fabric question

Before you cut what pieces? lol

If you are strip piecing, you cut the strips WITH the selvages still on and sew the strips together (usually lining up the selvages straight across at one end of the set), and only trim when you cross-cut your strip sets. That way you only trim once to a straight edge and avoid waste. So you do not trim before you cut your strips, but you do trim before you cut your piecing shapes/blocks.

As long as you do NOT incorporate the coarser threads of the selvages into your piecing it is probably a matter of preference most times, but try to minimise the number of times you "trim" fabric as each cut reduces the size you have to work from.

BTW - most manufacturers have those coarse threads running along both selvages even if the print runs all the way to the edge of the fabric. Those thicker threads will shrink at a different rate to the finer threads in the body of the fabric, and that will distort your blocks and the finished quilt. So you are not just cutting off the white strip because of appearances.

Thanks for your reply. Many years ago before I finished work I used to go round the market in my lunch hour. There was a bedding stall that started selling odds and ends of material. So I bought bags of squares that are between 8 and 10 inch square. I also bought some long lengths of about 3 to 4 yards of strips which are roughly 4 inches wide. These have the selvage. These are all poly cotton but I thought would be okay to have a practice on. Most are pastel shade with a few floral ones plus some deep pink.

After doing the centre beaded panel for the Enschede Quilt I thought one day I would have a try to make a quilt. I gather other bits and bobs together. I put them away and forgot about them. Too busy with my beadwork, greeting card making and then computer studies. At the age of

I have just made 76 Christmas cards and have n more jewellery than anyone else in the village. So I thought I would find all that fabric out.

For a simple project I thought of cutting 6.1/2 inch squares and joining them together. If I got on okay with that I would then maybe make one with banding between the squares. Not too difficult for a start. I have made a graph and when I have decided on the colours I will plan it. Shirley

In message , Cats writes

Shirley

Do you have a rotary cutter or are you working with scissors? Piecing all comes down to accurate cutting and accurate seam allowances. Most find that a 1/4" foot on their sewing machine helps.

And is there a link to your web site we can see? Do you have pictures of your work there to share with us?

If you have any more questions just post - someone will pop up with an answer. Actually, you will probably get several answers, not necessarily all the same LOL

Oh Shirley, this is wonderful! You're going to take the plunge. This is going to be so exciting. I cut the selvage off if it is wavy or otherwise irregular. I do find that does happen. If it is reliable - in the way Cheryl explained - I leave it; but always cut pieces within it. The strips Cheryl mentioned are being cut across the width, so that the selvage is only on the two ends of the strip and can be cut off when you start to piece; they are not along the length of a strip.

Couple of hints for your very first project: when you have your plan ready, join the squares in rows and press the seams one way; press the seams of the next row in the other direction (you may remember having seen comments here about 'nesting' seams - this is what makes that happen). and, the great tip from Jeanne, a week or so ago, to sew the rows together with the seam allowances that face towards the needle on the top - to make the corner matching better.

Good luck, and have fun! . In message , Shirley Shone writes

Shirley's web address is below her sig. Cheryl. (I don't know how to do cut and paste properly, so you'll have to pop back to her post. Sorry.) . In message , Cats writes

Yes I have a rotary cutter and loads of spare blades. The craft department of Focus closed down a few years ago with 70% of craft things. So I got 3 cutters, small large and a pinking one. I got some clips as well to hold the rolled up quilt for the SM. Plus loads of cotton reels. I got a 6.1/2 inch square, a 24x2inch and a 24x6 ruler. I bought a big cutting mat when I went to Malvern.

My website is in my signature but you can see my other work that a USA friend did for me before I built my own. . She put up 4 pages.

In message , Cats writes

Thanks Patti, I am printing your tips off so I can have them to hand when I start.

I have noticed though that the selvage is a good 1/2 inch wide so if I left it part of the tightly woven part would show when I did a 1/4 inch seam. In that case would it be better to cut it off. Shirley

In message , Patti writes

Shirley, you will want to be a little more careful with your pressing if some of your fabric is poly/cotton. Poly can not take the extreme high heat that cotton can. Poly sometimes will stretch, warp, pucker - or (eeek) melt. Sometimes a bit of poly is perfect for whatever I'm putting together and it works okay, just remember to take it easy. Polly

Oh yes. You do cut it off once the strips are cut. It's only left on to stabilise things during the cutting. Left on it would disturb the even quality of the fabric within a piece. When I'm cutting pieces other than strips, I always cut within the selvages. Another thing: if you wash your fabric before using it, the selvage edge does mean that at least one side doesn't fray! . In message , Shirley Shone writes

Actually it is all poly/cotton. Got the whole lot for about 3 GBPs. So will make sure I do not get the iron to hot. Thanks Shirley

In message , polly esther writes

Shirley, your beading is beautiful!

Shirley, your beading is awesome!! Love the tassels for the keys for the grandfather clock! Maybe if I had one of those, I wouldn't have had to buy a new key--LOL

Howdy!

Yes.

Selvages (or selvedges) tend to cup or distort if they end up in the quilt block, and they can really make a border wobbly. I cut them off one side of the fabric before I cut any strips or block pieces so I don't have to worry about them again. I try to keep the selvedge w/ the fabric info, in case I want more, to remember who made the fabric, what it was called. I use the selvedges for stuff like tying packages (one of the local quilt shops does this w/ all purchases, pulling a few strands out of the "strings" basket, tying up young trees and bushes in the garden, tying a rag around the outdoor faucets on a frosty night, tacking onto a foundation for a scrappy rag rug.

Ragmop/Sandy

Howdy!

Sounds like you're set up for some more fun, Shirley.

Love to see all the pics; you are so cute! and your bead work is fascinating. I have my sample right here. ;-)

Cheers! And good luck!

Ragmop/Sandy

Shirley Shone snipped-for-privacy@allcrafts.demon.co.uk

Thanks Sandy, I bet Dh would like the selvages in his shed for tying things up when he is woodworking. Shirley

In message , Sandy Ellison writes

Shirley.

I want to be you when I grow up.

All the stuff you have made is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and I love the clock your husband made.

Jenn in CA - who CAN'T wait to see what you produce with quilts.

Shirley Sh> Do you cut the selvages off before cutting the pieces.

In message , Jenn in CA writes

Five foot tall and still plump inspite of losing 32 lbs. LOL

He is pretty good with wood. I have several bowls and dishes that he has made. If I need mould for my beadwork I send him down to his workshop to make me some. At the present he is making me an oak Family Tree box. I researched his Family so he is making a box to put the documents in so they can be passed down.

Do not hold your breath because I think that will be something I will not excel in. Hugs Shirley

Perfect! They're extremely strong! . In message , Shirley Shone writes

You going to do it? You are REALLY REALLY REALLY going to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'M ECSTATIC!!!!!!!!!! I just knew one day you wouldn't be able to 'resist' any longer :)

Butterfly (have been asked to 'keep using that purse so I'll know who you are' by one of the Dr employees you know which one I speak of)