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dallen4350 07-02-2019 12:22 PM

Organizing HST units for a quilt
 
I’m planning on making a quilt with hst units. It will require over 2,000 units. I’m planning on going through all my left overs and make the units. However I have some questions.

Do you press and trim as you go? I may be making these for months (perhaps years) and wonder if they may become frayed or wonky as they set? Or should I accumulate them and then press and trim enough for each block as I make it?

Although I want a lot of different fabrics (all batik), I can’t imagine myself doing a truly random layout. If I make 8 hst units from one fabric, I would want them in different blocks, spread evenly across the quilt. So how would you organize your hst units? Set up a paper bag for each block and place the units into specific bags? Or use boxes? Folders?

Thanks in advance for your help.

rusty quilter 07-02-2019 12:34 PM

I would sew, press open, and story my half square triangles...When you are in the mood...is a good time. Once you get enough of them stored...the quilt will be "easy"...LOL

KalamaQuilts 07-02-2019 12:36 PM

I know by sad experience I'd never leave the trimming and sorting until the end. boring....

I do all scrappy so pin in groups of 10, 10's are so easy to make a quick count. You might sort them into color families?
I gave myself permission a few years ago to not care if like fabric ends up by like fabric and I love how the tops have come out. Not the norm I know, but very freeing and relaxing.

Definitely keep them in a box or zip locks where they won't get tossed around and have a chance to fray once you have them sorted how you like. Good wishes on the project!

Iceblossom 07-02-2019 12:43 PM

If you store them well there shouldn't be any problems going over time. Well means flat and nice in a box with a lid and where they will stay pretty much undisturbed until time to go. You can sort into baggies too but they slip and slide around when you don't want them to, so keep them in a box with a lid! I write in Sharpie pen on the bag any notes I need, like number of pieces or whatever.

However, I prefer to do all of one stage at a time, so I would probably rough sew them here and there and then trim down all at a time, or at least do them in groups.

Are you using a consistent background fabric? That can make a difference in how you sort and store.

I work a lot of with scrappy quilts and have devised a number of techniques to achieve randomness. True randomness can result in ugly, what we want as quilters is aesthetic randomness. What I've learned over the years though is that no matter what you do, sooner or later those two fabrics you were trying to keep away from each other ends up hand in hand...

Usually I use a variation of what Karla Alexander describes in her Stack the Deck books. Basically I keep my identical fabrics together until I combine them the first time and then I just avoid having any matching fabrics each round of connections. So hard to describe but let's say I allow myself 8 units in a top, that means (for me) that I am going to want at least 10-12 different fabrics (minimum) in the stack. I would have one stack of red, one of light blue, one of yellow, etc. for 10-12 stacks. Then I'd take the red and match it with the light blue, the yellow, etc until the red is all gone. Then I'd add a new stack to the end of the row and starting with the light blue, I'd match it with the yellow, etc. You just keep rotating until you are done. When you do your next set of connections, you take the first one without a duplicate. I typically want to put together the fabrics I have the most of first, and then use the ones with only a couple of pieces at the end because otherwise you can get sort of stuck.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...tack_the_Deck_

I've also used the paper bag technique for a crazy quilt. Recently I did a project where I really pushed myself to disregard all my usual rules and just go for it and I let all sorts of things happen that I wouldn't ordinarily do, like I wouldn't put a green stripe with a green polka dot, or a green polka dot with a purple polka dot. It came out fine even with stuff touching :)

Peckish 07-02-2019 12:55 PM

Do it as you go. I can only imagine how daunting trimming 2000 blocks would be....

I recommend you starch and press the blocks before trimming, that will help immensely to prevent fraying and wonky-ness.

zozee 07-02-2019 01:13 PM

What a great question, and no 'right" answer. I agree with everyone who says starch, press, and trim as you go. Label, label, label everything you've done. ("Trimmed", "To be Trimmed"--and keep all of one kind in a ziploc bag inside a box with a lid (also labeled with the name of your project). I like to sew 10 at a time, starch and press 10 at a time, as the mood arises. Definitely would not suggest working with more than 20 at any stage of the quilt.

Keeping similar color units together will enable you to see what you have at the end, when you're ready to hit the design wall. Then you can spread them around "randomly". (If you're anything like me, "randomly" involves a lot of work--I mean play--to get it right! Harder than non-random any day!

You'll also know after 200 if you want to keep going toward 2000. If you have blocks pressed and trimmed, you can decide at any point when enough is enough. You might make it 2000 or you might grow weary of it. At least if you grow weary, the bulk of the task will already have been done.

TheMerkleFamily 07-02-2019 02:44 PM

Great exchange of ideas here - I agree, there is not a 'right way' to do it - just whatever way you enjoy to do.

My preference is similar to several others - while working on a BH mystery a few years ago and making 100's (if not 1,000+) of pieced clues - I found it best to work in sets of 10, 25, 50. Whatever time I had to devote that day determined # of sets. Organized similar to others and always starched, pressed, trimmed and stored in color order until it was time to make the quilt. For me, I felt accomplished at every milestone and motivated to continue.

At the moment, I'm slowly working on a scrappy IC and am approaching it in a similar way. I like to organize, see my progress and admire my pieced fabrics along the way :) Good luck and please share your progress so we can all enjoy your HST's too!

toverly 07-02-2019 03:26 PM

I work in "sets", so till the very end I have to be sewn, sewn, ironed and trimmed. With 2000 HST's I would find a large bin to throw them in as you got done. An occasional swirl of your arm would mix them up. But just to be sure, intentionally put two of the same together. Once it is done once, and other's won't matter.

Jaiade 07-02-2019 06:56 PM

I was burned out on hst's a few years ago so I've tried not to make quilts that need too many. And the magic 8 way of doing it is the only way to go if a lot is needed. I didn't remember the magic 8 way a few years ago, trying to make it like the pattern called for, and the quilt required many many many hst's that the magic 8 would have been perfect for.
Recently I've decided to go thru my many quilting magazines....again...and purge some more and get them organized a final time. I found a pattern in one of the magazines that I decided to make immediately. It's scrappy and each 8 inch block has 16 squares and 6 of them are hst's and I thought I would go crazy! I guess I'm still burned out. Most definitely be organized about the hst's and do a little at a time; sew some, trim some , make a few blocks to encourage yourself, walk away from them, come back fresh and start again. I in no way did 2,000, although the burn out quilt probably had close to 1,000, and if I don't see a hst in another 5 years, I think it will be too soon:D. It is almost impossible to make more detailed quilts without hst's, but, oh my............ I have another pattern that is on my to-do list, but I won't even consider it because it is mainly hst's. Please show us your progress. And try to enjoy the process, which is why we do this, after all.

Quilt30 07-02-2019 07:18 PM

Pizza boxes or paper plates for sorting.


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