this is amazing..thank you for showing all the pictures..it is difficult sometimes to convey your message without the pix. I have an elderly friend here that I give all my leftovers to and she does this, she sews them up into 16" sections..then she has fun making things with them! I can't wait to show her your stuff!

Thanks, Wed. I will start my sewing lessons for beginners at our church and I will use this method for my younger kids . Nice way to show them to sew a straight line. Again thanks.

WOW so simple and easy. THANKS.Another series to add to my loose-leaf titled RHONDA.It started out with your tutorials for a quilt. Anne:)

Thanks for showing this. I do have a question though. It doesn't look like you used a foundation, but did you? Thanks again.

No I don't use a foundation for anything I do. I just sew pieces together. I used a foundation when I first started trying a crazy quilt years and years ago but you don't need one.

We just cut strips and sew them together. My friend Dorothy does most of this sort of work for me. She cuts strips by the gallon and then sets them in piles of med light and dark. That is because I like to make sure the colors are varied and not get 3 darks in a row or all lights that will blend too much.

Then she goes through and sews sets of 2 til she has them all sewn. Then she trims the inside one on all sets. Then she sews 2 sets together. Then she keeps repeating the trimming and the joining sets together til she gets to the size I requested.

The size of my sets is based on the fact that I used them primarily for borders on my hotpads that I sold. so I had her do sets that were 10" wide for the long sides of the hotpad and some that were 8" wide for the short sides of the hotpad.

I like to use strips that are about 10" long just because that is a nice easy length to handle for me.

You can make your length and width anything you like. It all depends on how you are going to use it.

When I do the smaller miniatures I use a length of about 4 or 5" as it is easier to work with if I am going to trim to a 1/2" unfinished strip from the seam. This would be for a coin purse or bookmark etc. Tho I also do use the longer ones if they are already made up. The issue is when you cut out and you have long strips to move as you turn the mini cutting board it can be annoying. Just a personal preferance.

I also use this method to make 9 patch blocks and Trip Around the World.

Thanks everyone! I hope you get some good ideas from this!

-

How fun is that?

When kids are starting or any beginner I like to let them just sew and not worry too much if the seams are straight. Then after they have a feel for the sewing seams part then you can help them try for the 1/4" accuracy.

You also can have kids use copy paper to sew with for practice. I use it when I want to work out an idea by trial and error. It works just like fabric. You can iron it and you can sew it together. but you do have to be careful not to pull it sideways or the seams will give as it perforates the paper.

I gave my DGS paper and he practiced differant types of stitches and learning to guide the paper without getting fingers too close and how to go in a straight line. Sometimes we take some of this for granted and they need to get a feel for some things like this before they try to sew a seam for real.

really helpful information. thank you so much for taking the time to educate us all

Simple, great idea(s). Thanks.

What great ideas! Love the idea of having strips available to use on short notice. Thanks so much. Love the tic tac toe one.