What comes next?
06-10-2009, 12:37 PM
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Oh.
Posts: 781
Rhonda, sounds good. Can you send Mrs Burns a template? After all the years she has been quilting, she deserves "a break today" and an easier way to make them. Guess I am stuck on the old method I picked up from her way back when......making the squares, drawing the diagonal line, stitching on each side, pressing, then squaring. It is time consuming. Thanks for your suggestion. And I bet EL would love your templates!!!
June
06-10-2009, 01:49 PM
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Nottingham, UK
Posts: 1,287
Originally Posted by Rhonda
I don't know about perfection but if you use my cut down method and hold the template while you cut you should get the right size every time.
I sew two strips together and open and iron. Then center your template with two corners on the seam and cut around template with a rotary cutter. Go down the strip cutting out HSTs and then pull apart the strips and sew the other side together. Continue to cut out more HSTs. Depending on how wide you cut your strips and how close you can place your template to cut you will come out with a little scrap but not a lot if you make your strips(cewn together) the size of your template from corner to corner on the diagonal. My strips here are wider than the template because I have a fear of making them too small and I don't care if I have scraps left. I just recycle them into more blocks.
Hello Rhonda
Silly question coming up now - but do you use a 28mm rotary cutter to cut around this small a template. I have mislaid mine so I may have to purchase another. URGH.
Tisha
I sew two strips together and open and iron. Then center your template with two corners on the seam and cut around template with a rotary cutter. Go down the strip cutting out HSTs and then pull apart the strips and sew the other side together. Continue to cut out more HSTs. Depending on how wide you cut your strips and how close you can place your template to cut you will come out with a little scrap but not a lot if you make your strips(cewn together) the size of your template from corner to corner on the diagonal. My strips here are wider than the template because I have a fear of making them too small and I don't care if I have scraps left. I just recycle them into more blocks.
Hello Rhonda
Silly question coming up now - but do you use a 28mm rotary cutter to cut around this small a template. I have mislaid mine so I may have to purchase another. URGH.
Tisha
06-10-2009, 03:00 PM
#14
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
I starch my fabric *before* cutting into squares. Starching stabilizes the fabric so it doesn't stretch when you are cutting it. This would be especially helpful when you are cutting scraps with varying grainline directions.
For me, the absolute most accurate way to sew HSTs has been to use Thangles. Here is a link to them on Keepsake Quilting:
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/8787.htm
I tried the template cutting method illustrated elsewhere in this thread also but found it to be too time-consuming for me. Plus, I tend to start gritting my teeth when precise cutting is required.
Thangles require removing the paper afterwards, but I found that to be a nice task for tv watching and didn't mind it. I've only used Thangles with strips of fabric, but you could easily cut the paper strips into squares and use them on scraps. I probably wouldn't even cut the scraps until after they were sewn together with the Thangle. When cutting the paper down the diagonal, I would probably just use the paper guide to trim the edges at that time.
For me, the absolute most accurate way to sew HSTs has been to use Thangles. Here is a link to them on Keepsake Quilting:
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/8787.htm
I tried the template cutting method illustrated elsewhere in this thread also but found it to be too time-consuming for me. Plus, I tend to start gritting my teeth when precise cutting is required.
Thangles require removing the paper afterwards, but I found that to be a nice task for tv watching and didn't mind it. I've only used Thangles with strips of fabric, but you could easily cut the paper strips into squares and use them on scraps. I probably wouldn't even cut the scraps until after they were sewn together with the Thangle. When cutting the paper down the diagonal, I would probably just use the paper guide to trim the edges at that time.
06-10-2009, 03:36 PM
#15
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Salem Iowa
Posts: 15,666
Originally Posted by quilter1962
Originally Posted by Rhonda
I don't know about perfection but if you use my cut down method and hold the template while you cut you should get the right size every time.
I sew two strips together and open and iron. Then center your template with two corners on the seam and cut around template with a rotary cutter. Go down the strip cutting out HSTs and then pull apart the strips and sew the other side together. Continue to cut out more HSTs. Depending on how wide you cut your strips and how close you can place your template to cut you will come out with a little scrap but not a lot if you make your strips(cewn together) the size of your template from corner to corner on the diagonal. My strips here are wider than the template because I have a fear of making them too small and I don't care if I have scraps left. I just recycle them into more blocks.
Hello Rhonda
Silly question coming up now - but do you use a 28mm rotary cutter to cut around this small a template. I have mislaid mine so I may have to purchase another. URGH.
Tisha
I sew two strips together and open and iron. Then center your template with two corners on the seam and cut around template with a rotary cutter. Go down the strip cutting out HSTs and then pull apart the strips and sew the other side together. Continue to cut out more HSTs. Depending on how wide you cut your strips and how close you can place your template to cut you will come out with a little scrap but not a lot if you make your strips(cewn together) the size of your template from corner to corner on the diagonal. My strips here are wider than the template because I have a fear of making them too small and I don't care if I have scraps left. I just recycle them into more blocks.
Hello Rhonda
Silly question coming up now - but do you use a 28mm rotary cutter to cut around this small a template. I have mislaid mine so I may have to purchase another. URGH.
Tisha
Tisha I use a Fiskars 45mm. You can use the smaller one if you like. I just do everything with this one because it is what I am used to.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ragqueen03
General Chit-Chat (non-quilting talk)
12
09-21-2011 02:17 PM
craftybear
Links and Resources
3
07-21-2011 08:49 AM
