triangles and bias legs

[Judy M.]

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Last year ( before I took any kind of quilting class) I cut out quarter triangle for a block I need for a quilt. ....... Of course I did them wrong.

The short legs to the triangle are on the bias. Is there anyway to stablize them? I have tried startching the heck out of them but they still stretch like crazy when I sew them together.

The long leg ( base) of the triangle are on the grain line.

The triangle are all differnet colors so I could not use the usual methods of making triangles. Very scrappy... so far I have not use any color / fabric more then three times in the whole quilt.

Only 60 more blocks to make....





(Now remember when you read this, I took math 30 years ago and flunked geometry to boot...... so my terminology for this question will be wrong. I can not remember what the parts of a triangle are called... there is some kind of hippo in a triangle right? )[/size]

[Judy M.]

Now of course if you were hand piecing ..........................


Seriously its not going to be easy to machine piece when on the bias. I have heard that someone got round it by using her walking foot to piece with. But not being a machine piecer I haven't any real experience

[Judy M.]

I would probably make those triangles into something else, like an Ohio star, that needs triangles with two bias sides.

Pat in Rockport, TX

[Beth A.]

Time to switch patterns and use them as quarter square triangles instead of half square triangles.

Think of it as a design opportunity, not a boo-boo!

BethMI

[Beth A.]

Try lessening the pressure of your presser foot and PIN PIN PIN.

I Have found that with some experimentation that lessening the pressure can help and put the least stretchy fabric on the botttom.

I have heard of people glueing or stabilizing just the seam allowances together.

Hope this helps.

Jean

[Judy M.]

If the fabric is already stretched, I would toss the triangles and start over. I usually try to attach a bias edge to a straight of grain edge when I can.

[Judy M.]

I want to use the method of cutting longish rectangles in half diagonally lengthwise. The only thing I've been able to find about how to do this leaves me wondering if it's correct. The instructions tell me to cut the rectangle diagonally and to sew the 90 deg. angle to the block. The end result is a block with all bias edges! Surely that can't be! Or can it?

HELP!!!

Frances

[Judy M.]

Okay, Ladyrags,
First definately use a walking foot. It eliminates the drag on the top layer. When sewing don't have any pull on the piece and use a stiletto to guide the fabric. Alex demonstratged this somewhere and also said to avoid pressing the bias edge. I think it was in her star lesson.

Frances, I have a book on using rectangles to make the long triangle pieces. It is pretty much the same way of making 1/2 sq triangle block with a line drawn from corner to corner and stitching on the line. The only difference is you are using rectangles and lineing up opposite corners. So you if you have two 2X4 retangles, one background and one contrasting. line up the upper left corner of the contrasting to the upper right corner b/g and the opposite bottome corner. draw a line and sew. trim your 1/4 inch and press. The book is rectangles new quick piecing tricks by Leisure arts with Pam Bono designs

[Judy M.]

Thanks so much for the info, cjbeg. I'll give it a try.

Frances

[Judy M.]

If the fabric is already stretched, I would toss the triangles and start over. I usually try to attach a bias edge to a straight of grain edge when I can.

I end up taking the realllllly bad triangles and using them in a different project with smaller triangles.... I used them in foundation piecing.... first in a paper pieced project making pinwheels and then in a MILE A MINUTE SCRAP BLOCK QUILT.

I NEVER throw fabric away... I can always find a different use for it....