Need help with Quilt too small seam allowances
05-20-2021, 10:57 AM
#11
Power Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 17,720
Beautiful quilt, both for the fabric choices and quilting.
First of all, my suggestion was not SITD ...... would compromise your already fragile seams even further, because of the longer hand stitches, rather than the tightness of a machine stitch.
What I did suggest was "next to the ditch" ..... meaning, just to the edge of the seam on both sides and within that 1/8". That way, you would catch the foldback of the seams and help hold things together, should the hand stitching give. Your photo example is a lovely quilting design, with the arches along every seamline. The challenge you are facing is that your seams are only 1/8", so I am not so sure you could get an arch that small that could deal with the issues you are facing.
Stippling? ... you may be more familiar with the term meandering. Stippling is virtually the same as meandering. In the following link, she equivocates the two, and gives examples of different sizes. When I say stippling, I think more of her Tiny and Teeny examples .........
What is Stippling? | Quilts By Jen
First of all, my suggestion was not SITD ...... would compromise your already fragile seams even further, because of the longer hand stitches, rather than the tightness of a machine stitch.
What I did suggest was "next to the ditch" ..... meaning, just to the edge of the seam on both sides and within that 1/8". That way, you would catch the foldback of the seams and help hold things together, should the hand stitching give. Your photo example is a lovely quilting design, with the arches along every seamline. The challenge you are facing is that your seams are only 1/8", so I am not so sure you could get an arch that small that could deal with the issues you are facing.
Stippling? ... you may be more familiar with the term meandering. Stippling is virtually the same as meandering. In the following link, she equivocates the two, and gives examples of different sizes. When I say stippling, I think more of her Tiny and Teeny examples .........
What is Stippling? | Quilts By Jen
Last edited by QuiltE; 05-20-2021 at 11:01 AM.
05-20-2021, 11:16 AM
#12
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,162
Ha, i always thought STID meant next to it. not in it. For me that was a no brainer. but some do it right on the seams meeting. not a good thing. I hope you get it all done and it lasts a very long time. Should be lovely!
05-21-2021, 06:52 AM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 423
I too would use a super light fusible to keep this quilt together, applied to the wrong side. I did this to a small quilt that my SIL made at 18 as a new quilter. She put it away unfinished for decades and was about to throw it out as she had not used enough seam allowance or a small stitch, so it was fallling apart. I asked for it as it was made of all the jammies her brothers had been given as a traditional Christmas Eve gift from their grandmother (who also sewed the jammies herself). A treasure! I fused it with a very light fusible and used it as the backing for a birthday lap quilt for my husband, and it has stood up well.
05-21-2021, 08:51 AM
#14
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,434
The hand stitches are very small. It is surprisingly hard to remove those stitches!
If the fabric is sound - and the seams are pressed to one side - I think traditional hand quilting 1/4 inch away from the seams would hold things together nicely. The fabrics did not appear to be very prone to raveling.
If the fabric is weak - tears easily - I would not put any more effort into trying to make it into a usable quilt. If you want to frame it or do something to "just look at it" - that's another way to go.
In many garments, fabric is trimmed to 1/8 inch in grading - like in collars or facings - the seam is enclosed and usually survives nicely.
If the fabric is sound - and the seams are pressed to one side - I think traditional hand quilting 1/4 inch away from the seams would hold things together nicely. The fabrics did not appear to be very prone to raveling.
If the fabric is weak - tears easily - I would not put any more effort into trying to make it into a usable quilt. If you want to frame it or do something to "just look at it" - that's another way to go.
In many garments, fabric is trimmed to 1/8 inch in grading - like in collars or facings - the seam is enclosed and usually survives nicely.
05-21-2021, 08:57 AM
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Waterford Michigan
Posts: 7,241
Since you will be doing an entire quilt using these pieces I would do both use a fusible interfacing as well as quilt on both sides of the ditch. I would also quilt this one by hand because of the age of the blocks.
