Non-Talented Beginning Quilter
 

Hi all, I just can't stay away. Although I'm am terrible at sewing I just love the look of quilts and have to do them.

This year our local fabric store is offering a stained glass butterfly meeting. And I couldn't resist it was exactly what I was looking for to work as a window quilt in my bedroom.

I'm having to make it longer and a little wider than the pattern but that's what borders are for right?

I have a question about the reverse stained glass methodology.

The directions says to turn the pattern face side down before tracing out the template. Our group leader says it isn't necessary. Can someone tell me what is the thinking on this? I want to stick to the directions because chances are I'll be so slow I'll finish this up long after everyone else and on my own.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

I would try both ways to be sure it doesn't matter. Some patterns need to be reversed to go in the right direction.

I would follow the directions of the teacher, so that she can help you along the way. My guess is that turning it upside down only changes the orientation of the butterfly.

be consistant with all the shapes once you have decided otherwise they will not fit together

I would definitely ask the leader. She's there to teach you, you're there to learn, and if she tells you to do something but doesn't explain why, then you're not learning, are you? Just tell her the same thing you told us - you want to understand the reasoning behind why it's not necessary.

We quilters all had to start at the beginning. So good luck and keep with it and you will learn a lot!!

tkhooper said, "Hi all, I just can't stay away. Although I'm am terrible at sewing I just love the look of quilts and have to do them."

There are no terrible quilters - just nasty quilt police. Ignore the quilt police and continue making your beautiful quilts. Quilting is an art and therefore is not perfect. If you don't believe me, just go to any museum and you will see a lot of imperfect paintings, sculptures, etc...

No advice on the stain glass method but would love to see your quilt when it's finished.

The only way to get better is to practice and keep working at it.

As for the pattern: You need to decide if it is important that the butterfly face the same direction as the pattern. IF IT DOES, then you need to trace ALL OF THE PATTERN with the pattern facing down. IF IT IS NOT, then you can trace ALL OF THE PATTERN facing up. Your butterfly will simply face in the opposite direction.

Basically it won't matter if you are consistent. The image will be reversed from what the pattern shows. If that isn't a problem, then just go with whatever you want to do ... consistently. Mark the pattern pieces so you won't get confused.

With a symmetrical pattern, it won't matter if you trace right-side-up or right-side-down. With a non-symmetrical pattern, direction in the finished product will be reversed unless you reverse the pattern for the tracing.