fusible grid questions
 

Happy almost summer!

Ottawa has had such horrible weather this spring - rain, tornadoes, flooding, etc. It's been awful. Thankfully, I haven't been affected by any of it, but have been busy helping out those that have.

I have a huge piece of fusible 2-inch grid, and I decided to do a scrappy quilt out of. Cut out all my pieces, ironed them down, and then got to sewing.

(For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about - https://www.amazon.com/Quilt-Fuse-Fu.../dp/B001BLPBCY)


Here are my questions:

1 - do you experience the squares falling off? I've been sewing the rows, and all of a sudden I realize there is no square. So I go hunting around for it, find it, unstitch a couple of stitches (which is very frustrating because of the fusing), iron the square back on, and then stitch again.

This happened to me five times while I was doing the first set of sewing the rows.

2 - once you've sewn all the rows one way, and are ready to sew the other way, how many of you snip the "corner" of where the squares will meet?

I'm in the process of doing that right now, and then, while I am sewing, I am nesting the seams (making sure one is going up and the other folded down)

3 - Once you have done all of the rows, do you then go back and unstitch the other "corner" piece so that your seams are open and not bunched up?

4 - When I go to quilt it on my DSM, what needle should I use so I don't break my thread all the time? Topstitch?

I really like this method on the one hand, it's a super fast way to sew a ton of small squares together. But I'm not sure if these frustrations are worth it!

Thanks so much for the input!

yes, i gave up on my fusible. did not fuse well. other fusibles worked fine though.

I did a small piece on a grid in a class last year. The fusible worked fine for me, but I understand that fusibles can lose their stickiness over time, especially if not stored right. It was a fun project - for a class - but not something I plan to do again.

Maybe it's older glue?....or maybe it's the brand? I bought a whole bolt of it a couple of years ago to do watercolor quilts, and had no problems with it.
Are you following manufacturers directions? (I know....dumb question).

It's brand new and from a "well known" brand ... I've finished it, but it will be a "pet" quilt because I got so frustrated. It was only scraps anyway, nothing that I was planning on spending a lot of time on, but I didn't think it would be this annoying LOL

............ or could it have been sitting in the store for a long time?


Did you use steam when fusing?
The brand that I have used required steam ......

I used the fusible grid once, and did not like the extra bulk that it created.
My conclusion was that I thought I could do as good, if not a better job, without the fusible in the future.

............ or could it have been sitting in the store for a long time?


Did you use steam when fusing?
The brand that I have used required steam ......

I used the fusible grid once, and did not like the extra bulk that it created.
My conclusion was that I thought I could do as good, if not a better job, without it another time.

I made a Mondo Bag with their fusible grid. It didn't fuse, so I used spray glue. I am learning that fusibles do so much better with steam.

I use the Pellon all the time for Mondo bags. The squares stay fused long enough to seam if I use steam. I love the extra crispness the Pellon gives my bags. I use the scraps for small zippered bags. I use the 1" grid even though I am fusing 2.5" squares to keep everything lined up. I love how accurate they keep my work!

Sorry for your frustrations! I only used it once years ago when making a colour wash wallhanging. I didn't have any problems with the squares falling off, but just found it bulky to deal with. I used the rest of what I had as regular interfacing :D