need help with sawtooth star quilt
06-23-2011, 03:38 PM
#1
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I just started a sawtooth star quilt using 10" blocks. They came out wonderful except for one thing. The points on the stars are very close to the edge of the fabric and once I sew my blocks together, I will loose my points. Anyone had experience with this and what would you recommend? Thank heavens I've only made 3 blocks thus far.....
06-23-2011, 03:41 PM
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06-23-2011, 04:21 PM
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Originally Posted by LaurieLibra
I'm not sure how to post a picture, any help? I'll try
Donna, I don't know what you mean by my personal email, your message frightened me just a bit. Please explain
Donna, I don't know what you mean by my personal email, your message frightened me just a bit. Please explain
06-23-2011, 04:53 PM
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Re the Sawtooth block:
Are your UNfinished blocks 10" or 10.5" square? They should be 10.5" as you'd be working with very strange measurements to get a 9.5" finished Sawtooth.
If you could post a picture of your block - front and back - it would be really helpful.
(When you hit REPLY, you'll under the white box a section of File attachments. Write your message, click browse, find the file on your hard drive, and hit send. Do not click on Preview as that will clear out the attachments you set up.)
Without seeing the blocks, I'm going to say the problem back to the basics - cutting, pressing and sewing.
And it has nothing to do with being the quilt police ;-), but at some point, if losing your points bothers you, then you have to take the time to get a really good understanding of how those three actions affect the construction of the block.
I have no idea what your experience level is, so I'm just throwing the following out there. Don't take it personally if it doesn't apply.
So here's how all those things can affect the block:
If you don't get the cutting right, it's not going to "fix" itself down the road. Same for the pressing and the sewing.
So, either your sub-units weren't constructed properly, which would cause problems when you put them together, or when you sewed them together , there wasn't a good and consistent 1/4" seam allowance.
If you look at the back of the block, was the allowance straight and even for the entire length of the seam , or did you sort of lose it at the end and it got narrower? That's going to cause you to lose your points when you sew that block together with another one.
How did you construct the Flying Geese blocks? There are a gazillion ways to do this, some of which give you more control and avoid dealing with any bias edges which can cause stretching.
Pressing - were each of your subunits pressed well - meaning the seams were set, there were no creases or tucks when you folded back the fabric, and the whole piece is as flat as wallpaper?
One of the best books I've ever read that really explains how all these things combine, when done correctly, create a perfect block is Sally Martin's "The Art of Machine Piecing."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used
It's a great deal for under $7.
Sally is a bit....anal (and I mean that in the best way), and you don't have to follow her every step. But at least when something goes wrong, you'll know exactly what caused it and how to correct it.
Anyway, I hope you get a chance to post pics of some of the blocks.
Are your UNfinished blocks 10" or 10.5" square? They should be 10.5" as you'd be working with very strange measurements to get a 9.5" finished Sawtooth.
If you could post a picture of your block - front and back - it would be really helpful.
(When you hit REPLY, you'll under the white box a section of File attachments. Write your message, click browse, find the file on your hard drive, and hit send. Do not click on Preview as that will clear out the attachments you set up.)
Without seeing the blocks, I'm going to say the problem back to the basics - cutting, pressing and sewing.
And it has nothing to do with being the quilt police ;-), but at some point, if losing your points bothers you, then you have to take the time to get a really good understanding of how those three actions affect the construction of the block.
I have no idea what your experience level is, so I'm just throwing the following out there. Don't take it personally if it doesn't apply.
So here's how all those things can affect the block:
If you don't get the cutting right, it's not going to "fix" itself down the road. Same for the pressing and the sewing.
So, either your sub-units weren't constructed properly, which would cause problems when you put them together, or when you sewed them together , there wasn't a good and consistent 1/4" seam allowance.
If you look at the back of the block, was the allowance straight and even for the entire length of the seam , or did you sort of lose it at the end and it got narrower? That's going to cause you to lose your points when you sew that block together with another one.
How did you construct the Flying Geese blocks? There are a gazillion ways to do this, some of which give you more control and avoid dealing with any bias edges which can cause stretching.
Pressing - were each of your subunits pressed well - meaning the seams were set, there were no creases or tucks when you folded back the fabric, and the whole piece is as flat as wallpaper?
One of the best books I've ever read that really explains how all these things combine, when done correctly, create a perfect block is Sally Martin's "The Art of Machine Piecing."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used
It's a great deal for under $7.
Sally is a bit....anal (and I mean that in the best way), and you don't have to follow her every step. But at least when something goes wrong, you'll know exactly what caused it and how to correct it.
Anyway, I hope you get a chance to post pics of some of the blocks.
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