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Am I nuts to attempt this? I Love, Love, Love it.
I've made a test template to see if I want to take on the whole quilt. It's a dresden fan. It has curved ends. So the instructions say to needle turn the curved ends to the background fabric. I'm thinking there has to be a better way. Cuz me and needle turn don't get along.
So I'm attempting to iron the curved end over template plastic. But the cloth isn't staying ironed down. I have the quilt all designed in EQ, but if I can't figure this out I don't see much hope in making the quilt. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, I guess it means I'm going to have to hand cut all the wedges. I can rotary cut a stack of them. But then the curved part will need to be hand cut. There isn't a rotary ruler just the size and shape I need. Am I nuts? SVAL |
maybe do like for the "perfect circles". do a long running stitch (by hand) along the curve in the seam allowance and use that to gather it up and hold over the template, the press and starch heavily and press again until dry and set. If you need to, you can trim after pressing, or notch if you need to reduce the bulk.
Then pull the thread. I also have an Omni-Arc square with curved lines for cutting circles, and it does work pretty well with my small rotary cutter (about 1" diameter blade). The smallest it has is for a 4" diameter circle, but I think the cutter would handle a smaller size. |
Originally Posted by Macybaby
(Post 7170920)
maybe do like for the "perfect circles". do a long running stitch (by hand) along the curve in the seam allowance and use that to gather it up and hold over the template, the press and starch heavily and press again until dry and set. If you need to, you can trim after pressing, or notch if you need to reduce the bulk.
Then pull the thread. I also have an Omni-Arc square with curved lines for cutting circles, and it does work pretty well with my small rotary cutter (about 1" diameter blade). The smallest it has is for a 4" diameter circle, but I think the cutter would handle a smaller size. I understand what you're saying about the running thread. I hadn't thought of that. There will be 240 wedges. I'm starting to think it might be more than I can handle. The directions actually say to sew the three wedges together first and then turn it down afterwards. I didn't consider the "how to make it" while I was working on the design. SVAL |
Have you thought about using light weight (non-woven) interfacing as Eleanor Burns does on her applique? You could sew your wedge to the interfacing(just the end to be turned), draw the curved part, trim both, turn. You can cut away all but a small amount of the interfacing along the edge.
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Plastic will melt when ironed unless it is the actual heat resistant template plastic. Cut a blade the same size as your plate blades (with the curved end) out of thin cardboard, cereal boxes work well. Using starch or best pressed, iron the ends over using the thin cardboard inside the blade as your guide. The starch should keep the edges under long enough for you to stitch the plates onto the background.
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Some great options to try. Thanks.
But what about the huge task of it. Should I maybe look for a different pattern? First cutting out 240 wedges is daunting enough. Then having to prepare the ends of each one, and then the appliqueing of them all to the background. I have a problem talking myself out of things before I get started. Ugh. |
Yes, it is a ton of work. That's why so many people do the pointed ends. You just do your blades a little longer, fold the fan in half with right dudes together and sew a 1/4 inch seam across the end. You just pop the pointed end out and it us ready to go.
If you love the look of rounded ends, you can find other options. There is the innerfacing trick or raw edge applique as well. If you decide to iron the edges instead, don't look at how many you need to do just concentrate on one block at a time. You can do it! |
I learned to love the pointy ones and much easier
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make sure that your wedges come out "even" on your block - if it matters to you - before you start.
For the curved ends - you could press them into shape before sewing the wedges together. then sew the wedges together to the stopping point - press the wedges open - Some people press freezer paper on the piece - put starch on the seam line - then iron it over the form |
I have some templates made of card stock. When I want to iron the edges, I just wrap the template in foil. Then hit it with the iron. It'll put enough of a crease into the edges where you can dab a little washable glue to hold down.
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