need advice on Tumbling Block quilt

I am starting to cut a very scrappy Tumbling Block quilt. Don't expect to see photos in the near future. The plan is to cut diamonds from any leftover scraps and keep adding them to the box until I have the time to start the quilt.

My question is about grain line. In an older quilt instruction book it says to cut the top diamond (the light one) with the grain running from point to point the short direction. On the other two diamonds the grain should be parallel with the sides of the block. Is this important? Has anyone who has made a tumbling block quilt all from diamonds ever worried about grain?

I know there are quicker ways to make a tumbling block quilt using triangles rather than diamonds but I don't like the extra seams. I want a true Light-Medium-Dark tumbling block. It will be all 1800's reproduction fabrics, mostly Jo Morton designed fabrics from Andover Fabrics.

Susan

Reply to
Susan Laity Price
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Not knowing which pieces you will use where -- I would suggest you just use starch or sizing on the pieces to help eliminate the stretch you might get from exposed bias.

And handle them with care....

Reply to
Kate in MI

This was probably the second quilt I made. Mind you it was all hand pieced and I used templates made from old file folders to wrap the fabric around. All diamonds were cut accurately, however, not just haphazzard pieces used on the templates. I never paid attention to grain and it wasn't an issue. It came out beautifully. It was a crib size for my then to-be niece. Done in light; med. and dark turquoise. I echo quilted each diamond. Of course, this is yet another quilt that I don't think I ever photo'd before giving to my SIL. If you want, I can always get my SIL to email me a photo. By using the templates that I did, each piece was whip-stitched vs. running stitches. It didn't seem to matter. Everything was flat enough. Don't recall if I pressed open or to the side but I'm going to guess to the side. I've only recently converted to being an 'open seam' presser. I had gotten a book from the library at the time discussing the above techniques but don't have a clue what the title may have been. I really enjoyed making that quilt. Granted, alot of that had to do with the fact that I able to do something new and different for the only niece on my side of the family. My SIL and everyone else that saw it was amazed and very appreciative. I could also stop by my local library and see if they still have the book I used for reference if you like. I think I'd remember the cover if I saw it again.

Kim in NJ

Reply to
AuntK

Reply to
Roberta

Since I plan to cut from my scrap box which means ironing all the crunched little pieces stuffed in the box, starching won't take much time. Thanks for the reminder.

Susan

Reply to
Susan Laity Price

Thanks for the offer to check on the book but I think I am OK with the directions I have. Just wondered about the grain line. Opinion here on the newsgroup seems to be that grain doesn't matter. I will probably sew some by machine and some by hand. Just depends on how much sitting I have to do with my mother.

Susan

Reply to
Susan Laity Price

Susan, when I first saw your idea of Tumbling Blocks Scrappy, I thought I'd never in this world be able to make the decisions. You just have to have: light, medium and dark. Right? Or it doesn't work. Or maybe it does. What is light and what is dark are sometimes easy enough but not always and how do you decide what's medium? OTOH, then I saw Anthony's thoughts about relative value. Some of your tumbles will probably get lost in the scrappy nature of the quilt - which will only make it delightful and quite charming. Can hardly wait to see it. Since this is a long range project, please don't make us wait until it's king-size waterbed complete. Do let us have a peek now and then as it goes. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

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