It rained and rained yesterday while Colleen, Lyndell and I hid up in Colleen’s studio for a much needed day of sewing. During the winter, especially after the holidays, I always get the itch for a good old fashioned dose of “brights”. Nothing staves off the winter doldrums like a playful quilt loaded up with bright prints to remind me of the long, wonderful warm days of summer…
The Mix Master fabrics by Patrick Lose (Robert Kaufman) were just what the doctor ordered for this miserable day. Bright colors, strip piecing, a bed sized quilt finished in a day – what more can you ask for? If you’re new to strip piecing, there are a few things you can do to make the work even easier and faster (and save yourself from saying some naughty words under your breath when things don’t fit together). Why learn it the hard way if you don’t have to right?
Strip Piecing Tip 1: Keep Your Cuts True and Your Strips Straight….
Fold selvage to selvage making sure that the fold has no puckers or wrinkles. The raw ends may not match, which is normal. This straightens the grain of the fabric, allowing you to “true” the fabric. Lay the fabric on a cutting surface with the folded edge closest to you. Use the crease where you folded on the grain of the fabric as the guide for ruler placement. Once the crease is lined up with a line on your ruler, make your first cut. Stabilize your ruler when cutting to keep the cut true. Repeat this process every third or fourth cut as it will prevent long strips from bowing should your cuts vary slightly.
Strip Piecing Tip 2: Get your ¼” Seam set correctly…
After you cut all your strips sew one strip together and measure it before sewing the remaining strip sets. For some reason the same quarter inch seam used for normal piecing doesn’t always work on strip piecing. Maybe it’s because the sewing is done faster, the strips are long – who knows, but it’s best to test and adjust at the beginning.
Strip Piecing Tip 3: Alternate The Direction of Your Seam…
When sewing long narrow strips together, alternating the direction of your seams will reduce waviness and wobble in the final product. If your seam shows any puckering increase your stitch length.
Strip Piecing Tip 4: Take Your Time When You Press….
Set your seams (press while they are still closed) first. “Press” the fabric by actually pressing down on each seam, one press at a time, rather than pushing the iron over the fabric. This will prevent distortion and wobbly seams. By following the pressing directions, excess bulk in the seams can be avoided and the seams will nest together perfectly, greatly reducing the need for pinning.
I’d love to show you a finished picture of the quilt, but this one is for Quilt Magazine, so we have to keep it under wraps for a little while. We actually had some exciting new about it today… Debbie Hearn, the editor, told us they are doing the photo shoot for the summer issue that our quilt will be in about an hour from us and invited us to come and join them. HOW COOL!! We’ll get an inside look at how a magazine puts the eye candy together… yummy! We’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and share all the details of our little road trip on the blog. Thanx Debbie and Quilt Magazine we can hardly wait!
Speaking of strip piecing… If you’re looking for an amazing strip pieced pattern, our Reflections pattern is my favorite of all time. The entire quilt is strip pieced and the small size can be made in a day. I’m totally into Easy instant gratification ladies, so I’ve made four of them, including the one below that I made for my bed.
Happy Stripping!
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Blog Post written by Chloe Anderson © 2010 Toadusew Creative Concepts
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