Straight vs diagonal for plaids
#11
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
I like the first one best. The diagonals give the quilt a lot of "life". Machine piecing strips to a muslin foundation would not be hard, but would require a little more time than the other patterns. What is nice about this technique is that you can make the blocks over-sized, starch, and then cut to size. The only thing is I would recommend purchasing a thin muslin and pre-washing it to shrink before cutting into squares for the foundation, and would also recommend cutting the squares about 2" larger than needed. Mark a line from one corner to the opposite corner with a pencil to provide a guideline for the first strip; however, positioning does not need to be exact for this pattern.
I do think the advice to make a sample block is good advice.
If you do choose the first pattern, I saw that this quilt pattern comes from one of Evelyn Sloppy's books. I would have to do some sleuthing to figure out which book. It would be nice to have the pattern, especially since this would be your first quilt.
Edit: Looks like that pattern is from her Strips & Strings book:
https://www.amazon.com/Strips-String...dp/156477466X/
Edit 2: Oh, and it looks like she doesn't use a muslin foundation. She just pieces strings together and then cuts them. For a beginner, I think it would be safer to use a foundation. If you don't use a foundation, be sure to spray starch *heavily* before cutting a block like this to size. Starch would help stabilize all those bias edges.
I do think the advice to make a sample block is good advice.
If you do choose the first pattern, I saw that this quilt pattern comes from one of Evelyn Sloppy's books. I would have to do some sleuthing to figure out which book. It would be nice to have the pattern, especially since this would be your first quilt.
Edit: Looks like that pattern is from her Strips & Strings book:
https://www.amazon.com/Strips-String...dp/156477466X/
Edit 2: Oh, and it looks like she doesn't use a muslin foundation. She just pieces strings together and then cuts them. For a beginner, I think it would be safer to use a foundation. If you don't use a foundation, be sure to spray starch *heavily* before cutting a block like this to size. Starch would help stabilize all those bias edges.
Last edited by Prism99; 02-11-2018 at 11:16 AM.
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 783
I have a bunch of plaid shirts all disassembled, starched and ready to go. I'm trying to decide on the pattern and i have it (tentatively, lol) narrowed down to this one http://pinterest.com/pin/33411086609...ce_app=android or this one http://pinterest.com/pin/Af5C-s-GXWJ...ce_app=android or this one http://pinterest.com/pin/33411086609...ce_app=android . So, 2 questions: which one do you think would be best to try for my first pieced quilt, and is there any standard for using the plaids straightwise or diagonally?
Thank you for taking part in my research survey, lol.
Thank you for taking part in my research survey, lol.
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,832
For a first pieced quilt I would avoid plaids, stripes and directional fabrics. I would also not use triangles on on point settings. And I would avoid any diagonal cut fabrics. Save all these for a future project.
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