Meeting 2 - Piecing Your Quilt Top, Part 1

Did you have fun cutting all your fabric up into little pieces?  Great - now let's sew them together!

First, stand back and admire your pile of 5" squares.  Aren't they fun?  I'm so excited!

Separate them into two piles; one pile of background and one pile of prints.  We're going to start by making half of our four-patches.

Set your stitch length to 2.0-ish, or about 14 stitches per inch.  There is no need to backstitch or 'tie off' when piecing a quilt; all of the seams will intersect with other seams somehow and won't unravel.  Promise. 

You will want to use a 1/4" seam allowance for all of your stitching, so either attach a 1/4" presser foot, or mark your 1/4" guide line, or something, so you can stay consistent.  This is really a big deal - if your seams are all different widths, it's not going to work well when you go to put everything together.  Here's the 1/4" presser foot that goes on my machine.  See the little metal piece on the right-hand side?  When the foot is the whole way down, I can just butt the fabric up against it and I get a 1/4" seam every time.

Take one background piece and one print piece and align them with right sides together.  Yeah, that's sort of important, so I'll say it again.  Put your pieces with the right sides together.  Unless, of course, you have some sort of fascination with your seam ripper, in which case, do what you like.  ;)

Put your first two pieces under your presser foot, a few stitches shy of the needle, and start sewing.  You only have 5" to sew, so this won't take long.

When you get to the end of your pieces, DON'T cut the threads!  We're going to chain-piece these together.  You're going to love it.  It makes the whole process so fast and easy.

As you approach the end of your fabric pieces, you'll want to set up another set of squares for sewing.  I usually stop with my needle down, slap two together, line 'em up, and go.  Sometimes I'll stack up a bunch of pieces, but they tend to get out of alignment, so I usually just do them as I go.

Got your first set mostly sewn?  Got your next set ready to go?  Okay - watch this!  As you finish the first set, put the second set at the front of the presser foot and let the feed dogs pick it up.  You should have a bit of thread between the two pieces (three to five stitches is usually good).  That's the "chain" in chain-piecing.  Saves thread, saves time, saves lifting your presser foot over and over and over.  It's awesome.

The feed dogs on my machine are going to take a few 'steps' before they're
going to pick up that second set, so I'll get 3-5 stitches between them.
Your results may vary.  ;)

Keep doing that until you've made all of your sets.  Now you'll have a great big line of stuff.

Clip the threads in between, and the tails on either end of your chain.  Try to leave a bit of thread on either side of your snip; if you cut it TOO close, you will have some unraveling.  Still not a huge deal, but can cause some funkiness when you press.

And voila!  You've got a nice stack of two-piece sets all sewn up and ready to press!


Speaking of pressing, let's chat about that.  I press my seams open.  Most quilting instructions tell you to press them to one side.  To be honest, I hate pressing.  With a passion.  But it's one of those things that really, really, really pays off in the end, so I spend a LOT of time on it.  If you want to know about pressing seams to the side, Google it.  I don't like the way they turn out, so I don't do it, and I'm not going to encourage you to either.  :p

First, you need to set your seam.  Using a hot iron, press the sewn seam just as it is  This helps flatten everything out, and sort of helps 'bond' the thread to the fibers of your fabric.

Set your seams - every time!

Next, spread your sets apart with the right sides down and the seam up.  Try not to pull or stretch anything while you do this.  Finger press the seam open, then use your iron to press from one side to the other, opening and flattening the seam as you go.  Now, remember, quilters don't iron.  We press.  That means lifting the iron and putting it back down again.  No sliding!

Finger pressed - just enough to keep it open

Pressing the seam open.  Remember, no sliding!

Looking good, huh?  Let's flip it over and press this seam from the right side - same way, lifting the iron up and putting it back down.  One more flip, one more press from the wrong side, and we're good to go.  Make a whole stack of these.

Flip over and press from the right side

Final press - from the wrong side

All nice and flat

Way to go, Mama!

Whee!!!  This is so much fun!  Get some encouragement from your helper - they're really happy for you, too!  Well, mine is, anyway.







Now we're going to make our four-patches.  You've probably already figured out that all we have to do is take two of our two-piece sets and sew them together, right?  I knew you would.  You're so clever.  Well, let's get on with it then!

