I am making the Multi-faceted quilt which is a strip-tubing quilt. I am using Hoffman's Bali-Pops (2.5" strips). The directions say to sew two strips together, set aside. Then for the background fabric, one option is to sew two background fabrics (2.5" ea) together to make a 4.5" strip, or to just cut 4.5" strips. I chose to cut 4.5" strips.

The problem is that the Bali Pops are not accurate 2.5" strips, because when I sewed the background pieces to the strip sets it was apparent that the Bali-Pop strip sets did not measure a full 4.5" (closer to 4.25" at best). I was very careful with my sewing of the strips, maintaining an accurate 1/4" seam.

I am at the point of using the triangular ruler to cut the blocks but I am not sure how these blocks are going to go together because of this inaccuracy. I fear that when I arrange the blocks my intersections where color meets color are not going to line up well.

Have any of you dealt with this problem? Is this method more forgiving? I am, as you can imagine not too pleased in the inaccuracy of these Bali-Pop strips. They are expensive (relatively) and essential to this pattern. :cry: :cry: :cry:

I would trim what you call "background" to be exactly the width of the Bali Pop strip set. I think if the two are the same width, no matter what that is, that the pattern will work.

I would recut your strips to match the bali pop ones... Or you can cut a block or two and see how you like them the way they are now...
Either way you go, you probably will have to make further adjustments to your pattern as you go along.
I am sorry this happened to you!!!

Another thought is to sew the Bali strips a very scant 1/4" and see if that gets you closer to where you want to be :wink:

I've had the same thing happen with jelly rolls. The stips were cut almost an 1/8th of an inch short. I just used them and adjusted the rest of the fabric I used.

Thank you Teacup, Amma, and Tirnhi. When I sewed the strip sets to the background fabric I used the strip sets as my guide for the 1/4" seams so my background fabric extends beyond. I can trim that up. Hopefully the blocks will go together well. :D :D :D

That is so frustrating. I have had that same problem with jelly rolls. They are not always accurate.

I've had the same problem with jelly rolls as well, which is very irritating. They aren't 2.5", it's more like 2 and 7/16", which over an 8" block amounts to a 1/4" discrepancy. Maddening, yes.

I'm sorry this has happened to you & hope it all works out okay with your quilt. Sounds like you have been given good advice. A friend of mine ran into this same issue with Bali Pops. Not a good thing! The Downey Quilt for Kids I am working on now had very uneven strips. Hoping that I can work it out. I wish you the best of luck.

Bali Pops are hand cut. Their measurements can vary as a result.

I have never bought a bali-pop, so it is good to know this information. I hope your quilt turns out ok.

I agree

That is what I have been doing today. In fact I've been cutting my squares for what seems like hours so I am taking a break by coming here. I think the quilt will work out afterall. Stay positive Janet!!!
I had no idea that Bali-Pops were handcut as one of the members said. I guess I assumed they were cut by machine. Knowing they are handcut makes the price of them seem more reasonable, and they are the only way to go if you need lots of different batiks for your pattern.

When using Bali Pops slight variations may occur!

The fabric strips in Hoffman Fabrics Bali Pops[SUP]® [/SUP]are hand cut in Bali where every yard is produced by hand at the Hoffman facilities. Without laser precision some cutting variations are bound to occur; however, this does nothing to squelch my devotion to Bali Pops[SUP]®[/SUP].

Some strips are not exactly 2.25 inches wide at all points along the strips. You might find that the strips are as much as 1/8” wider or narrower that the 2.50 on the same strip!

Solution: When sewing to strip sets together measure the 2.25 from the left side of the needle instead of the right side. Flip over a rotary ruler, position the ruler 2 1/4 inch to the left of the needle, and lower the pressure foot. Then place a colored sticky tape or a Qtools Sewing Edge is placed along the left edge of the ruler so that it can be used as a guide for the 2.25 needed for the strip set.
Place the strips right sides together, paying close attention to keep the raw edges aligned at the left edge of the strip set. If there is any variation in the strip width, it will fall within the seam allowance. The sewn strip pair is pressed and the width measured. The seam allowance is narrow in some places and wide in others, but the finished width of the strip pair is consistently 4 1/2 inches wide.

This method works to correct the strips when two strips are sewn together and then sub cut. When finger pressed, my sewn strip sets are straight and true. While I have read about "wonky" strips, I expect most of the "wonkiness" exhibited after strip piecing results from over exuberance with a steam iron.

When sewing two strips together in this manner you will need to adjust the way you hold the strips and where you watch the strips as they are being fed through the sewing machine. While it is not a cure-all, it does put my piecing well on the way to accuracy when the project begins with strip piecing.

Wow I do think it stinks that Bali pops are not cut accurately. Maybe I'm being fussy expecting a 2 2/2 inch to be that size, perhaps I will just stick with fat quarters