Sewing strips -- and keeping them straight

[Eileen K.]

Hi all,
Could use some help. I recently finished a pattern that involved sewing long strips together, then cutting them into triangles and sewing those together into blocks.

I found that when I pressed the strips, they bent and stretched. This meant that my triangles weren't the same size and it was impossible to match corners.

It ended up being the most miserable quilt I've ever worked on -- I even had to add a 1/2" piece to one block to make it fit the row.

I gave up on matching point, finished the darn thing, and figure it will be a good project to practice machine quilting on!

I'm a moderately experienced quilter -- what happened? I need help!

Thanks,
Kellie

[Eileen K.]

How timely-I've got a stack of strips sitting by my machine ready to be sewn together. I'm not the most experienced quilter here but here are a couple of things I do...First I use starch when pressing the fabric prior to cutting. I don't get in a huge hurry sewing them together. When I press a finished seam I don't use steam cuz it tends to distort my seams. Hope this helps. I've got a big bargello top pieced-it has lots of narrow seams. I've been too scared to lay it out to see how square it is-I'm afraid it'll look like a paralelagram(sp?)!

Sherry in S MS

[Eileen K.]

I use lots of starch (and steam) too...but another thing I've done is draw a staight line w/permanent marker on my muslin covered pressing surface.
I align the seam allowance edges along that line for the first press. all the starch helps the strip kind of hang on to the pressing surface, then I carefully flip open the strip and press from the front.

[Eileen K.]

I had taken a pressing class through quiltuniversity.com and this seemed to help.

On your pressing surface you draw a straight line. (a pigma pen that won't smear onto your strips) After sewing two strips together, you set your seam, lining up the sew line with the drawn line.. THe first press tells you fabric where to go. If its crooked, the seam will be crooked. (make sence???) also make sure the fabric you are pressing towards is ontop.
then you open the piece and press to one side staring at one end and follow you fingers with the iron as you open it without picking up the strips.

This pressing class is deffinately worth taking.

I hope this is coherant enough to understand.
Cheryl

[Eileen K.]

lwiniger,
we must be posting at the same time... HEE HEE! Funny, same advise.
Cheryl

[Eileen K.]

I am planning to make the HONEY BERRIES quilt out of 40 FABULOUS QUICK CUT QUILTS book by Evelyn Sloppy. Many of the quilts in the book are based on strips.

I KNOW I have a problem (known nerve deficit ) sewing long strips of fabric so I plan to cut my strips into the smaller segaments ( 8-1/2 inches) required in the block. I can sew shorter strips successfully and and far is I am conserned it will be faster so I will not be ripping out the strips or blocks to get them to size.

I belong to the make is big and whack it off fan club..... If my blocks do not square up to the correct size in my sample block I will make adjustments to my pattern so I can square up the blocks as I go along.... More work but tends to make blocks that work together better.

Hope this helps...

PS I starch my fabric till it is stiff as a board.

[Eileen K.]

lwiniger,
we must be posting at the same time... HEE HEE! Funny, same advise.
Cheryl

great minds....

[Judith T.]

I, also, was told that if you are sewing long strips together, start at the top and sew down and then turn it around and sew the next strip then turn it around and sew the next strip and so on as it has a tendency to curve on you if you sew from the top each time.

Judy in AZ

[Judith T.]

I agree with sewing in alternate directions. Also, when you press the strips, press them perpenticular to the ironing board instead of parallel. They come out less wonky and wavy.

[Judith T.]

Thank you everyone for the great advice! I only wished I'd asked BEFORE I started to have so much trouble. I will try all these techniques -- but first I plan to make something simple to recover my confidence. Honestly, it was such a mess you can't imagine.

These all sound great and very do-able.

Kellie

[Judith T.]

A few days ago I watched Episode 204 – Crazy about Curves with Louisa Smith. Someone asked Louisa the same question. She answered to piece them in sections. for example piece sets of 2, then sets of 4, next 8, etc.

[Judith T.]

Lady Rags,
You are SO funny!! I love to read your funny words of advice especially when I've had a lousy day. Keep up your sense of humor..it's great!

[Judy M.]

I was also taught in a class years ago to alternate the direction of stitching strips. Also, make sure your fabric strips have been cut correctly with the grain so they aren't wonky before you start sewing them together. (But you probably already know that!--just thought I'd throw that in!) Judy

[Judy M.]

Someone on another thread suggested using a walking foot when sewing long stips. I'm gonna try that.
Sherry

[Margo C.]

STARCH, Definately starch! I use a lot of it, and find it's lots cheaper to buy the liquid starch (I use Sta-Flo in the blue bottle usually available at Wal-Mart) and mix it half/half with water in a spray bottle for a strong starch. I spray the fabric on an old towel to keep from soaking my ironing surface and let the liquid soak completely into the fabric before putting the heat to it. Of course, ya gotta be careful, 'cause you can iron that sucker out of whack the first time, and it's gonna stay there!! Ask me how I know THAT!!! :shock:
Starting with the straight line on the ironing surface is a huge help!