You're going to need to make some design decisions now.  If you're looking to do a scrappy quilt, then you'll want to mix up your two-piece sets as you make the four-patches.  If you're planning some sort of continuity or pattern to your layout, then you'll want to construct your four-patches appropriately.  In the original quilt I made, I knew I wanted to do diagonal lines of each color, so making my four-patches with the same colors made sense.  You can do whatever you want to do - and it will be fabulous!  I've decided to do four-patches with two of the same print - I may or may not mix them up later when we put the whole thing together.  We'll see.

Okay, back to piecing.  In a perfect world, with perfect cutting and perfect sewing and perfect pressing, these things would all line up perfectly.  Welcome to reality.  They don't always line up perfectly.  There is one thing we do want lined up, though, and that's our intersections in the middle of the four-patch.  'Member how I told you at some point or another that you'd want to have some pins handy?  Now would be the time to break those out...

Two pieces, right sides together, lining up the seams

Take two of your two-piece sets and lay one on top of the other, alternating the background (one on the left, one on the right).  Pick this up and gently, gently wiggle the two pieces until the seams line up.  The ends may not quite match up perfectly, but your seam intersections are more important.  Pin this!  I like to check my match before I put a pin in it, just by folding it down and seeing how they line up.

'Quick-check' on my alignment before I pin

***edit - I got a photo of my pinning***

  I typically pin on either side of the center seam, through the seam allowances.  And I'm lazy, so I pin just over 1/4" from the edge so I don't have to pull my pins while I sew.  Use whatever pinning method works for you and gets you consistent results.

My pins won't interfere with the 1/4" seam I'm going to sew,
but they'll keep everything in place at that point.

Once you have them all pinned, take them back to your sewing machine and chain-piece these into four-patches.  Again, don't cut threads between sets - just keep sewing!  Do your best to line up the edges of your pieces as you sew; the intersections are the main goal here, but you do want to have things well-aligned all over.  Cut the chain apart when you're done.  I like to take a quick peek at my intersections as I do this, so that I can 'unsew' anything that is WAY off.  If it's just a little off, I ignore it - nobody will ever see it anyway.  But sometimes I'm really, really, really off, and it's worth undoing it and sewing it over.  Rip out your stitching, re-press your pieces flat, re-pin, and try again.  No harm, no foul.

Sewn, but unpressed - not a bad match!  Where's that iron?

And, it's time to press again!   You're already a pro at that, so we won't review it.  You've got a 'Page Up' button if you need one.  :)  Don't forget to set your seams first!  I usually give a quick press to all the seams around my new seam, just to keep them good and flat.  It can't hurt, right?

Make a bunch of these!

Four-patch blocks!  Yay!  Didn't I tell you this whole quiltmaking thing was super-easy?  These finished blocks should measure 9.5" square.

If you're making the SMALL quilt, you'll need 16 of these.  The LARGE size will require 24.



Hope you'll be back next week for Meeting 3 - Piecing Your Quilt Top, Part 2.  We'll be talking all about layout and previewing and then assembling those blocks into a quilt top.  It's gonna be fun.  Really.

Happy piecing!
em

Meeting 1 - Supplies, Pattern, and Cutting

Welcome back!  Today's the day we're going to get started on making a quilt!  Aren't you excited?

I've picked out a pretty simple pattern to start.  It's easy cutting, easy piecing, and easy quilting.  But it will give you all the basics of quiltmaking to build on if you decide you like it and want to do more.  You can make one of two sizes - a 36"x36" playmat or snuggle quilt, or a 36"x54" crib quilt that pretty much covers a standard crib mattress.  The only difference between the two, really, is the number of rows you'll put together, so you can change your mind at any time, or make one that's 36"x45" really easily.  You can also expand this pattern as much as you'd like, just by adding additional 4-patch pieces.

The finished quilt looks something like this:

 It's made up of a 4-patch of two colored and two background squares, like this:

See?  That doesn't look so hard, now does it?

