I had a busy afternoon joining some of the blocks. In my original plan there was hand sewing involved. One of my quilting buddies or should I say one of the BLOCKHEADS (as we affectionately call ourselves) was over working on her quilt and happened to mention the word machine basting...she was probably tired of listening to me whine about the hand sewing.....and that got me thinking, as a result the blocks are now, totally joined by machine.
I like to drape the quilt to get another view. The design wall only gives you part of the picture.
Putting in a strip of batting (back of quilt)
I love love that I can do all this by machine....it's faster and probably stronger in the long run.
All ready to pin and sew....by machine...yes!!!!
I love this project.
ReplyDeleteCan you point me to a tutorial that explains how to join the quilted pieces?
Thanks so much.
Andi :-)
Hi Andi, I don't know of a tutorial but I can give you the names of a few quilting books that I have used. Reversible Quilts by Sharon Pederson gives quite a comprehensive overview of joining blocks. Two other books are Beautiful Quilts as You Go by Keryn Emmerson and Crazy Shortcut Quilts by Marguerita McManus & Sarah Raffuse. I use different methods depending on the look I'm going for. To be honest joining the blocks can be a bit fussy but I've worked out what works for me. I've thought about doing a turorial myself but am pretty new to this whole blogging thing. If you have any questions about some specific blocks you are joining feel free to ask.
ReplyDeleteFor some time I have been working on a king sized QAYG. I used Judy Turner's zigzag method of joining the 8 1/2" blocks with 1/2 inch striping covering the zigzag. It required machine stitching one side of the binding and hand stitching the other side of the binding on the front and the back of the quilt -- very time consuming but looks great. I realize, thanks to your tutorial, that I should have made my columns 8 1/2 " wide but it's a little late for that because that I have already made them 25". Now I need to join my 4 (25"x100") columns which are very heavy, bulky and difficult to control while matching up their stripping lines that occurs every 8 1/2 ". Do you have any suggestions about how to complete this last task without any machine stitching showing. I learned to sew on the right side of the column to keep the bulk from under the machine arm, but the 25" column I am attaching also has plenty of weight and bulk and is contributing to my troubles. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth, I'm not familiar with Judy Turner's zig zag method....I tried looking it up couldn't find any pictures. I'm so visual that I'm having trouble picturing what you are doing. The method I use is all machine sewing so I'm not sure how you are doing this. With either method a king size would be a beast to join. I use a fair bit of pins join the long column so that the intersecting strips align properly. As you said it would have been easier if you would have left the columns at 81/2 inches. I'm surprised that you have to hand sew each strip on both sides.....I would love if you send me a few pictures. Sorry I wasn't more help.
ReplyDelete