Caley's Adventure in Quilting
02-16-2021, 07:35 AM
#22
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 289
Phyllis, Thank you so much.
My experiment making a table runner is finished. It consists of five 12 inch square blocks. They were made when I was first learning how to piece.
My quilting consists of diagonal squares in the center part, and long curvy work done on the borders.
Since I still am having troubles with free motion quilting, I just used a regular foot, with the feed dogs up on the machine.
I carefully moved the fabric sandwich along the curved lines I drew on the fabric with a heat erasable pen. I think the curved lines came out fairly nicely for never having done anything like this before on a quilt.
Making the binding strips wasn't a problem, which I was happy accomplishing without the problems on my previous attempts. But when I got to the joining of the ends, I just couldn't figure things out, even aver watching several videos, and trying to duplicate what I saw..
The problem probably was caused by my bad memory. I had forgotten how wide my binding strips had to be, so I made it two inches. I then laid it down on the edge of the quilt top, and sewed a quarter inch seam along the edge to bind it to the sandwich.
After that I pressed the binding fabric over.
Then I turned it all over, and folded what fabric was left in half, and then folded that onto the bottom of the quilt sandwich.
I sewed the binding onto the bottom. I left one foot between the ends of the binding. That's when I couldn't figure out how to join the two ends. I ended up just doing a straight 90 degree stitch, instead of the bias 45 degree stitch that was required.
The corners also suffered because of my bad memory.
I went back to YouTube, and finally found a video that I think I understand, and discovered how bad my memory was. I guess you have to do this binding thing quite a lot before the technique stays in your memory.
Even with the myriad of imperfections and mistakes, I still like the results. It's not something I would gift to another person, but it will work just fine along my old dresser top.
My experiment making a table runner is finished. It consists of five 12 inch square blocks. They were made when I was first learning how to piece.
My quilting consists of diagonal squares in the center part, and long curvy work done on the borders.
Since I still am having troubles with free motion quilting, I just used a regular foot, with the feed dogs up on the machine.
I carefully moved the fabric sandwich along the curved lines I drew on the fabric with a heat erasable pen. I think the curved lines came out fairly nicely for never having done anything like this before on a quilt.
Making the binding strips wasn't a problem, which I was happy accomplishing without the problems on my previous attempts. But when I got to the joining of the ends, I just couldn't figure things out, even aver watching several videos, and trying to duplicate what I saw..
The problem probably was caused by my bad memory. I had forgotten how wide my binding strips had to be, so I made it two inches. I then laid it down on the edge of the quilt top, and sewed a quarter inch seam along the edge to bind it to the sandwich.
After that I pressed the binding fabric over.
Then I turned it all over, and folded what fabric was left in half, and then folded that onto the bottom of the quilt sandwich.
I sewed the binding onto the bottom. I left one foot between the ends of the binding. That's when I couldn't figure out how to join the two ends. I ended up just doing a straight 90 degree stitch, instead of the bias 45 degree stitch that was required.
The corners also suffered because of my bad memory.
I went back to YouTube, and finally found a video that I think I understand, and discovered how bad my memory was. I guess you have to do this binding thing quite a lot before the technique stays in your memory.
Even with the myriad of imperfections and mistakes, I still like the results. It's not something I would gift to another person, but it will work just fine along my old dresser top.
02-17-2021, 06:19 AM
#24
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Springfield, IL
Posts: 226
Thanks, I think, for explaining the problems. As a beginning quilter, I never know which of the mistakes to just problem solve and make it look okay. Yours is way beyond okay. And maybe that is what quilting is all about. We have a vision but rarely for us beginners does it ever look or feel like we envisioned.
02-17-2021, 09:22 AM
#25
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 289
SusieQOH, Yes, the both of you are correct. We have a vision of perfection, but that rarely happens, unless you have something that automates everything. Then, that takes the fun out of the endeavour.
pbraun,, Welcome to quilting. You'll do just fine. I started with basically never sewing anything, except by hand in the military when I needed a uniform fixed
Just watch a lot of videos, ask questions, and then sit back and think about what that information can do for you. Pick what seems the easiest way for you, as there are usually dozens of ways of doing things.
But the most important part of any hobby is just to have lots of fun doing it.
