The Handmade Quilt - Discussion

[Kristin G.]

Post your questions, comments, etc. about The Handmade Quilt project here.

[Treza]

Hi Dee, on this week's live, someone asked about the book
I always watch it delayed due to time difference.
I live in South Australia and knew I couldn't get the book quick enough from USA quick enough and that the postage would be outrageous. I purchased mine from ' The book depository' and it arrived within a week.
I will attempt all by hand. I've completed the first part and ready to start this weeks. I work full time and I'm new at using patterns but after completing my Colour my World I am so excited to learn more tips and tricks. Thanks Dee.

[mary a.]

I don't know where to ask this question about hand quilting . a while back I finished a quilt by hand quilting using what I called a mennonite stitch . It was done using perle cotton, a "doll needle" (maybe 3-4 inches long), After the quilt was sandwiched - you threaded the needle with enough thread to go across the width of the quilt - starting in the batting layer, coming up through the top , taking a small (not tiny) back stitch, needle goes back in through to the backing, comes up through the top, and if I remember correctly goes only through to the batting and the needle comes up the length of the needle away through the quilt top for the next stitch. I cannot find any on line or printed instructions for this. Anybody out there that can help. I wanted to teach it to another quilter to use instead of traditional tying. Thanks in advance. I do have the quilt here where I can take a photo but the actual stitches don't show up well.

[Treza]

Hi Mary, I'm not familiar with mennonite quilting but I googled and a couple of you tube videos came up. One called it a tacking stitch the other knot tyeing stitch.
It sounds interesting.

[Kristin G.]

Hi Everyone,
Dee asked me to post this for her, as she is having some issues with our forum.

From Dee:

Hello Everyone,

There have been a number of questions regarding the Amish Star. I do want to assure you the templates are correct. I think the block is easier to assemble by hand piecing than by machine. Both work though.

Remember to line up your dots (where the seams cross) and pin or glue in place before you sew. Sometimes it doesn't look quite right but it will be once you've sewn and pressed.

If you need an alternative to the block that may be easier for you I found a similar paper pieced block by Lee A. Heinrich called Kansas Dust Storm, and you can find it here:

https://www.freshlypieced.com/blog/kansas-dust-storm

Some notes about it:

• The Amish Star is in the center of the block, so you will need to eliminate the sides.
• After I glued the pattern together and trimmed off the sides I found that it wasn't quite 9" so I resized it on the printer. You could do that or you could take it to Office Depot and have them do it for you.

I do encourage you to take your time and work slowly and accurately to finish this block. Your skills will be strengthened and that is what this quilt is all about.


Good luck and let us all know how it goes.

[Jennifer C.]

What are the dimensions (size) of the kansas-dust storm block recommended as an alternative to the Amish Star?

[sewskeel]

I am confused about when to press the blocks. Please discuss when to press for crisp blocks. Thanks