Category Archives: Quilting

Alphabet Wall Hanging – Quilting

I’m back to working on my alphabet wall hanging

Alphabet Wall Hanging 1

In the above photo I’ve pin basted (not enough, but more of that later) the quilt and I’m using YLI ‘rinse away’ thread to put in some anchoring lines.

I found that starching the fabric (both the quilt top and the backing fabric) and using the anchoring lines made the quilting much easier. Although, I still have one pucker and a few lumpy bits.

I decided to use a double diagonal quilting pattern – why do I always make more work for myself?

Quilted Panel

Sorry for the image – I took the photo late at night and the light was poor. Here is a close up …

AlphabetPanel3

I do like the effect of the diagonal quilting and I will certainly try it again. I learnt, however, that I need to pin baste more. Harriet Hargrave in my quilting bible (Heirloom Machine Quilting ) writes ‘My general guide is no further apart than three knuckles…’ I certainly didn’t do that. Plus while I was sewing the anchoring lines, there was a bit of puckering which I just ignored. Why? What was I thinking? The puckering just got worse.

Now I just have to bind it and add a hanging sleeve. This is the first time I’ve added a hanging sleeve, so it could be interesting.

Oh and I just love that purple low tac masking tape! I used it to mark all of my lines (and one piece lasts for ages). Best marking tool I’ve ever had.

 

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More Plans

I went shopping (to my local Lincraft).

BiasTools

I bought Bias Tape makers, flower head pins and fusible web tape.

Why?

I watched the ‘Quilt as You Go’ dvd by Margaret Cormack – it comes free with the latest ‘Quilters Companion’ magazine. Margaret used bias strips to cover up the joins in her quilt and I thought they looked fabulous. At first I thought I would be limited to block based quilts, but she had some examples of her work and it was amazing what she achieved with this quilt as you go technique. So I’m motivated to get started on something new. However, I am determined to finish my Alphabet wall hanging first. I’ve cut the backing and the batting, now I just (ha ha) need to get on with the quilting.

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Seam Allowances (Bugger!)

So I made my 36 blocks…

Block Stack

Only to discover that my maths was wrong and I needed another two blocks. I made another two blocks. I decided to sew a strip of the blocks together and then join them to one side of the quilt. Aahhh, it’s half a block too short or if I still a block from another side it’s half a block too long! Too much to fudge it. Seam allowances you are my nemesis! Each block is only slightly out, but when you multiply the error by 12 blocks it’s way out.

Lesson learnt: It might be easier to piece block borders first and then the inner unpieced border to fit.

I’m feeling disgruntled and I want this quilt finished – so I’m going to quilt it and bind it. I will use all of those hour glass blocks (all 38 of them) to make a dolls quilt.

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Quick Update

I haven’t disappeared – we’ve all been sick. I was so sick I no longer had new quilting ideas – not a good sign. However, I’m beginning to feel better and I’ve started working on my blocks again. Only 7 more to go …

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7 hour glass blocks done and 29 to go

I’ve been working on the hour glass blocks.

Three Hour Glass Blocks

It occured to me as I was working that I should try to get the animals to be the right way up!

I think it will take me about a week to finish these blocks and I’m determined to finish this quilt before I start something else, but you all now how things change.

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Decision Time

So I sewed both versions to make the decision easier …

HourGlassTrial

I’ve decided to go with the version on the left (blue fabric in the triangles). I’m foundation piecing these hour glass blocks because my rotary cutting is dreadful – although I did find starching the red fabric made the cutting easier. So only another 35 blocks to go…

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Quilt Progress

I’ve attached the border strips.

Border_Sewing

Here is what it looks like so far …

Quilt So Far

I need to make 36 hour glass blocks for the second border. I’m going to use this fabric …

Fabric

They will look something like this …

Hour Glass Image

Or like this …

HourGlass2

Or perhaps a combination of the two. So we could have this

Border1

Or this

Border2

Or this

Border3

Oh no I can’t decide – any opinions?

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Cutting

Today I cut my four border strips.

Cutting

I cut four strips 7.2cm wide – 6cm border and 1.2cm for seam allowances. As I didn’t starch enough of the fabric, the final strip was in the unstarched section of fabric. I could tell the difference so now I’m sold on starching.

My plan is to sew the strips on tonight and start work on the hour glass blocks tomorrow.

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Next Quilt

I finished sewing the binding on the quilt – not too bad in the end. As I used a water erasable marker to mark the quilting pattern, I need to wash it before I take a photo. So this means I can start a new quilt!

I have this alphabet panel I bought a couple of years ago thinking I would make a baby present out of it – of course I didn’t. I’m thinking I could make a wall hanging.

Alphabet Panel

My plan is to add a plain fabric border (red spotty fabric) and then an hour glass block border. In the above photo I’m measuring the panel to determine how wide the fabric border needs to be, so I can fit the hour glass blocks.

After much anguish I’ve decided the border needs to be 12cm, the quilt top will then be 80cm by 72cm. Ten hour glass blocks (each 8cm) will fit along the length and nine along the width.

I starched my fabric for the first time today – Heirloom Machine Quilting recommended it – it certainly seems crisper, but I haven’t tried to cut or sew it yet.

Starch

 

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Binding, Binding, Binding …

I’ve finished quilting my Seattle quilt – the new sewing machine definitely helped although I did struggle a bit with the tension settings.  I’m now working on the binding. I always struggle with the binding – I’ve read heaps of tutorials and watched a couple of avi/dvds, but still I’m hopeless. This time I tried to do a continuous binding for the first time – not too bad, but not perfect either.

I thought I would try to machine sew the back of the binding to the quilt rather than hand sewing, but it was completely hopeless. With the first attempt I didn’t always catch the binding and the second attempt just looked shocking, so I’m back to hand sewing. At least it’s cold at the moment so sitting around with a flannelet quilt on my laptop is actually quite pleasant.

Binding

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