The look of the whole quilt can be changed by color choices and layout options.  You could do all solids, if you wanted, or just use one single print and a solid, or even go scrappy and use a different print for each of the colored spots.  Think this part over carefully - the solids (white in the one above) will form a cross-hatch pattern through the top, and the prints (colors above) will form a separate cross-hatch.  You can make 'chains' with the colors, or mix them all up, or...  the possibilities really are endless.  Use some graph paper and colored pencils to goof around with mock-ups before you start so you can get an idea of what you'll end up with.

The first post (Introduction) gave you the list of of the items/supplies you'll need to make a quilt, and some information on all of them.  For this pattern, the fabric requirements are:

SMALL (36"x36") - this is a small playmat, snuggle quilt, or toddler nap quilt size.

• 5/8 yard of background fabric (mine's grey), or thirty-two (32) 5" precut squares
• a total of 5/8 yard of prints (any combination of yardage to get enough squares is fine), or thirty-two (32) 5" precut squares
• 3/8 yard for binding, or five (5) 2.5" precut strips in a complimentary OR contrasting color
• 1.25 - 1.5 yard backing (may be hard to determine for sure until your piecing is done, so if you think you can find a use for the extra, get the 1.5 yard.  If you want to, you can use leftover pieces from your quilt top to jazz up the backing and 1.25 yard should be plenty.)
• batting at least 40"x40"

LARGE (36"x54") - this will completely cover the TOP of a standard crib mattress with very little overhang.

• 7/8 yard of background fabric (mine's grey), or forty-eight (48) 5" precut squares
• a total of 7/8 yard of prints (any combination of yardage to get enough squares is fine), or forty-eight (48) 5" precut squares
• 3/8 yard for binding, or six (6) 2.5" precut strips in a complimentary OR contrasting color
• 1.75 - 2 yards backing (may be hard to determine for sure until your piecing is done, so if you think you can find a use for the extra, get the 2 yards.  If you want to, you can use leftover pieces from your quilt top to jazz up the backing and 1.75 yard should be plenty.)
• batting at least 40"x58"

That's it!  Collect all that stuff and we'll move on to cutting.  If you've gotten charm squares and jelly rolls, there's not a lot of cutting for you to do right now (as in, NONE), so either read this part for future information or skip it altogether...

If you're using fat quarters, please remember that they are 18" x 21" pieces.  So you will need double the number of strips to equal a cut from straight yardage.

From your background fabric, cut thirty-two (32) or forty-eight (48) 5" squares.  How does one go about this, you might ask?  I shall show you!

Step one:  press your fabric well.  Avoid steam if you can since it can stretch and warp things a bit.  Use spray starch if you'd like; it will only make things easier.

Step two:  hold up your fabric with the selvedges together.  Ignore your cut ends completely and don't attempt to line them up.

Step three:  wiggle or slide the selvedge closest to you from left to right until the fabric is hanging perfectly smoothly with no waves or bubbles.  There's a pretty good tutorial here:  http://www.livingwithpunks.com/2011/10/tutorial-how-to-square-up-fabric-for.html

Step four:  lay this down on your cutting surface and smooth the fold down a bit.

Step five:  carefully lift the folded edge toward the selvedges, creating another fold, and line up the first fold and the selvedges.

Step six:  smooth the new fold down a bit.

You should now have a 4-ply stack with a single folded edge closest to you, and a folded edge and two selvedges away from you.  It will measure about 11" top to bottom.

Step seven:  Using two rulers as pictured, straighten the left-hand side of your fabric to begin cutting.  Lay one ruler down on the folded edge, making sure the ruler is straight for some distance, then butt a second ruler against it, being careful not to shift the first.  Remove the horizontal ruler carefully.

Step eight:  Stabilize the remaining ruler, and make your first cut with your rotary cutter.  Mind your fingers and do NOT allow the ruler to shift.  You should now have a very clean, straight edge to work with.  You can take off as little as 1/4", depending on how your edges lined up - I just took off a large hunk here so you could see.

Step nine:  using your ruler, measure your next cut (5"), stabilize your ruler, and cut.  Lift the ruler, remove the cut piece and check for straightness toward the middle, and repeat until you have the proper number of cuts made (see below).  Re-square your edge as in steps 7-8 every two to three cuts.

