PJisChaos

Ok, here's my problem now. LoL! (Oh how I am really hating this project so much!!)

So, got the book "Strip Happy ~ Quilting On A Roll" by Donna Kingsley circa 2008... am doing the "Zig Zag' Quilt" that is in this oh-so-lovely book(major sarcasm, sorry but so frustrated!!). Basically, you take anywhere from 9 to 45 strips of 5 colors or 4 Jelly Rolls. Sew them end to end until you can get 4 strips that are anywhere from 93.5" to 467" in length. Then sew these into a 4-strip set of each color. (Yes, this pattern and entire book assumes you are not a beginning quilter and can just automatically know all the things that are NOT included in the skim instructions.)

So, are ya still with me? Then you make a 11 7/8" square template and cut it in half from corner to corner to get the triangle you need. Take the triangle to your strip sets and cut the required amount, 7 to 42 depending on the color set. Then sew these together to get an 11 1/2" square. I got all that and so far looks ... well, wonky to be honest but I can see the effect I'm s'posed to end up with so maybe it be ok..?

Now the problem is this... it says to press, trim to 11 1/2" and press again. Did that too, HOWEVER, it gives no pic or advice on how to square these up. So how do I square each block so the seams will stagger enough to line up when the blocks are opened? I have done 4 of them so far, sewed them in 4-patch style and NOT ONE of the dad-gum seams line up!!! In order to line up the diagonal strips from each triangle that is now a square, I have to offset them 1/4" like usual with triangles. BUT, that throws off the alignment of the rows by 1/4" in each block!!! So my rows steadily go downhill if I continue this. The layout is 6x7 which makes my drop in each column(up & down) off by a total 1 3/4". Not to mention each row(from left to right) has a total drop of 1 1/2". UGH!!!!

How the heck do I do this??? It says "Sew rows together, carefully matching seams. Then Press." Ummm, no can do as the seams do not match when the blocks are opened. I have been working on this for 4 days now and so far it is proving to be the most boring and frustrating thing I have ever done!! Have you ever sat and sewn 3 seams that measure 467"? There has to be an easier way to do this but, I think I am just to dumb to get it right now. Thanks for any help ya can give and even more thanks for letting me vent, again. LoL!

***Working on pics in case ya just aren't getting what I am on about, see if that will help explain it.

PJisChaos

Ok, the pic of what I have so far is the best I could get with all that white and the poor lighting here. Hopefully you can see somewhat that the seams on the top 2 blocks are not lining up at all. The bottom 2 aren't too terribly off but enough to bug me.

sewcrafty

Since I don't know if you've done this or not, this is what I do. When you press your seams always go towards the dark and on this with the white there keep the seams going in that same direction. Because when you flip the block the seams will be going in the opposite direction (clear as mud). Then you should be able to make your seams nestle and pin.

BKrenning

You have more of a variance in fabrics than the picture you're looking at so the seams not lining up exactly is more noticeable on yours. The overall appearance of yours is going to be scrappy so I wouldn't worry too much. The overall quilt when it's finished will be very homey feeling.

PJisChaos

Yeah, wondered about taking out the orange and green(on each side). Had to go scrappy since I didn't have enough reds to make it more uniform so hoping it comes out ok but might end up redoing the reds in something else.

Also, ended up pressing seams open instead of to one side as this was creating a mess when I started out that way. There are areas where so many seams are coming together at once it made it bulky and lumpy.

So should I just plow on through her and square it up based off the diagonal seam of each block then? Would that be the best way to go here?

nativetexan

they have them laying on top of each other (seams).
normally you press to the dark, with this pattern it would work much better if you press one row to the right and one to the left, etc. that way the seams would "nessle" (sp) together easier.
good luck.

Sadiemae

I could be wrong, and if so forgive me. I think a little of the problem might be in the squaring up. It kind of looks like the upper right square is not squared where the center seam between your triangles goes from corner to corner. They should have given better directions on squaring up. I would use a square ruler and be sure the 45' line is on that center seam. If it is off by even a little it will mess up the matching of seams. I would also press the way Nativetexan suggested.

PJisChaos

Thanks so much Sadie, that is exactly what I was looking for. How to square em all up!! TY TY TY!

I have decided to redo all the reds, they just are not flowing well at all. So it is on the WIP pile for a few more days til i get some new fabs. Thanks so much to NativeTexan to, I will repress the seams and see how that goes. Ya'll are so helpful :-)

Sadiemae

I hope it goes better for you. That is one of those patterns where everything has to line up, sometimes not much fun!

PJisChaos

Oh yeah, for sure! The most boring part was sewing all the strips end to end... felt like I sewed a literal mile by the time I was done. LoL!