I now have all of my eight point star blocks completed and started to sew the rows of blocks together. Oops, I am having a very hard time stitching over the "bumps". As I completed sewing each block I carefully pressed the seams of the block in whichever way would lay the flattest. It would have been great to think this thing all the way through and have seams pressed in opposite directions where they join the next block. It may be too late for that now. So, what can I do to get the blocks together?
Put the tip of your finger in the middle of those multi-seam intersections and spin it around; the seams should splay out and lie down flatter. If this doesn't work, I was never here.
Good luck, Jerry.
Ragmop/Sandy -- handpieced and handquilted a DoubleWeddingRing quilt before anyone told me "piecing curves is hard!"
p.s. Another tip: those long rows of blocks can stretch and seem to go on forever as you're putting them together; instead of long rows I like to divide the quilt blocks into 4 sections; sew all of section 1 together, then section 2, then sew section 1 to section 2; complete w/
3 & 4; there's less tugg> I now have all of my eight point star blocks completed and started to
That's such a great lesson I'm grateful to have learned here. I'm putting together a king-size waterbed quilt (groan) and know that the volume of this beauty is more than I can handle. I was just so tickled to remember to do this circus tent size quilt in sections. By only dealing with 4 blocks by 4 blocks, that gets it down to something that won't kill my assorted wobbly old shoulders and other body parts. So often, instructions direct assembly 'row by row'. Sure. If nothing else will work. Thank you, Ragmop and Mary Ellen for showing us another way. By doing the top in sections, I'll only have to heave the whole thing through the SM one trip. I'll get help. High-level bribery will be involved. Chocolate cake ought to do it. Polly
"Sandy Ellison" wrote, in part > p.s. Another tip: those long rows of blocks can stretch and seem to
You might like to think about pressing the seams open, instead of to one side, Jerry. No pre-planning required then >g< Pressing planning is great in theory. I am a great planner, but I have never managed to do this! . In message , MaleQuilter writes
Nothing bad will happen if you just flip a seam here and there as you sew! And if it won't press neatly into place, you can snip the seam allowance very carefully to let it go in both directions. Roberta in D
"MaleQuilter" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@m58g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
Hmmm... Weeding between paving stones? Saw a magazine article on decorating with "found" objects, such as a collection of rusty old cheese graters on your kitchen wall. The rippers would be so appropriate for the sewing room. You could do a little wall hanging and embellish it with old rippers and hole-y thimbles and dull safety pins. Some people's rust is other people's patina. Roberta in D
"Polly Esther" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...
Polly, the suggestion of chocolate cake is perfect. I'm thinking chocolate (Tx) sheet cake, the Tx. version of the recipe calling for strong coffee in the batter; homemade frosting, yummmmm! On a chilly..okay, for
*some* people this is cold!-- snowy, sleeting, rainy day in n.Tx. some new fabric fresh from the dryer and a homemade cake in the oven is just The Thing.
The technique we're talking about, sewing the top together in sections, has saved more than a couple of quilt tops for me. And a bit of sanity. This type of piecing means only one long seam thru' the center of the quilt; cuts down the distortion, the pulling of the blocks side-to-side, and having to schlep that top back and forth so many times.
King-size waterbed?!!? Yikes! Are you nutz?!!? Of course we don't expect an (honest) answer to that. And of course one of the things I enjoyed about the waterbed (ours was queen-size) was that the quilt/bedspread/coverlet didn't have to drape down the sides of the bed, just had to go from edge to edge. ...sometimes I miss the waterbed, just flat sheets that stuffed into the sides of the mattress, drawers underneath the bed were so convenient and lifted the bed to a perfect height; but OH! how cold that bed would get when the heater died or when we moved and set up the bed and it took a day or two to warm up the water.
Happy Quilting!
Ragmop/Sandy- w/ apologies to Jerry for the rambling--but that's RCTQ ;-D
Thanks to all the help you ladies gave me in this forum, I completed sewing all of my blocks together today without any major disasters. I noticed that some of edge pieces on several of the blocks were stretched quite a bit and I was really nervous about how the next step would go. I sewed the twenty five blocks into five rows and with a little tugging my block points matched up pretty nice. Most of the misses are small enough that courteous views will not mention them. I even got my five rows sewn together and am ready to start working on attaching the three borders. One of the borders is pieced flying geese and I'm holding my breath until I find out that my flying geese units will match the length and height of my quilt center.
This sure is fun. It is probably more fun for me because I do not have a clue about what I am doing. I have discovered that an eight point star patter with flying geese border is a much tougher project than Tumbling Blocks that I did for my first project..
Jerry, I just love the way you jump right in and just do it! Good for you. I wish I had a bit of your bravery... I might finish more of the quilts that I start! VBG
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.