First steps on my own

Well done on making a start, Ursula! I don't have a design wall - and I arrange things on my cutting mat first, too!

Just one suggestion: I think you would make it easier for yourself if you put the squares together in groups, rather than long lines. So, start with pairs, as you say; then fours -but as a square, not as a string. Add a pair to one group of four, so that you have a 'sixer'. Sew each four to the next four, and each six to the next six. Then sew these bits into blocks of 4 fours x 4 sixes (I do hope I'm making this clear). Then sew the big blocks together in pairs, and so on.

Sewing long lines of squares together is actually very difficult in the sense of keeping everything straight and potentially square.

You will have a lot of joins to match whichever way you do this. Pin these first, and then use large stitches to baste across the join.

I totally understand this is a first attempt, and I applaud your decision to start with 'cat mats'! But, it never hurts to get things as right as possible at the beginning!

Do let us know how it all goes. . In message , Ursula Schrader writes

I'm with Pat. Long lines can be a pig.

But I would add, do you really need to baste? You have sewn seams in the past, I think, and the only difference here is tthat you are sewing smaller pieces with narrower seams.

Use nice long pins instead. When you get the two-patches together, press the seams to one side. Then take another pair and kinda snuggle them together, so one set of seams goes one way, and the other goes the other way. Now prod a pin EXACTLY through the stitching at the place the seams match. I put mine on the seam allowance (in my case

Put a scrap of fabric through the machine first, this is called a header, and catches any bird's nests and just helps. Butt your first patch up to the presser foot, don't raise it, but just sew. Don't look at the needle, look at the edge of the patch and sew slowly. Stop (needle down if you can) and take out the pin before you get there, (me and Kate are naughty and sew over them, but on your own head be it!). Keep watching that edge, right to the end. It will want to veer off , but don't you let it.

If you are up to doing more at a time, this is where you feed in the next patch, and at the end feed in another 'header'. Snip off between the header and the last patch, and it is all set up to start again. You end up with far fewer trailing ends and bits doing it this way, so it is a good habit to acquire. Oh, and if you have a pokative of some sort (toothpick, awl, hera, tweezers or the like) you can use that to feed the little bits right under the needle to stop it succeeding sliding off sideways, which is a pain and spoils that nice straight seam you just did.

Hope that helps. Nel

Oh, good! However, I thought that for a next attempt I might use some piece of corrugated cardboard to pin the bits on it; there's always a next trip to IKEA that results in large pieces of that stuff. With two half-grown cats and a 3 1/2 -year old toddler a better solution. Toddler breathed on tiny bits yesterday - tiny bits went flying everywhere. Cat is curious about what's on the big mat - mat starts sliding off table. Two moments close to heart attack. ;-) Bigger blocks might be no problem.

Yes, perfectly clear, and I'll follow the advice.

Don't worry, you won't be spared. ;-)

U.

Actually I took up this work to have something to do in front of the telly in the evenings. Might do my figure better than a hand in crisps packet. That's why basting is just fine for now.

Why do you iron the seam allowances to one side and not apart as in 'normal' sewing items?

Yes, that's about what I had planned: making a long chain of pairs. Should I use the reverse button between the bits or doesn't it matter if the tiny seams are sewn up at the ends? Might get a bit crowded with 3 x 3 cm bits (measure without seam allowance), and the seams haven't got to hold anything. I guess no sewing up then.

As for pokatives: I do have a wonderful little awl I bought for super cheap-o some time ago and used it already for the jacket I made for my DSIL. VERY useful, indeed; one of the best cheap-o investments I ever made. The other is a wooden camping stool I bought in 1997 for then 5.- DM (!) at IKEA; it's got its second fabric seat by now, but it's the most faithful companion in house and garden. But that's another story.

Oh yes, it helped a lot! Thanks !

U.

No, that sounds fine to me. Cat quilts are an ideal way to start, and charm squares are a great way to get variety. You remember my littl cat quilts on the chairs? Charm squares sewn together just as you describe. :)

It's easier with quarter inch seam allowances! That's all... :)

Nel has been giving me good advice in all sorts of areas for over 30 years. She's very good...

Uh, I don't remember the quilts, I'm sorry; there was so much else to look out for. Sorry. But at least I remember the cats. ;-) But seriously, are they on your website somewhere?

Actually, I'm doing it with quarter inch seam allowances. At my first patchwork course, the lady taught us that the seam allowance she calculated for us was exactly the width of one half of the machine foot; when you sew, you only have to take care that the fabric stays in line with the foot - dead easy for a shaky hand like me. ;-) So I dug out all feet of the HE 20 and found one that has that kind of foot. Anyway, the charm pack bits seemed to be made exactly for that kind of measurement; divided by 3, there was no leftover.

I bet she is; but then, I haven't encountered a single unhelpful person in the needlework groups. Impolite, yes, but only a few (you may remember that certain thread at a.s....). ;-) Anyway, I like the way us womenfolk deal with each other in these groups; giving support, and hugs, and pats on the back, and, if absolutely necessary, their honest opinion. ;-)

U.

OK, but this is a beginners work, and I have to clear things away inbetween, so I'd rather go slow. However, I'll put down your method in a folder for quilt-matters. I collect everything.

U.

TANQP = There Are No (such things as the) Quilt Police, who will come and inspect your work to make sure you 'stick by the rules'

Bees knees = cat's pyjamas = dog's b.... Ok you got the idea ! ;x

"to boot" (usually, to boot, to boot!) means "as well", usually in the extreme sense. As in: "He had a red shirt, red trousers, red shoes, red hair, and a red nose to boot!"

Sorry, I forget sometimes. I write and speak in very colloquial English. (Like Kate!)

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Ah yes, I've heard about the Quilt police... ;-)

But do you perhaps know where the expression come from? It's funny, no doubt, but why bees?

On top of it all perhaps?

Don't you dare stop doing so! Just translate for me; I love to learn idiomatic or colloquial expressions. ;-)

U.