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Piecing blocks on the bias

Piecing blocks on the bias

Old 05-11-2011, 02:04 PM
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I've pieced a Tilt-a-Whirl kit from Connecting Threads for my daughters graduation. The blocks themselves have many many bias cuts with in them. They were all square and the seams are all at 1/4 inch. I pieced very carefully because of all the bias cuts in within the blocks. Now that the top is finished and I'm preparing to put it on the LA frame, I have found that in the length of the quilt one side is a full two inches longer than the other side. Normally you would pieced the blocks together vertically and then put all the rows together horizontally. In this pattern the blocks had to be sewn together in a Bias or on point fashion starting in the upper right corner and working towards the lower left, there by making the lower right corner longer than the lower left (well depending on which end of the quilt you hold up as there really isn't a distinct top or bottom to it). I have never personally worked a quilt in this manner before and was not prepared for that much stretch to take place in just sewing the blocks and rows together. As I said all the blocks were square when I started the process. Is there a way to correct this? Or am I left with a less than square quilt. It will go on the frame okay since the problem is in the length (the width measures up perfectly and all the blocks went together perfectly with all seams matching). Has anyone else had this problem? I'd love to know what you did to correct it. I am running out of time!!! Yikes :(
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Old 05-11-2011, 02:57 PM
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You could probably have avoided most or all of this problem by heavily starching your fabric before cutting and piecing. Starch stabilizes fabric so it is much less likely for bias edges to distort with handling.

What I would do at this point is "block" the entire quilt using spray starch. Sharon Schamber has videos on Youtube that show how to block squares that are mis-shapen. You can do the same thing on a larger scale with the entire quilt top (omitting the ironing). Basically you are going to need to pin and spray until you get the whole thing squared. You probably need to start with a king-sized sheet pinned to a carpet. You would have to lay out the finished dimensions of what you want this top to be (I'd probably use painter's tape) on the sheet. Lay out the top, pin the dimensions that fit, then spray to relax the fibers. You can stretch areas that need to be stretched, pin, then blow dry. For areas that need to become smaller you can do the same thing, seeing if you can shrink the fabric a little.

You may not be able to make the top perfectly square with this method, but you should at least be able to reduce the difference between the two sides by an inch or more so the out-of-squareness will be less noticeable. Depending on the pattern, you may also be able to take in or less out some seams along the edges to minimize the difference.
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Old 05-11-2011, 02:58 PM
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you might need to moisten it with sprayed water and then block it.

since it has a lot of bias, it will probably stretch enough and stay in proper shape once it dries.

:lol: i see somebody beat me to it! :lol:
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Old 05-11-2011, 03:00 PM
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This is a copy of post I wrote on Barnbum's thread back in March:
----------------------------------
These relate to blocks not quilts, but these Sharon Schamber videos present some options.

I can't find the video where she was squaring a quilt - not trimming it, but squaring the quilt center, then the inner borders, and then the outer ones, making sure there were perfect 90 degree corners at each step.. I'm thinking it might be within one of her other videos.....sorry.

But the concept is the same. Watch these videos about manipulating blocks into submission (without trimming)
and you might find these methods work for your situation.
It would be a shame to whack off any of your lovely masterpiece.
(Some have 2 parts.)

Shrinking block part 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6aplw_tVZc

How to true a block part 1 or 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-3RIWhBvcA

Stretching a block
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQkF02vpVuw


Here's Barnbum's before picture:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-110159-1.htm#2844375
And here's the picture of her gorgeous floral bargello quilt after some serious "adjusting" per the videos:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-111213-1.htm#2879492
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Old 05-11-2011, 04:38 PM
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Out of curiosity, did you sew the rows in alternate directions? That is sew row 1 to row 2 from one end and when you added row 3, sew the opposite direction? I have been told that will minimize the stretching on bias somewhat.
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Old 05-11-2011, 05:06 PM
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I'm going to give the blocking a whirl. MTS thank so much for taking the time to post all of the links for me. I see how beautifully Barnbum's Bargello turned out so I hope this will work for me as well.

I really can't remember if I changed direction when sewing the strips together on the bias or not. I have a Janome with the differential feed dogs that is supposed to alleviate some of these types of problems. I don't however have a walking foot. I'm actually not sure if I can even use one with this machine. I'll have to call the dealer and inquire about it.

This was a challenging quilt with all the different colors and parts of one block spilling over to the blocks beside on each side of it. I'm just amazed I didn't get one in there in the wrong order or with the wrong color beside it!
It really is pretty. I'll post a pic when I get it laid out. Will need to do the blocking on my bed and have to remove the electric mattress pad first so I don't pin into the wiring. Thanks to all for your quick and helpful responses!

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Old 05-11-2011, 05:52 PM
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Every time i read on here about someone blocking a quilt, I cann't help wonder whatever happened to my mother's curtain stretcher.
I remember as as child how she washed, starched and put the curtains on the stretcher frame. Pin by pin. Wouldn't it be great for blocking quilts or at least tops.
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Old 05-11-2011, 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by cjr
Every time i read on here about someone blocking a quilt, I cann't help wonder whatever happened to my mother's curtain stretcher.
I remember as as child how she washed, starched and put the curtains on the stretcher frame. Pin by pin. Wouldn't it be great for blocking quilts or at least tops.
CJR, I actually have one of those lace blocking gadgets. IMHO, the pins on them are much more like thin nails than being smooth like straight pins. I would be afraid of poking holes that would cause damage to the fabrics. You are right on though with your thinking that it would create a frame for doing this type of work. I actually plan on stretching a piece of batting over mine and then using it as a design wall that can be folded up and stored when necessary.

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Old 05-12-2011, 08:04 AM
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I think the blocking is going to work out. My quilt is throw size and I pinned it to a king sized mattress (a hard one). As I was working with the quilt top I could see that I did have some blocks that although square when dry, it was obvious that they had some poof in the centers. Using starch I was able to smooth them out and get them to lay flat. My quilt is pinned square with one tiny two inch stretch that I can not get about a quarter inch of to stretch enough but over all it did stretch the entire two inches. If you are ever faced with this challenge, be prepared, I used over two boxes of straight pins to pin down the edges on this throw sized quilt top. I was also able to see that the problem was not only with the pulling from sewing all the rows on the bias but because the top was then wonky the borders were not even either which added to the problem. Next time I'll check for square before I add any borders instead of waiting until the whole top is pieced. What a learning experience!! Thank you again, everyone, for all your help and words of wisdom, it so very much appreciated.
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Old 05-12-2011, 12:03 PM
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So glad it worked out for you!
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