SMALL:  cut four (4) 5" strips from the background fabric, and a total of four (4) 5" strips from your prints.
LARGE:  cut six (6) 5" strips from the background fabric, and a total of six (6) 5" strips from your prints.

****If you wish to use more than four prints, then go ahead and cut a 5" strip from each one - you'll just have extra pieces to play with, use for your backing, or make another quilt with!****

If you're using fat quarters for prints, you can simply turn your cutting mat to cut without folding (don't mind the unpressed fabric here - I was in a hurry and just needed to demonstrate).  Be extra careful that your ruler doesn't shift toward the top!

Now you have 5"xWOF (width of fabric) strips.  And you need 5" squares.  We'll subcut the strips to squares:

Line up two or three of your strips, exactly on top of one another.  Using your ruler to line up the top and bottom of the strips, square up the left edge, then continue using your ruler to cut every 5" over the length of your strip.  You should get 8 squares per strip.

SMALL:  cut thirty-two (32) 5" squares from strips for background, and thirty-two (32) for prints
LARGE:  cut forty-eight (48) 5" squares from strips for background, and forty-eight (48) for prints

Wasn't that easy?  I told you it would be!  You should have believed me!

Since you've got the cutting mat, rulers, and rotary blade out already, we may as well go ahead and cut our binding strips.  We're going to set them aside for later though.  The strips for binding need to be 2.5"; follow the procedures above and make this many:

SMALL:  cut at least four (4) strips; if you can, cut five (5)
LARGE:  cut at least five (5) strips; if you can, cut six (6)

We won't do anything with our backing fabric for a while yet, so set that aside with your binding strips.

That's it for this week!  Next week we'll start piecing the quilt top - you'll need to have your thread, your sewing machine complete with a new needle, and your iron at the ready. 

Happy Cutting!
em

Quilt-Along 2013 - Introduction

Hi there!  Thanks for stopping by.

So...  Wanna make a quilt?  Awesome.  Let's get started!  

This is going to be an extremely long and information-packed post.  The next ones will be more fun - they'll have pictures!

Here's what you'll need:

The obvious stuff, like a sewing machine and an iron - if you don't have these already, you're a bit behind, and should probably come back after you've sorted that out.
Fabric, of course - that's the fun part!
Thread, needles, etc .
Batting.
More fabric for the backing.
Some straight pins and some safety pins.
A water-soluble marker, chalk marker, hera marker, or pencil to mark the top for quilting.
More fabric for binding.

Let's chat about each of these items, shall we?
***Keep in mind that opinions are like sphincters - everyone has one.  Anything written below is nothing more or less than my opinion.  You may find differing information on the internet - and I strongly suggest you explore lots of resources for information on quilting***

Sewing machines
You do NOT need a 'special' sewing machine to make a quilt.  All you need is something that works - really.  That's it.  There are a few things that will help, though.  Most models have a 1/4" patchwork foot available (costs may vary).  It looks just like a normal presser foot, but has a small metal 'edge' exactly 1/4" away from the needle at center position.  You can butt the edges of the fabric and your stitching line will be 1/4" from the edge.  Guess what?  The normal seam allowance for quilting is... wait for it...  yep, a quarter inch.  Nifty how that works, isn't it?  You can totally do patchwork (or piecework) without a 1/4" foot, as long as you stay consistent and careful with your seams.  Up to you!

If you're planning on quilting this yourself, you'll need a walking foot or dual-feed foot.  Here's how that works:  you know those feed dogs on the bottom that go up and down and 'walk' the fabric along while you sew?  They're pretty cool, huh?  Yeah, well, when you've got three layers of stuff (top, batting, and backing) moving through, those feed dogs create a small problem - they're only grabbing the bottom layer, so things get pulled and bunched and it's all just awful.  A walking foot has another set of feed dogs on the TOP, so things move through much more evenly and everything comes out just peachy.  Honestly, do yourself a favor and get one if you don't have one.  You'll find other uses for it.  Like altering sheer curtains or something (not like I've had to do THAT...).

Fabric
I freely admit that I'm a fabric snob.  I want high quality, good feeling cottons.  I like Moda, I like Robert Kaufman sometimes, I like Marcus Fabrics.  I want things that will wash well and hold up over time; I'm making heirlooms here!  I want fabrics that are woven evenly and don't warp when I press them and that are easy to work with.  Look long and hard at your fabrics.  Judge the construction and see if the threads are straight from selvedge to selvedge or if they waver back and forth.