Thanks so kindly for the nice comment. I do like the results, but as we are always doing, want to do it better. Time will allow us to learn, and with that learning, we will get better. CaleyAnn
pbraun,, Welcome to quilting. You'll do just fine. I started with basically never sewing anything, except by hand in the military when I needed a uniform fixed
Just watch a lot of videos, ask questions, and then sit back and think about what that information can do for you. Pick what seems the easiest way for you, as there are usually dozens of ways of doing things.
But the most important part of any hobby is just to have lots of fun doing it.
Thanks so kindly for the nice comment. I do like the results, but as we are always doing, want to do it better. Time will allow us to learn, and with that learning, we will get better. CaleyAnn
04-26-2021, 02:03 PM
#26
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 289
I'm trying something new. I watched a video that gives the instructions on how to do this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKkT...index=7&t=327s
The lady calls them "Square Diamonds"
My efforts aren't as nice as hers, but I hope I will improve as I do more of them.
I wanted to cut out these, but discovered that the center is quite thick because of the eight points in the center. I needed something that would allow me to align the seams, yet not move around because of the center thickness.
Solution is to take one of my cutting square (4 1/2 inches), then drill a small starter hole. I then clamped the template down on my drill press, and used a 2 inch hole saw, and very slowly, and carefully cut the center out of the template. Now I can place the template atop the cloth, and have it lay flat, allowing me to make precise cuts.
I know that many of you do not have the machinery nor the experience to do this, but maybe your husband or a friend could do this for you. I've got so much experience in so many fields that I pretty much can do anything I need, other than make repairs to complex machinery like sewing machines. Guess being in the Air Force for 24 years kind of forces you to learn all kinds of things you would never think of doing.
Below is a picture of four of these pieces I've sewn together, along with the 4 1/2 inch square plastic template I modified to allow me to make those "Square Diamonds.
The material I found at Walmart listed as Waverly SD Black. It was only 3.44 per yard. I wanted something to practise making these blocks without breaking the bank.
I had to modify the instructions given in the video to make things work for me. Where she had a repeating pattern of about 28 inches, my pattern repeated every 12.25 inches. I ended up cutting squares four inches square, which gave me a total of sixty different sets of 1/2 square triangles. Not sure what size this quilt will be, but then, this is another of my adventures in quilting. I'll play things by ear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKkT...index=7&t=327s
The lady calls them "Square Diamonds"
My efforts aren't as nice as hers, but I hope I will improve as I do more of them.
I wanted to cut out these, but discovered that the center is quite thick because of the eight points in the center. I needed something that would allow me to align the seams, yet not move around because of the center thickness.
Solution is to take one of my cutting square (4 1/2 inches), then drill a small starter hole. I then clamped the template down on my drill press, and used a 2 inch hole saw, and very slowly, and carefully cut the center out of the template. Now I can place the template atop the cloth, and have it lay flat, allowing me to make precise cuts.
I know that many of you do not have the machinery nor the experience to do this, but maybe your husband or a friend could do this for you. I've got so much experience in so many fields that I pretty much can do anything I need, other than make repairs to complex machinery like sewing machines. Guess being in the Air Force for 24 years kind of forces you to learn all kinds of things you would never think of doing.
Below is a picture of four of these pieces I've sewn together, along with the 4 1/2 inch square plastic template I modified to allow me to make those "Square Diamonds.
The material I found at Walmart listed as Waverly SD Black. It was only 3.44 per yard. I wanted something to practise making these blocks without breaking the bank.
I had to modify the instructions given in the video to make things work for me. Where she had a repeating pattern of about 28 inches, my pattern repeated every 12.25 inches. I ended up cutting squares four inches square, which gave me a total of sixty different sets of 1/2 square triangles. Not sure what size this quilt will be, but then, this is another of my adventures in quilting. I'll play things by ear.
04-28-2021, 02:43 PM
#27
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Between the dashes of a tombstone
Posts: 12,716
Love your fabrics! I have just been auditioning similar pieces for a tshirt quilt and now have an idea of what to do with the other 4-5 2 yard pieces I have in my stash...oh and thanks for the tip!
04-28-2021, 08:36 PM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,349
Love reading about your quilting journey. Your quilts/table runner are gorgeous.
My favorite binding video is this one. He is an engineer so he really breaks it down and makes it easy. After going step by step along with the video numerous times, I can even do it by myself!
Watson
Finishing binding ends.
My favorite binding video is this one. He is an engineer so he really breaks it down and makes it easy. After going step by step along with the video numerous times, I can even do it by myself!
Watson
Finishing binding ends.
