PING Marie- those darn triangles!

Yes, thanks but they don't explain how to add a "seam allowance" to the sides so the points are not cut off by a seam when another block is added. Have you noticed no seam allowances are shown on the pictures. I need at least 1/4' seam allowance on both sides so the points aren't lost to seams.

That's the size I've been using.

OK, I tried it. There are NO side seam allowances. It has a seam allowance at the top but NONE on the sides. I would have to cut 1/4" OFF the bottom to give it "side" seam allowances since the points come right out to the bottom edge. If I cut 1/4" off the bottom it wont be the right size.

Yes, this was very easy to do. It came out exactly like the ones I've been doing all day. The points come right to the bottom corners so they'll be lost in a seam unless I cut 1/4" off the bottom or sew it to something on the bottom first.

How do I get a seam allowance on the SIDES? The dark side points come right to the bottom and will be blunted (cut off) by the next block. There is no explanation of how to get a seam allowance on the sides nor do the pics show one on the sides.

ya dont cut them off, ya sew them to other pieces of fabric. the bottom and side will disappear in the seam of the pieces you sew to them. the seam moves in to finish at the exact size 1 x 2.

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did you measure them after you sew'd them? after adding those corner triangles, they should measure 1.5" x 2. 5" that is the seam allowance on it. the top point shows the seam allowance. the bottom two corners dont. they are there tho. when you add fabric to both the sides and the bottom the layout is the same. just moves the point up to the finished size of 1 x 2 inches. it works, reallly it does. measure them. j.

Deep breath. Cup of tea. If you have a dog or cat, put it in your lap and stroke the soft fur around the ears. If you don't have a dog or cat, do not proceed until you've borrowed one and gotten some fur. This is scientifically proven to lower blood pressure.

Take one of those failure units that don't have a seam allowance along the sides and draw, in pen, a line 1/4" in from each edge. Do it on all

I believe you've been doing it right all along. The new points are created when the unit is sewn to the pieces that go next to it.

--Lia

Hon, it's not *supposed* to have a seam allowance at the sides! It's created when you sew the next pieces on the sides and the bottom. Please just follow exactly what I said.... it WILL work. I promise! When you get the flying geese unit done, then take any ol' piece of fabric with a straight edge, line it up on the side and pin it at 1/4 in. like it was sewn together. Fold it back, then pin another scrap across the bottom. There WILL be nice sharp points at each side.

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

aha, I think I know what your problem is, it's that you don't have a problem, but you think you do. The points are right at the bottom edge of one of these units, they aren't a quarter of an inch in like the one at the top. The one at the top is only going to get one piece of fabric sewn to it, these in the corners are going to have two, even if to finish the block temporarily it's going to only get one sewn to it, so when you sew on the first piece it looks like the corner got chopped as it will be on the new seam line, but 1/4 of an inch from the bottom. But when you sew the next piece the seam line will go through that point and recreate the point in the right place. You can prove this to yourself by after making this unit by these instructions (and the instructions are right, believe us!) taking 4 one inch wide strips and sewing them to each side, if you kept your seams accurate, you'll have a roof in the middle.

Cheers Anne

Delightful. Just wonderful. I was just finishing up blanket stitching around 'I'm a Little Teapot' and taking a break. There is Leslie, jeanne, Lia and Anne trying to explain triangle/ flying geese points lost and points found to Marie. Well done, my friends. I admit that I enjoyed Lia's suggesting that taking a break with a furry friend was the most important element. My goodness, yes. I am just so proud of all of you. Smiling and bidding you goodnight, Polly

Yes I sewed squares to both sides and the points are gone. They're in the

I have a top seam allowance. But when something was added to the sides the points were gone. I can't go re-measure it all because I tossed all but two of them out.

OK........ after my coffee break here I'll try a few more. :^) I have never had such a problem before and made many quilts in the past.

I just took pics with my old digital camera. You can see the points are in the seam.

Ok I'll try that. Meanwhile here are some pics I just took.

Marie- you did not loose your points on those side triangles- it just looks that way. Sew any piece of fabric across the bottom and the points will come back. That's how it's *supposed* to be. I think you are so confused and tired you can't see it, but if you go ahead and sew fabric all the way across the bottom with a 1/4 in. seam allowance- they *will* come back. You

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

I had to take a long coffee break and called a friend. We chatted for awhile until my BP came down to normal. In any case here are two pics I just took. It's the closest I could get with the old camera:

It's hard to tell without a drawing of what the block should look like, but looking at other points in it and how they fit together, it looks like there are other places where there should be matching and there isn't, which does suggest that accuracy in piecing is at least part of the problem.

With a point that's on the side of a unit, check point number one is is the point 1/4 inch from the raw edge. If it is and it gets lost at the next step, then the seam allowance is too wide at that point.

If there is supposed to be a point at the corner of a unit, presuming it's a 45 deg one resulting from HSTs/QSTs, then the seam that makes it should be exactly through the corner of the unit, that's check point number 1. When you sew the next piece of fabric to it, it should then be exactly 1/4 inch in to the new seam, check point number 2, if it's smaller, the seam was too narrow, bigger and it was too wide. The final check point is the same as in the first scenario.

