grammasharon

This is the first time I have attempted a twister pattern. I am making a square table topper. My question is, do you press your seams open and how would I put a border on, do I make 5 inch borders and sew them on as I would for a quilt or is that too wide? I am using "Winter in the Pines from Moda, charm pack.

I know from reading this board that there are so many experts out there who can help me and I am going to thank you in advance for any help you can give me! grammasharon

drivingsusan

I just press the seams to the dark as I usually (mostly!!) do.
As for your border....just add it like any other quilt....the size of it is up to you!!! You will know if it is the right size once you get to that point!!!!

grammasharon

I am guessing I didn't communicate well what I was really wanting to know. Maybe if I try again. I want the border to be part of the twister, if that is possible. So would I cut 5" squares and add them as rows on the top and bottom borders so that I get my seams and add one 5" block on the beginning and end of each row? Or could I just make it part of the twister by just adding straight borders and then cutting the twister on the first row? I'm not even sure that it would look ok. Ideas please

Tartan

If you want the border to be in the Twister pattern , then yes you do add it to the body of the Twister squares before cutting. I have seen both borders pieced in the Twister design and straight borders added after the Twister body is done. Some people add a pieced border after a plain border using the little waste squares from cutting the twisters.

Akweiland

As Tartan says, you sure can. I typically use a dark border to make my twisters pop. Once I cut and resew then I either use the same color or another border before quilting. Endless options!!!!

grammasharon

Thank you so much for your wonderful ideas. I was told to cut one row and then before cutting another row to sew the first one together and make sure that I laid them down when I cut the pieces in the order they were cut! I know this is good advice because one of the ladies at the last quilting retreat didn't pay attention and 2 other gals stayed up until 3:00 am trying to help her. Needless to say, they could not get it put together. Because of that I was leery of making one but loved how they looked but with your help and advice I am ready to go!!

PaperPrincess

As far as the border goes, you can put your colored squares together, then add a solid piece of fabric for the border, then cut your squares. I also believe that the border can be cut smaller than 5". I'm 90% sure that you only need to cut a 3.5" strip. I would do an experimental piece first to verify this. Using one strip instead of a bunch of additional 5" squares will save you time and fabric.

Akweiland

PaperPrincess - great point! You are correct about the border being smaller. I do not have the charm twister tool, but I do have the layer cake size. So layer cakes and then my border was 6.5 inch before cutting. Take a picture, cut out rows...I keep them in order and sew sew rows.

Blue Bell

Definitely do one row at a time.

scrapinmema

I have 6 little twister table toppers in the works as we speak. I use 36 5" squares for my main part and then I use 3" borders. When you cut your squares using your twister tool you will get the border all the way around your finished project. They really make up nicely. Hope this helps.