Caley's Quilts
01-17-2022, 08:23 AM
#21
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 289
I finished another runner. I call it Cracked Ice Jewel Box Runner. The fabric was gifted me by a generous member of this Forum. The Pattern is free from Jordan Fabrics. I reduced the size of the blocks so it would fit atop my trio of pantry cupboards. I added an additional full block so that it was long enough.
I had been having difficulty sewing the backside of the binding on my previous quilts. So I experimented by first pressing the binding on the front side flat. The I folded the binding over to the back, and pressed things again. This flattened things out, and I didn't have any problems sewing the back side,
I had been having difficulty sewing the backside of the binding on my previous quilts. So I experimented by first pressing the binding on the front side flat. The I folded the binding over to the back, and pressed things again. This flattened things out, and I didn't have any problems sewing the back side,
01-17-2022, 01:26 PM
#23
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 289
SallyS, Thank you for your kind comments.
Some people like to do the binding by hand. But for people like myself, with chronic arthritis, machine stitching is the only way. Then there are those who will machine stitch the front of the binding, and then hand stitch the back. And there are those who will just stitch the corner seams by hand. There's lots of ways to do this.
But I find that machine stitching the binding works best for me. It's just been a learning process on how to do it properly with the skills and physical ability I have. I suggest you experiment like I have been doing, until you find what works best for you.
Some people like to do the binding by hand. But for people like myself, with chronic arthritis, machine stitching is the only way. Then there are those who will machine stitch the front of the binding, and then hand stitch the back. And there are those who will just stitch the corner seams by hand. There's lots of ways to do this.
But I find that machine stitching the binding works best for me. It's just been a learning process on how to do it properly with the skills and physical ability I have. I suggest you experiment like I have been doing, until you find what works best for you.
01-20-2022, 04:43 PM
#24
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 289
Since it costs so much to drive because of the cost of fuel, I've been staying home a lot, except for necessities. So I've been doing a lot of small practise quilts and runners.
This is one of my practise projects, Just Another Star. This type of star has baffled me quite a bit. But I think I finally found why it has been so difficult to get things to line up, as it did in this quilt. My cutting is fine. But I found that my pressing is causing a little fold over along the seam line. So I've had anywhere from 1/16 to as much as 1/8 inch folded, and that improper pressing causes the next step, cutting strips from the fabric to be off. I only found out about this when I stretched the fabric accidentally, and I got a piece of fabric pointing out along one edge. There was no way to remedy this error, so I just finished what I was doing, and will try very hard to do my pressing of the fabric more carefully, checking to see if I got any fold over the seam.
The quilting was supposed to be stitch in the ditch, but I couldn't hit it today. So I embroidered stars along the outer edge of the lone star, and along the seams that join the eight diamonds into the star. I haven't used the embroidery part of my sewing machine very much. I discovered today that you need to make sure there isn't any snagging of the fabric as the machine moves the fabric through the machine. I got some very poorly shaped stars. But I've just learned another way to quilt.
This is one of my practise projects, Just Another Star. This type of star has baffled me quite a bit. But I think I finally found why it has been so difficult to get things to line up, as it did in this quilt. My cutting is fine. But I found that my pressing is causing a little fold over along the seam line. So I've had anywhere from 1/16 to as much as 1/8 inch folded, and that improper pressing causes the next step, cutting strips from the fabric to be off. I only found out about this when I stretched the fabric accidentally, and I got a piece of fabric pointing out along one edge. There was no way to remedy this error, so I just finished what I was doing, and will try very hard to do my pressing of the fabric more carefully, checking to see if I got any fold over the seam.
The quilting was supposed to be stitch in the ditch, but I couldn't hit it today. So I embroidered stars along the outer edge of the lone star, and along the seams that join the eight diamonds into the star. I haven't used the embroidery part of my sewing machine very much. I discovered today that you need to make sure there isn't any snagging of the fabric as the machine moves the fabric through the machine. I got some very poorly shaped stars. But I've just learned another way to quilt.