Cheers Anne

looking again at picture number 2, you definitely have some seam width issues, look at where the lighthouse roof joins to the piece below it, that must have started out as a rectangle, but it's shorter on the right hand side. It's difficult to say where the error is, but at some point on one side or other of that piece you either took too much seam allowance at the right, or too little at the left.

I think you need to take a couple of hours to do a few exercises to get you used to your new set up. My best suggestion would be to make some 4 patches. Cut yourself some strips and at this stage make them no longer than half the width of the fabric, maybe even go in half again. Cut two strips the same length. Sew them together with a quarter of an inch seam allowance, before you press, check it, do the strips match at both ends? does the seam look the same width all the way along, from both sides? Then press. Now, measure, is the width of the joined strips half an inch less than the total width of the unjoined strips?

Then chop them up and join in pairs to make a 4 patch, do the same checks, with an additional one, are the middle seams matched? If not, try again, consider pinning it.

If this goes fine, try a nine patch.

Next, try making 2 half square triangle units from 2 squares. Choose your finished size, add 7/8 of an inch, draw a line down the middle, then seam 1/4 inch either side of this line, slice down the line, then press - are your resultant squares the size you intended, if not, go back what do you need to adjust.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's really worth it, much better to get it wrong on a couple of fat quarters you have no plans for, than to plunge into something and it all go horribly wrong.

Cheers Anne

The point is 1/4" down. The point will be there when you sew them together with a 1/4" seam!

Happy quilting,

Lenore

Ann, thank you so much........ I'm just exhausted and having a "senior" day. My machine had a nervous breakdown and I'm about to follow it. Would you believe I changed the spool of thread and bobbin and it's working fine? I need some sleep... no more coffee for me. :^)

Right now, Put the lighthouse away. You're too mentally fatigued with it to play with it today.

Now, go do what Anne says. Take your time and use the SAME RULER throughout the exercise. (You'd be surprised at the diff in ruler markings--even in 2

Do NOT use paper as it works differently than fabric does.

MEASURE every step...write the measurements down. PLEASE measure your square at 3 intervals--are you getting 2 1/2 " ALL the way down? Is the top straighter than the bottom? IS your fabric pulling just a lil bit at the top/middle/bottom? I find my 'pulling' is at the bottom of the square if I'm going to have a problem. That's where a 'toothpick, skewer, chopstick' helps..the 'wood' bites into the fabric more than the seam ripper does...and if you hit the wood with your needle it isn't apt to break as easily as the seam ripper would break the needle)

Another thing, if you come up with 'wrong' measurements i.e., 2 threads OFF from 1/4 ", unseam it, re-press the fabric (Put iron down on fabric, lift iron up) and re-sew the seam. You are pressing to make sure the fabric does NOT show the previous stitch marks.

This IS a lot of work but I do it with every foot change as I have a 'new' machine. (I haven't used it enuf to know what the feet do --does this one pull to the right/left or go straight--how does the foot line up with the feed dogs...that kind of stuff) they are ALL factors on how straight your seam will be in the end.

Even with all this, I still get wonky seam ends and that is when I quit for awhile. Easer to take a break that do the rip-it dance:)

HTH

Don't give up yet--we haven't.

Butterfly (I can see the lightbulb going on over your head when you 'see' what we are talking about..It may take abit cause you are pretty frustrated right now--but it'll come)

I took them all apart last night as mentioned above. I can see where some of the issues are coming from.

Here's where one issue was found..... the tracks on the NH don't grab good on the right side with the new foot with the built on 1/4" seam thing - but nothing else will work with the huge feet this machine came with. Screw on guide arms hit the broad feet making all seams 3/8s". I didn't have this problem with the old Singer. I'll start measuring everything to make sure it's "on the square" so to speak.

I find my 'pulling' is at the bottom of the square if I'm

I only use the seam ripper to gently push the ends under the foot. The needle isn't moving when I do this.

It's dead straight with the normal feet but the new foot with the built on guide, the only 1/4" guide for this machine, has a slight side pull as the track (right feed dog) doesn't get a good bite on the material I'm using. Only half the track can grab since the guide is over the other half. The tracks or fds are too far apart for the foot/guide to allow 100% straight tracking.

how does the foot line up with the

Oh you are so right my dear.......... this new 1/4" foot-guide is definitely part of the problem. I hope I can learn to work around it.

I did a major rip dance last night. LOL!!! My blocks are in pieces to be remeasured and redone.

I don't give up easily. :^)

Marie, just thot of something. you could mark the bed of the machine 1/4" to the right of the needle. lay your ruler up against the needle to measure then mark the spot with something. a few post-it notes for a wee bit of height gives you something to guide the fabric along.

i'm sure others have better ideas what else you can use. i'm about ot head out the door for the annual 'toss flowers at folks day' here. that would be Valentines Day to most folks. argh, i hate this day. one good thing, the weather is cooler than usual and there is a drizzle in the air. all this keeps us and the flowers from getting overheated as we rush hither and yon. good luck with the lighthouse today. try to keep calm. you're working thru the issues one at a time to get this block made correctly and doing a fine job of it from what i've had time to read this morning. cheers, jeanne

"Marie Dodge" ...

As my FIL would say: "Good Girl" (even to his DW so it wasn't age related: )

Butterfly (you're getting there YAY!)