Can't seem to get things right today!!!
04-17-2015, 04:37 AM
#31
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: O-H-I-O
Posts: 1,586
Haha....I, too, was having that kind of a day on Tuesday! I am using my Angler 2 to make a bazillion 1 1/2" triangles....the first block I put together with them to test the pattern was a total mess! I went back to make sure everything was cut precisely, etc. After more trial and error, I have determined the slickness of the Angler was causing my little pieces to shift just enough to throw everything off. I tried pinning yesterday ( after taking a much needed chocolate break) and voila! Life is back on track! Glad you had a better day as well!
04-17-2015, 05:55 AM
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Littlefield, TX, USA
Posts: 1,077
Stitches off -SVAL
I bet you are wandering at the end of each stitching....check the seam allowance on a couple of the blocks...that's why you are getting curves. It's easy to do, especially on such small pieces. Don't trim any more...recut the ones you trimmed...hang the error on the wall (shoot frame it)...will give you a good chuckle one day.
It will help to press your squares to freezer paper (or a fusible, lightweight, nonwoven interfacing)...freezer paper is cheaper. Just the bottom pieces... when you lay the top piece on top of the ones that are held in place by the freezer paper or fusible...(you can even mark 1/4" on the little space between the fused squares...so you know where the stitching should start/stop). I did this on a doll quilt & it really helped me figure out where I was getting off. You can also starch the heck out of the pieces before you cut them out.
Don't give up...we have all had our off days with sewing/quilting.
It will help to press your squares to freezer paper (or a fusible, lightweight, nonwoven interfacing)...freezer paper is cheaper. Just the bottom pieces... when you lay the top piece on top of the ones that are held in place by the freezer paper or fusible...(you can even mark 1/4" on the little space between the fused squares...so you know where the stitching should start/stop). I did this on a doll quilt & it really helped me figure out where I was getting off. You can also starch the heck out of the pieces before you cut them out.
Don't give up...we have all had our off days with sewing/quilting.
I needed to trim a gazillion 1.5 inch squares. So I invested in a BlocLoc Ruler. Which is fabulous,by the way.
All my HST's are perfect.
I start to sew them together. First seam. Off. How can that be? Both HST's were perfect. How could one seam throw them off?
So I trim again. And sew the 3rd block on. Now I have a curvish piece. So now the misbehaving HST's are all in a bag in the drawer.
Drove me to tears.
Not sure I'm a quilter after all.
SVAL
All my HST's are perfect.
I start to sew them together. First seam. Off. How can that be? Both HST's were perfect. How could one seam throw them off?
So I trim again. And sew the 3rd block on. Now I have a curvish piece. So now the misbehaving HST's are all in a bag in the drawer.
Drove me to tears.
Not sure I'm a quilter after all.
SVAL
04-17-2015, 10:33 AM
#34
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Southern, Utah
Posts: 1,233
Some days the universe/fabric/design/gremlins/your first cousins just want you to do something else.
Thumb your nose at them, head off in another pleasureable direction: go buy fabric, eat lunch out, visit your best friend, go to a movie, change the decor in your bedroom, sit outside in the sun and read a great book, cut coupons....anything that will distract you happily and tell the first part that it isn't in charge of your day! Tomorrow is a new one.
Jan in VA
Thumb your nose at them, head off in another pleasureable direction: go buy fabric, eat lunch out, visit your best friend, go to a movie, change the decor in your bedroom, sit outside in the sun and read a great book, cut coupons....anything that will distract you happily and tell the first part that it isn't in charge of your day! Tomorrow is a new one.
Jan in VA
In our quest to appease our creative natures, sometimes everything just needs a time out.
04-17-2015, 10:34 AM
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 753
I agree with "Jan in VA's" reply. Just a change in scenery can often be the answer to my lack of direction or creativity. Remember, there are no quilting police waiting at your door and only you have to like what you're creating!
04-17-2015, 05:10 PM
#37
Super Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pe Ell, Washington
Posts: 2,512
Maybe you are obsessing to much. I cut my pieces then sew together, then check the block measurement. Tip an adhesive piece of loop velcro makes a great seam guide on your machine measure and check with a good ruler. Don't be so hard on your self remember Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are our quilts.
04-19-2015, 04:59 PM
#40
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 4,835
I discovered once, when the same thing was happening to me, that my fabric was 'drifting' to the left as I sewed a seam. The seam started out as being 1/4 inch, but then at the end of every piece, it was much narrower. This caused the curvy thing. I have learned to use my left finger as a guide to try to keep the fabric straight, especially when sewing HST's. Some people use stilettos for this.
Leslie
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