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The choice of machine and foot might make a difference. My Brother has a pin feed that acts like dual feed. Try a walking foot. Of pin the strips together to minimize creeping.
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I starch my fabric well before cutting my strips, then as I press strip sets I do use steam which reactivates the starch and makes my stripsets nice and flat. It is Much easier and accurate to subcut my stripsets when they are flat & starch stiff.
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I do not starch and I do use steam when I press. I sew in opposite directions when adding strips to the strip sets. I do press in a somewhat diagonal direction. I have a line drawn on my ironing board that I set the first seam (not the edge of the first strip) on to begin pressing. I frequently sew and use full WOF strips. I recently did a bargello quilt and it turned out perfect. I did not have to change one seam. I do think you need to be careful that your machine settings are correct because this kind of quilting magnifies small tension or pressure problems. I have done this kind of sewing with my walking foot. As for pressing the seams, I follow pattern directions. I frequently divide the stip set in two pieces and label them A and B. Press the seams on A up and B down. Sub-cut alternating A and B strips and the nest and fit together perfectly.I press from the back side and then lightly press from the front side to be sure that I have not pressed in any little pleats. Then, be sure to keep strip sets square on the cutting board to sub-cut; you may need to square up slivers of strip sets from time to time to stay perfectly straight.
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Originally Posted by Jingle
(Post 8006626)
I never use starch. I cut all my strips WOF. I sew strips together in opposite directions. When I press seams to dark side I press diagonally, never across the rows, never along the strips. I have no ripples or waves. I learned this years ago. I did a pattern out of a Lynette Jensen quilting book. This is how she said to press strip sets. It works well for me.
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When I press long strip sets, I line the unopened set on the mat, using a ruler or the pattern on the mat to make sure it's straight. I'm right handed, so I start on the right end and open the set with my left hand, finger pressing just ahead of the iron to be sure there are no pleats in the top fabric. I almost never have irregularities in my subcuts pressing this way.
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Sometimes you just need to have a crutch! Decide how long your rails will be and then cut your fabric 'almost' in half. (Directly in half may cause too much waste, so maybe an inch or two in one direction will be better. Example - finishes block is 6", so the set will be cut in 6 1/2" blocks, therefore I split my WOF in 20" and the leftover. I know I will get a full 3 blocks from first and only have waste on second part.) Then work with the smaller strip sets. An extra benefit is that you can make more set combinations this way.
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This may seem obvious but I'm assuming your straps are being cut perfectly straight on grain with no 'v' or curve to them.?
Watson |
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