it adds up to a big mess if you had left the blocks as they were.  No way would things have lined up.

 

If you don't have the Precision Trimmer, you can certainly work with a normal ruler, but the clear markings on the Precision Trimmer make it really easy.  You can trim blocks up to 6 inches.

 

 

Added later:  In answer to some very good questions--

Why aren't the blocks the right size in the first place?  Did the designer screw up?

    Many designers know that seam allowances can vary a lot, so they make their blocks a teensy bit bigger so they can be trimmed down the the perfect size.

Where can I get a Precision Trimmer?

    I got mine at Eddie's in Sunnyvale.  You can also go right to the source and order one:

http://www.marshamccloskey.com/prectrim6.html

My Least Favorite Way To Make Half Square Triangles

I don't know what possessed me.  I was at my Wednesday UFO group at Eddie's Quilting Bee and had planned to work on my Posh Basket blocks.  Somehow I had left my half square triangles at home and had to start over and make some more.  The book I am using for the block pattern, Basket Bonanza, is a Patchwork Place publication.  Patchwork Place is owned by Nancy Martin, a well known quilter and author, whose favorite method of constructing half square triangles is something she called "Bias Squares".  All the Patchwork Place publications show this method for making HSTs.  I had succumbed to trying this technique about ten years ago and swore I would never do it again.  But I did.

First you take two 8 inch squares and layer them right sides both up.  You cut it in half diagonally, then move your ruler over 2 1/2 inches and cut again on either sides of the center cut.

Then you alternate the contrasting sections and sew two units as shown below.

Here is one unit all sewn together.

I evened out the left hand edge.

You then use a special ruler created for cutting perfect half square triangle units.  There are at least two of them out there, one is called The Bias Square Ruler and the other is The Precision Trimmer.  Both tools have diagonal lines to help you get the exact 45 degree seam line angle you need for a perfect half square triangle.

Being a woman who is somewhat spatially challenged, I stared at this unit for quite a while trying to figure out what to do with it next.

My instincts told me to just line the darn ruler up at the 2 1/2 inch mark, with the diagonal line perfectly matched up with the seam line, but noooooooo.  That isn't what the book said to do.  The instructions in the book had me cut strips first and then cut my half square triangles.  Why?

This seemed like a totally useless step to me.  At any rate, you can get four extremely accurate, perfect half square triangles out of each of the striped units, eight total out of the two units. 

I started this at 10:00, and by 11:30 I had produced four excellent, perfectly beautiful 2 1/2 inch half square triangles.  My friends, all extremely talented and experienced quilters were all laughing at me.  "Show us again how you did that?"  "Why do you want to do it that way?"  "I have never heard of anyone doing it like that!"  This led to a lively discussion, you can be sure.

After lunch, I went back to the cutting area and followed my instincts and just whacked out the half square triangles without doing the (to me) unnecessary strip cutting step.  I did get faster at it and finished cutting the 40 units in a half hour or so. 

I know we have talked about how we make our half square triangles before.  There are SO many ways to go about it:  triangle paper, triangle strips, the Easy Angle ruler, the Angler 2, or (imho the worst method) cutting tons of triangles and sewing them together.  The method I keep going back to is the one where you cut 2 7/8 inch squares, draw a diagonal line and sew on each side of your drawn line, then cut on the line for two 2 1/2 inch half square triangle units.  Low tech for sure, but all you need is a pencil and a ruler.

Does anyone out there like making half square triangles in the manner I have illustrated today?  Do you get faster at it?  Is it the accuracy thing that makes it attractive to you?  I am willing to be convinced, so talk to me.

Added later:  I also read in the Basket Bonanza book that you should use up ALL the leftover fabric by making 1 inch half square triangles out of the remaining fabric and save them up to make a scrap quilt out of all the teensy little half square triangles.  Right.  I will be doing that for sure.

Flying Geese, Another Way

On April 18, 2007, I posted a tutorial on my favorite way to make Flying Geese Units.  Any time you are making flying geese units, you can use this technique, which isn't always given in the block assembly instructions.  Check it out, by clicking on the link.  You make four perfect flying geese in no time flat.  Plus, it is FUN.

I recently posted on my dissatisfaction with the cutting instructions for the Toulouse pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  Love the pattern, love Carrie Nelson (the designer), do not love the non-short cut cutting and construction techniques given for that project's nine patch units.  I won't say any more about that, having devoted a previous post to whining about it.  To her credit, Carrie is the person who introduced me to my favorite short cut flying geese method.  This completely puts her in my good graces again, now that I have recalled that.

Some buddies and I are working together on the Web Sampler project.  This is a Block of the Month project where participants receive twelve block patterns and the fabric to construct each of the sampler blocks.  These instructions do NOT employ my favorite flying geese method, but instead the more common technique you all know, involving sewing two squares onto a rectangle.  I will  use this opportunity to share a construction technique that you all may find useful.

Here you see two flying geese units with the squares sewn on.  You have all done it a million times, right?  And sometimes they come out perfect, and sometimes they come out a little wonky.  I want to invite you to look a little closer:

 

Darn, I wish that picture had come out a bit clearer.  What I want you to see is that I did not stitch precisely on the drawn line.  I stitched about a hair's width on the outside of it.  No, you don't measure, you just eyeball it.  What this does is to give you just a teense, just a skosh more fabric to flip over so that the edges match up perfectly.  Plenty of room at the top seam line so you can't sew over your nice sharp points.  All your geese will be happy ones with this technique.

Napkin Tutorial

So many friends have been asking me how I make my napkins, that I thought I would post a tutorial on how to do it.  My friend Linda was cranking these out as last minute gifts, and I just had to do it too.  The napkins are super easy.  I apologize for the quality of my photos.  It is dark and gloomy here where I live and I just can't get the proper lighting. 

Here is what you need to make four napkins:

1 yard EACH of two contrasting fabrics--it is fun to pick novelty, food theme, & holiday fabrics for these.

For my example, I used an olive print fabric and a matching solid.

From EACH yard, cut two 21 1/2" squares and two 14 1/2" squares.

Staystitch one half inch along the edges of all the large squares.  This will be your pressing line.

Fold and press on your stitching line.

Now you need to make a template for your mitering angle.  Cut a four inch square out of stiff paper or cardboard.  Cut the square diagonally into two triangles.  Use one of the triangles as your template.  Place the template on each of the four corners of the napkin and mark with chalk.  This will be your stitching line to get a perfect mitered corner.

Then match up your chalk lines perfectly, pin and stitch on the chalk line.

Trim one quarter inch away from the stitching line, and crop the corner a bit so you get a nice sharp point when you turn it right side out.

Turn your napkin right side out and press, using Sizing.  This will make the fabric all crisp and nice.

Carefully place your contrasting smaller square under the mitered edges, lining it up as evenly as you can.  And this is CRITICAL:  make sure the straight of grain of the fabric is going the same direction when you line up both pieces.  Otherwise, when laundered, the napkin will shift and get all wonky.

Pin, and do two rows of topstitching all around the inside edges.  I did one line right on the edge of the olive fabric where it meets the solid, and another line about one presser foot's width away.

You will end up with four napkins, two of which will be the reverse of the other two.

Now comes the fun part.  Find some baskets or other container to arrange the napkins in, and fill it with items that go with your theme.  Here are two ideas:

Now, if you have stuck with me this far, I will end with a photo that captures my life.  Every minute that I am sewing, this is what I have on my knee:

"Are you done yet?  Play with me, play with me, play with me..."