Friday Finishes - Bias Edge Treatment for Setting Triangles. . .

Happily, Circles and Squares' design is done, the piecing complete, and it's ready for quilting.  Once the Drunkard's Path blocks were pieced, the remainder of the center column fell together.  

As I began to piece the columns together, I noticed the setting triangles were rippled.  Of course, this is because they began as squares that were cut diagonally leaving the biased edge exposed on the outside column edge.  Bias edges are stretchy, hence rippled edges.  Just by sewing and handling the fabric, stretch occurs.  In a perfect world, the outer edges of setting triangles should be on the straight of grain which these could be if they were quarter-square triangles.  As the designer, I decided against quarter-squares triangles due to fabric requirements:  13 1/4" squares for half-square triangles or an 18" square for quarter-square triangles.  A measurable difference when considering that only one or two triangles are required for this project.  So how do I protect the edges from stretching any further?  By basting the edges around the entire column.  The basting will stabilize the raw edges.

I set my machine straight stitch to 4.5.

I want to baste about 1/8" outside of my black point.  At 1/8", the basting will be hidden by the 1/4" seam allowance (hopefully).  However, as I didn't want to mark the 1/8", I found a place on the outside of my presser foot that would accomplish same.

The basting is complete and I now need to trim the column to create a 1/4" inch seam allowance.

The 1/4" ruler mark is placed on the black point of the side of the on-point square and lined up with the next black point and then trimmed, continuing to trim until the whole column is done.

With the basting and trimming complete, the columns can now be joined together.

While the majority of the basting stitches will be hidden beneath the seam, if any are showing (like these) I will rip them out, very easy to do with such a large stitch.

If using bias edges, consider stabilizing the bias BEFORE you cut and create them with starch or pre-basting on either side of the cutting line through the center of the square. 

Happy Friday,

Making Drunkard's Path Blocks. . .

I am continuing work on my art quilt turned traditional which I am calling "Circles and Squares" for now.  Here is the Drunkard's Path block.  As I continue to design the center panel of  this quilt which was began last week (click here to see) I decided to build 10 Drunkard's Path blocks.  This would give me enough blocks to lay out and allow me to decide the sizes of filler fabric blocks needed.  I do play with pencil and paper when I begin a design as this, however, I find that actually working with fabric helps me get a better picture of how the quilt wants to progress (yes, it does have a mind of its own :)).

Curved blocks are not necessarily difficult to do, especially as in this 9" block where the curve is gentle.  The sewing just requires a small amount of prep and willingness to stitch slowly.  Using a plastic template and rotary cutter, I cut out the two block pieces:  the 1/4 circle and outside edge, or concave, piece.  The sewing prep begins by pressing both pieces in half,

and then in half again.  Here is the 1/4 circle piece and,

here is the concave piece, both pressed in half, and half again.

The two pieces are now marked and ready to be pinned together.  Please be aware that this marking can be done with chalk or a pencil, or whatever your preferred way is.  This is my marking preference.

Lay the concave piece on top of the 1/4 circle and pin where marked with pressed lines.

The recommended stitch length for this is 1.8 to 2.2.  My sewing machine is set at 2.2.  Dividing the piece into sections allows the layers to be eased in as sewn.  Take a deep breath and sew slowly.  Rushing will bring about poor results.  This piecing technique requires a lot of fabric handling while sewing to ease the layers through the presser foot.  Because both pieces are cut on the bias, be careful not to pull too much or stretching will occur.

Here is the sewn piece before pressing.  I hope you can see the stitching.  I should have used a contrasting thread for ease of seeing.  Sorry :(.

When pressing, because of the gentle arc, clipping the seam was not necessary for the seam to lie flat.  Here is the backside of my pressed block.  

There is no wrong or right side to press to.  It is a matter of personal choice as to whether you want the impact of the circle to come forward or recede.  I choose to press my seam out.  I like the crispness of the seam (although difficult to make out in the photo).  I can now continue on with my quilt design.  Keep watching for more.

Until next time,

Art Quilt Translates to Traditional Quilt. . .

This art quilt by Mary Elmusa was featured in "Art Quilting Studio" Winter 2012.  I was immediately drawn to its shapes and colors and wondered if I could translate it into a quilt made from traditional blocks.

I began by creating a sketch.  I decided to limit the quilt to three columns, two with squares on point and one with drunkards path blocks.  The finished size would be approximately 52" x 68".  Here is the first squares on point column.

And here is the second column.

This is where my designing stands to date.  I am still working out the details of how many drunkards path blocks to make and how to combine them with the gray and white backgrounds.  I'll check in with my progress soon.


Until next time,