Precuts are awesome for starting out.  5" squares (charm squares), 2.5" strips (jelly rolls), and the like reduce your time and effort since you don't have to cut down yardage.  Loads of patterns use these sizes, or something easy to cut down from these sizes.  Plus you get lots of different fabrics in a line, so they're all coordinated for you already.  No fuss, no muss!

There are two schools of thought when it comes to pre-washing fabric for quilts.  One says always, the other says never.  If you do pre-wash, you'll want to pre-wash your batting as well to allow it to shrink before you quilt.  If you don't pre-wash, you'll get a nice, crinkly, 'antique-y' look at the end when all the fabrics and batting shrink a little bit around your stitching.  There are some concerns about dyes bleeding, but really, modern fabric dyes don't bleed nearly as much as the old stuff used to.  Rule of thumb, though, if the color is REALLY deep, or you're just not sure - then wash it.  Bigger rule: if you wash any of it, wash all of it.  In case you're curious, I don't pre-wash any of my quilting fabrics.  I find that the sizing in the cotton helps to keep it crisp, and I don't want to have to bother with pre-washing and treating batting.  Plus, I actually like the effect of the shrinkage at the end.  If I'm in doubt, I'll use a color catcher in the wash cycle.

Thread and needles
The 'traditional' thread for quilt piecing is 100% cotton.  This goes back to the good old days before those newfangled sewing machines were invented (or easily obtained), and a whole bunch of quilters still stand by the rule that nothing but 100% cotton is appropriate for quilts.  This is nonsense.  Use whatever works for you and your machine.  If that's all-purpose, great.  If it's polyester, great.  If it's 100% cotton, great.  Thread is a personal thing.  That being said, I'll tell you that I do use mercerized cotton, even though it creates an amazing amount of lint, because I like the way it works with my techniques and I like the way it presses.  I get the best thread I can afford (usually Gutermann) and I've never been sorry.

For quilting, I recommend polyester.  It works well.  I really, really, really like Isacord, but it's spendy.  Superior and Aurifil are popular and a bit less expensive.

When it comes to needles, that's another personal preference.  Standard needles are fine for piecing.  Quilting will need something a little smoother, sharper, and maybe thinner since you're going through more than just two pieces of cotton and going over seams.  I just use Schmetz Microtex sharps all the time, but I'm lazy and hate changing needles more than I have to.  Plus, I have so little time to spend sewing that I'm not about to waste it changing from one needle type to another.  Do, please, change your needle often!  Needles wear out, and they're cheap, so there's really no excuse to use the same one for six months (or years!) at a time.  I use a new one for each project, or two if it's bigger than a crib quilt, and always put a new one in for quilting.

Batting
Also referred to as 'wadding' by those pesky Europeans.  Comes in all sorts of materials - wool, cotton, polyester, soy, silk, bamboo, and blends of all of these.  High loft, low loft, medium loft.  Warm, warmer, warmest.  Some are stiff and some aren't.  Some drape better than others.  It all depends on the use of your quilt.  The two things you want to look for if you're planning to quilt your own are the shrinkage rate and the quilting distance. These both vary, but a 3-5% shrinkage rate is fairly common.  Quilting distance refers to how far apart your quilting lines can be while keeping the batting from bunching up or shifting around.  8 inches is good - anything less than that on a crib-sized quilt is going to be pointless, anyway.

If you're going to send your finished top out to a local shop to be quilted, you're best off talking to them about their preferences when it comes to batting.  Most shops use longarm quilting machines, and they have different requirements.

Long story short, read the labels, feel the batting and see how it drapes, and consider the use of your quilt.  If it's going to a baby, you'll probably want something that drapes well and is nice and soft (and warm!) - cotton is a favorite.  If it's to be a wall hanging, then something stiffer and thinner is probably a good idea. If you're making a quilt for someone who lives in, say, Minnesota, then wool could be just what you're after. ;)

Backing fabric
Do yourself a favor and get backing fabric of the same quality as the fabrics you used for the top.  Doesn't have to be from the same manufacturer, same line, or same store, but should be of the same quality.  Just trust me on this...

