I finished two quilt tops for my goal of four for December - actually 2-1/2 because I have the strips pieced for a third one. Because I know I'm going to divert my attention yet again tomorrow, I figured I'd make a note in my blog about where I left off - just to keep me honest.The theme of these tops is "What can I do with strips?" My initial sketch was to use 7 strips of varying widths, but the object of this game is to keep things as simple as possible yet still create some interesting design, so I reduced the number to 5. That means four seams for each block; but because I cut my strips in widths and then sewed them together, it meant far fewer than that.
In order to get a sufficient number of blocks to make 20 blocks for a single quilt, I cut 5 widths of each fabric, sewed them together as you see on the left (above), and then cut them into 9-1/2-inch blocks as you see on the right (above).
Then, of course, it's a matter of deciding how the blocks should lay together, sewing the blocks into rows, and then sewing the rows together to make the quilt top.
The first one (on the left) didn't turn out as I intended - I meant to alternate the blocks the way I did the ones in the quilt top on the right, but, oh well. One goal was met, anyway - the strips in the blocks were not to line up. The overall end-goal was that everything should be staggered. That part worked.I really like the one on the right - it's like a basket-weave. I'm going to make the remaining two with that scheme, although I am going to vary the order in which I sew the widths together - and the fabrics, too, of course - so that the center strip isn't necessarily the wider strip.
I have a project I want to get done before Christmas, so these will have to wait a bit.
Although I'm doing most of my piecing on my inexpensive little Sears machine - it has such a nice stitch - I'm doing the top-stitching (to prevent raveling) on my Bernina. There are some things I really like about the Bernina - the machine of many feet. One of the big things is this wonderful #10 presser foot! That little metal piece in the middle of the foot follows my seam line perfectly, and I get straight seams without blinking an eye.Bernina gives you a #5 presser foot, just like the #10, when you buy the machine, but you can't sew center position with the #5 - the metal bar goes all the way back to the throat of the presser foot. Just another way Bernina increases its profits on an already-too-expensive product! (You can tell, there's a lot I don't like about that company, but I do like the features on the machine!)
Of course, the #10 foot is only part of the secret to these wonderfully straight seams. Look at the buttons in this image as I describe what this beauty does.First, I line up my target seam (the one I want to echo) with the metal piece in the middle of the #10 foot.
- If I want the seam to the right of the seam allowance I'm following, I press the right arrow (shown at button 3) 3 times.
-When I finish that bit of seaming, if I want to make a new seam to echo an existing seam, and I want the new seam to be to the left of the existing seam, I press "clr" at button 1, restoring the needle to the center position, and then I press the left arrow shown at button 3.
If you go back and look at the pictures of my #10 foot, above, you can see the needle is either to the right or to the left of center. Really, really neat.
Look at the button at circle 2, above. That makes my needle either stay up (the default) when I release the foot pedal, or it makes the needle stay down. I like down the best - it gives me a little anchor for my fabric while I lightly adjust it. If I want to raise the needle at any time when I've stopped sewing, I tap the back of the foot pedal and up goes the needle.
I'll never be convinced that these nifty features are worth the money I paid, but since I've got this machine, I am really using it for all it's worth! I love the feature set!!!
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