A new approach to tumbling blocks

Beautiful John. Can't wait to see the finished quilt. This is one of those quilts that are on my someday list but seeing how I love doing things by hand, I will probably EPP it.

There are always options! Anything that can be paper pieced can be machine pieced, it may have Y seams, or curved piecing, but it's never impossible.

There is a way that reduces the number of set in seams, but would only look tolerable on certain fabric choices, which is to split one diamond into two triangles, join each of those to a diamond, join the results to a hexagon. You'd still have set in seams whilst joining all the blocks together.

Tumbling blocks is something I've never really had an urge to do, but it's not the construction that puts me off, it just doesn't really "do" anything for me.

Cheers Anne

I love the optical illusion of this design. The next thing on the agenda for this type of thing, is the hollow tumbling block quilt. . Even more set in stuff. That should put the challenge back in quilting for me. Gotta love those challenges.

John

Way to go, John!!

Karen, Queen of Squishies, always proud of someone's growth!

Very nice John.

gorgeous variations here and in the book featured by Sara Nephew, but also the "Not Your Grandmother's . . . . " series of patterns with easier construction techniques for hex and diamond designs for those put off by the piecing. They work best in prints as they involve extra seams.

I have done some similar blocks by machine, and have some more planned. However smaller ones are easier to do by hand, but not with English Paper Piecing, at least for me !!!! I am working on some with Inklingo printed fabrics, diamonds that are 1" on a side.

Pati, > Beautiful John. Can't wait to see the finished quilt. This is one of those

Karen Combs (???) has a book titled "Optical Illusions for Quilters" that has a lot of info on this type of quilt. And how to machine piece it all. Great book for those who like the op-art type things.

Pati, > >>> One of my goals in quilting was to do a quilt in baby or tumbling

I played with Tumbling Blocks for a few days, John and decided that they weren't for me. They ended up in the trash; no temper fit or anything. I just didn't enjoy the doing of it. If you would consider suggestions from a confessed failure, I think you might want to set your stitch length a little shorter, consider using a darker thread (perhaps gray) and see what happens if you press your seams open. Don't know if any of these ideas will be worth a hoot to you; just wanted to help you succeed where I shamelessly abandoned ship. Polly

I know about he stitch length. This was just a test series to see of I could do it. The color of the thread is natural, which is what I use for most piecing, I just pressed these open really flat and with a lot of heat so they are still cooling down from the pressing and have not come back to their natural lay. I think the stitch length is about

2.40 or so. it is hard to tell on the mechanical slide on the 1008, but they are short. When they are stitched in the ditch, they will likely disappear.

John

Way to go, John! "Never Say Never" sure is your motto! I like how you come up with new ways to do things "they" say have to be done just a certain way. Looking forward to seeing the finished quilt in a few days!

Vickie in Cleveland

I can't get there. I keep gettting some kind of error. :*(

I have done several really tiny ones, because I love the pattern. I did them by hand, though. However, there always seem to be little 'bits of stitches' showing along the seams, whichever way it is done. So, as you say you are going to do SITD quilting, can I pass on to you what I discovered: I also did SITD, but not with a straight stitch! I used a very tiny zig-zag (the smallest my machine will allow me to do) and variegated thread. The joining bits disappeared, and the whole thing looked sparkly and very pretty. Do try it on your sample and see if you like it. Or, you could use a thicker thread, like a top-stitching thread, with a straight stitch.

In message , John writes

I can attest to the beauty of the technique Patti uses! Her miniature quilts are gorgeous.

Keep in mind that if you stitch in the ditch of a seam that has been pressed open, you just stitching over the sewing thread in the seam. It seems to me that that would not be as strong as when you have pressed the seam to one side and are actually stitching on the fabric on one side of the seam.

Julia in MN

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I misstated that part about pressing the seam open. I was trying to stress the fact about really pressing the seams flat with a very hot dry iron. What I should have said is, all seems are pressed to the darker color side so as to not show any dark color through. I use that method for all of the quilts I have done. I don't press open any seams.

John

John

Thanks for the idea, about the zig-zag. I will give it a try if I find that the way I usually do it is not working. I honestly have not found the color of the thread showing through on any of the things I have done yet. I try to stay very accurately in the ditch so as to cover any offending show through thread that might rear it's ugly head.

John

On Feb 28, 2:43=A0am, Patti wrote:

I have a 60 degree diamond template with a lot of different measurement marks and the smallest one produces a 1" finished diamond. How small do you finish your diamonds out too, when sewn together? I would think that would be almost impossible to work with under a pressure foot. That probably lends itself to the hand sewing method. I used to do needlepoint miniature oriental rugs, for some doll houses I built, with 28 count mesh, and just about went bonkers doing that stuff. I finally had to give it up as the old eyes wouldn't focus that small for any extended length of time, and I hated to use a large magnifying glass on a stand in front of the work. I did love the result when I finally muddled through it, though. There is something about miniaturization that is fascinating. It probably explains the model electric train hobby. Which is the male equivalent, of miniaturization. You can create these fantasy environments that you control. That sense of control is something that is disappearing from modern life, which probably explains it's popularity. I had a relative, who had his whole basement devoted to model train layouts. They were from all different periods. He gave everybody a striped railroad engineers cap to put on when they ventured downstairs and they would run the trains till the cows came home. The detailing was fantastic. The shrubbery was all made out of found stuff and painted to look real. You could visualize yourself, traveling through the various environments. Really neat.

John

My little ones are about half an inch finished. At that size, because, as you say, your vision alters scale slightly, the little tiny stitches that wouldn't be noticeable at full size, seem huge! That's why I used the zig-zag; but I loved the effect and have used it on larger ones. I take the point about the train layouts very well. I went to see the Marionette theatre in Salzburg performing The Magic Flute. Everything there is small - the stage, curtains etc. When you come to yourself, when the lights go back on, you feel as if you are in a world of giants! . In message , John writes

Thanks Cheryl, how very kind. . In message , CATS writes