You don't have to have a solid back.  You can add detail however you might wish.  Elizabeth Hartman has a free Craftsy class on quilt backing that you can use for inspiration called 'Creative Quilt Backs'.  Check it out.  

If you wish to go solid, you will need to go one of two ways for anything with a single dimension larger than about 40":  1) piece the quilt back together with a 1/2" seam, or 2) get 108" wide quilt backing fabric.  Why 40"?  Well... standard cottons are 44" or 45" wide, and you need a few inches overhang on all sides.  So, if you add 2" to each side of a 40" piece, you'll get to 44" pretty quick, and then you're out of fabric.  Got it?  Good.

Pins (straight and safety)
You'll need straight pins.  No question.  Even if you're not doing any seam matching, you'll still need pins to join rows and whatnot.  Glass-head pins are nice since you can press over most of them, and flat-head pins are awesome since they're, well, flat.  A single package of 50 will get you through a crib-sized quilt; you won't be using them all at once.

Safety pins are an option for basting your quilt (stabilizing all three layers together to prepare for quilting).  I can't stand safety pins, never have, so I don't use them - I use straight pins that I bend a bit and cap with something called a Pinmoor (a little silicone cylinder).  

If you choose to use safety pins, use a spoon or something else to fasten them if you don't want your fingers to bleed.  Google for tips on that.  Size 1 safety pins are preferred for quilt basting, and for the project we'll be walking through, you'll need about 65 for the small size and about 100 for the larger one.

You can use a basting spray as well - I never have, but they are very popular.  Use in a well ventilated area, spread out newspaper, etc.  Most people say it causes no trouble with their sewing machines (it's basically wash-out glue), but that it does stink a bit.  And if you're worried about chemicals, well, then it's probably not for you.

Markers
If all you plan to do is 'stitch in the ditch' (along each seam line), then you can skip this.  If you want to do anything more exciting than that, it's a whole lot easier if you mark your quilt top before you baste it.  Your choices are endless.  Wash-out marker (usually blue or purple), iron-out pens, wash-out chalk, brush-off chalk, plain old pencil, hera markers (a little plastic doohickey that leaves a crease line), painters' tape...  The list goes on. If you're going to use something 'wash-out' or 'iron-out', TEST IT FIRST.  Use it on some of the fabric from the top, follow the directions to remove it, and let it sit for a day or two.  Get it wet again, or iron it again, or both, and make sure the lines don't come back.  Wouldn't it be awful if you went to all this trouble and had ghostly lines showing up after you washed it?  Yeah, it would.  So test it out!

Binding fabric
The binding is what holds all the layers together at the edges and finishes off your quilt.  The fabric selection is the quiltmaker's choice - again.  You can use pieces of everything in your quilt and make a scrappy binding, or one particular print from all the ones used, or a contrasting color/print, or whatever.  Like the backing fabric, you want it to be of the same quality as the fabrics used on the top.  Quilt binding can be very small or very large - I usually use a 2.5" strip to make my binding, which creates a 1/4" finished border.


Okay, so, we've covered all the basics.  Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything gigantically important, but we'll find out as we go along, won't we?  :)

Here's the anticipated schedule for this quilt-along:

Meeting 1 - July 12-18, 2013
Supplies, pattern, cutting
Meeting 2 - July 19-25, 2013
Piecing your quilt top, part 1
Meeting 3 - July 26-August 1, 2013
Piecing your quilt top, part 2
Meeting 4 - August 2-8, 2013
Preparing for quilting
Meeting 5 - August 9-22, 2013 **two weeks**
Straight-line quilting
Meeting 6 - August 23-29, 2013
Binding and finishing

There you have it - in just seven weeks you can make a quilt all by yourself.  And if you fall behind or miss a week, it won't matter - just catch up when you can.

I will be available for questions or help or whatever via email or text anytime between 7.00 am and 9.00 pm, EDT (as long as I'm able to step away from work or kids or whatever).  I'll commit to checking on things and responding within about 24 hours.  If you have a question, though, I'd appreciate you posting in the comments section here - that way other people who may have the same question can get the answer, too.

See you July 12!
em