Good morning!

Quick question. I am making a lap size quilt for a friend of mine that just finished her cancer treatment. The pattern shows 7 lines of fabric on the front. 4 of them are a 5 1/2" wide stip of a prissy cut fabric that goes the length of the top. The other 3 are pieced using 3 1/2" squares. I have 2 pieces that are 5 squares wide and 28 squares long and 1 piece that is 4 squares wide and 28 squares long.

My question is this, when I add the strips of the prissy cut fabric are there any tips to sew it on, or is it so easy you just slap it on there? The prissy cut has no corners so I don't have to worry about matching anything. I just don't know if I should treat it like a pieced strip or a sashing.

Oh...and I discovered something while I was piecing the long strips this weekend. There were no clear instructions about which way to press the seams since there are 14 pieces of 5 or 6 colors in it and it was put together randomly. So, I pressed them all with the seams going in one direction. When it came time to complete the piecing process, I found that sometimes I had to press the seams to the other side to match my corners. I thought it would be a big pain, but it wasn't. All my corners matched up quite nicely. The only problem I noticed was when I flipped it over to make sure all the seams were pressed, some of them looked perfect with no folds or anything, but others looked like when the went through the dog feeds to be sewn they flipped the other direction. Does anyone know how I can prevent that from happening?

I'm so glad this top is almost over! Not sure I'll be able to give it to her by Xmas...but maybe soon afterward.

melissa

If I understand your question right, I would either press the seams open or alternate the directions that you are pressing the seams to. I should help them match up easier and if you have a walking foot, that would make it easier as well.

My seams flip all the time and I just press them, sometimes I might even clip them a bit so that they will lay flat...figuring the quilting will prevent any fraying. I know this isn't correct but just letting you know how I take care of the problem! LOL I am not sure its preventable unless you want to take all day stitching each seam and checking the underside everytime you come to an interesection!

Vicki,

That's what I was doing. I made little snippets whenever they flipped so I could get them to lay right. I figure between the quilting and the applique there will be some stability there.

My rule of thumb is to press seamd to the darker side. Most patterns keep a dark/light contrast going, so it is seldom an issue. About the only time I need to snip is on the center of a star.

My general rule of thumb is to press over to the dark side too. :lol: But on this pattern, it used 14 different pieces of blue, beige, pink, and purple. There were many lights and darks and if I followed that rule, the back would be a mess. That was why I pressed them all in the same direction. The fabrics are thick enough that you cannot see the fabric behind it if it's a lighter color.

I hate when the seam flips over like that! I was asking in a chat what that was called. I'm sure quilter's have a name for it. My name isn't G-rated, so I won't share! 8)

Melissa - I'd sure like to see a picture of what you've got done so far - sounds intriguing!! 8)

I'll try and post some here tomorrow. It's feeding time here at the zoo, so I just got on real fast between main dish and veggie preparation.

Here is the prissy cut print. The stripe to go between the strips and on the outside edge. This material is also the backing. There are several different sets of children holding the heart:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...nprogress1.jpg

Here is one of the pieced sets. There are 2 that are 5 pieces wide and 28 long and one that is 4 pieces wide and 28 pieces long:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...nprogress2.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...nprogress3.jpg

That is really nice Melissa. Cute & I love the colors. She is lucky to have a friend like you. :thumbup:

Beautiful piecing and I love the main fabric, wow :D When you sew the long strips to the pieced strips, you may want to use a walking foot, it helps to keep the fabric from puckering. Can't wait to see the completed quilt :D

Ahhhh, Melissa, when you were talking about this yesterday in chat I KNEW it was going to be beautiful. You are giving so much love and caring with this one!!!

Hugs,
Sharon

Thanks everybody.

I was so proud of the main fabric. It's the only one, and first piece that I actually picked myself. I had to look at it in different lights in the shop,and I ended up having the sales girl help me. Judy, my MIL, helped me pick out all the other fabrics. With my colorblindness, it's really hard to get these pieces right. I'm always asking other people if things clash or compliment.

Guess what????!!!!!????

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...esliestop1.jpg


Well....the top is done. I refuse to use the F-word. I like my posts G-rated. Besides, it has a ways to go yet, appliques to be cut and applied, backing to be purchased since I don't have enough of the main fabric, quilting to be done...still has work.

I had no puckering issues adding the strips. I didn't use my walking foot either. I just tried it with about 4 inches and it worked great so I just kept using my 1/4" foot. The only problem was that even though I measured my pieced strips 3 times to make sure I had the proper length, I STILL cut my main fabric too short. So I cut out some squares of the kids and sewed them onto the bottom of what I had. Unless you look close, you're not going to notice. That part was a big pain.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...esliestop2.jpg

Good job, improvising is something we all have to do from time to time! I can measure twice and still come up short :lol: Glad to hear that you took it in stride and moved on :D Can't wait to see it when it is done :D

I am really new to quilting, (1 Year) so I really didn't understand what you were describing, but now that I see the photo, it is very clear now! Wow I love the effect and I can see the 2 different size squares. I know that I am not ready for that yet, as I get confused enough lol. My first quilt was a scrappy one for donation and then the next two were laps quilts using a Single Irish Chain pattern by Eleanor Burns. Her patterns are really easy to follow for a beginner and I believe that I will continue to use her patterns for the next 2.

Andi

What a beautiful quilt :thumbup: It is going to bring alot of comfort to your friend. How lucky she is to have a friend like you :!:

Thank you very much. I hope to be adding the appliques very, very soon. BTW snowb...what beautiful mini snauwzer's you have. I know I didn't spell that right. I was raised with them, not raised to spell it.