Laura Nownes

[Renata L.]

Welcome back, Limbania! So good to see you having a blast on the Forum again!

[Rita C.]

Great to see you Limbania, and long may it continue.

[Marianne G.]

I know this thread has almost died out but I am still on a quest/journey/adventure regarding piecing so I thought I would share a couple of small baskets/containers I have done recently using the blocks I made during the class - as you can tell I really am a basket case now :lol:
Not only have I put together some blocks I have also continued my FMQ practise (without the BSR!) and have learnt a lot in that respect.
One of the things I have learnt is that my darning foot does not accommodate thick seam intersections when I FMQ blocks so I am trying to figure out how to avoid those.
Right now I have finished a series of blocks experimenting with colour placement as well as piecing as precisely as possible. It is basically a 9-patch block but each of the corner patches is a 4-patch; the centre patch is just a piece of fabric and the remaining 4 are two flying geese blocks sewn together so it is almost a Sawtooth Star but with an added round. I am having a hard time pressing so I don't get lumpy-bumpy intersections. I have resigned myself to sometimes sew to the right sometimes to the left of the 1/4" foot inorder for the top seam to face upwards and I am gradually getting better at that but even that trick does not always solve my problem. I have also tried clipping seams so that at one end it goes in one direction and the other end in the opposite direction. The biggest challenge I realised tonight is when it comes to putting the blocks together :!: 2 9 patch blocks that needs to be pressed in opposite direction - what a headache :roll:
How do you people do this????????????? (OK I have figured out that I need to either design the next quilt with alternative blocks that can be pressed differently or add sashing but honestly HELP, please ops: )
Marianne

[Marianne G.]

Wow! Your baskets are great. Marianne, have you tried laying each piece out in the order that it will be sewn into the nine patch and then doing the pressing? Sometimes if I have a bunch of different pieces that have to fit together--that is what I do, then I can see which way the seams have to go. Since I have started doing the BOM 1/2 size I have started pressing seams open and spraying with starch to flatten--this method might work for you. I am sure someone else will pop up with other things that might help--hang in there.

[Marianne G.]

Thank you Ritzy! I starch my fabrics now before I cut - it has helped me no end to cut accurately and I found that now I use a Sizzix cutter that cuts better too when the fabric is starched. I will try starching again when I have sub-sewn patches like the Flying Geese and again when I press the finished blocks. I press the first seam of Flying Geese open and the second to one side to reduce bulk.
Thanks again for getting in touch
Marianne

[Lois B.]

I would imagine you are twirling your seams wherever possible. My FMQ foot has a pressure adjustment on it which I find enormously useful. I use a Janome and you must be using a Bernina since you mentioned not using the BSR. The machine itself must have a pressure adjustment on the foot. It might make a difference. I take it you did not have the problem with the BSR.

[Marianne G.]

I would imagine you are twirling your seams wherever possible. My FMQ foot has a pressure adjustment on it which I find enormously useful. I use a Janome and you must be using a Bernina since you mentioned not using the BSR. The machine itself must have a pressure adjustment on the foot. It might make a difference. I take it you did not have the problem with the BSR.

Hi Loise,
Yes I try to twirl all the seams I can think of in all directions - they are like can-can dancers :lol:
I don't use the BSR because I had huge problems with even stitches so decided to take the bit between my teeth and learn to FMQ without. I found that the foot pedal on the Bernina also gave me problems so I have ended up FMQ on a 30+ years old Bernina with neither needle down nor presser foot pressure adjustment feature but a very smooth foot pedal and a beautiful stitch quality. I have taken the machine apart and loosened the pressure as much as I dare but with the darning foot although it has a spring there is not a lot more I can do regarding the machine I think. The other Bernina (referred to as the new but is actually 8 years old now) usually ends up embroidering and doing buttonholes as well as decorative stitches. I have not found it useful for anything quilting related except basting the sandwich. Super for that.
Thank you for chiming in with suggestions - it is great to get input from different people.
Marianne

[Marianne G.]

I think that it was on Jinny Beyer's show that she mentioned that if the seam wants to lay one way at one end and the other way at the opposite end, then she puts a small snip up to the stitching line so that it is possible to 'reverse' the lay of the allowance - if you are putting both of the layers in the same direction that is. I have done this on several different pieces and haven't had any problems and got a flatter finish.

Great baskets, by the way - always a pleasure to see finished items

PS sorry I don't remember the number of the show.

[Marianne G.]

Thank you for the suggestion to check out Jinny Beyer's show, Rosemary. Will go in search of that now so I can learn while ironing
Marianne

[wendy w.]

Love them Marianne such a nice use for the blocks. Mine is still waiting for attention.

[Marianne G.]

Love them Marianne such a nice use for the blocks. Mine is still waiting for attention.

Thank you, Wendy. I need the box the blocks are in and also need other storage so trying to kill 2 birds with one stone :P
Marianne

[Rita C.]

Jo Morton suggests what Rosemary is saying in her show here on TQS - sorry can't remember the number. I saw a youtube video with Sharon Shambers where she suggested using a paint brush with water on it to dab at the seams and then press them. Apparently it's what they do in the garment industry to get really flat seams and joins. It does work, better than just using a steam iron. The problem with starching too much is that it will possibly make it too stiff. I am working on a quilt at the moment where lots of the seams ended up going in the same direction etc., and I did like Jo Morton suggested and snipped them close to the edge but I don't think it makes them flat enough. But if I pressed all the seams open then I would not be able to do stitch in the ditch. Sometimes it's hard to get everything right. :?

Love your baskets Marianne, particularly the one with the outside corner pockets. Care to share the pattern?

[Marianne G.]

Hi Rita,
Thank you - I will check out Jo Morton's show too. Still working my way through Jinny Beyer's offerings Rosemary suggested. I will give the wet paint brush a go. I pre-wash my fabrics so should not have problems with bleeding. I try to stay away from stitching in the ditch because I find it very difficult to make it look nice when I go across intersections. Do you FMQ in the ditch or use a walking foot/jeans foot with the feeddogs up?

Love your baskets Marianne, particularly the one with the outside corner pockets. Care to share the pattern?

The pattern for the baskets is here:
http://www.seaside-stitches.blogspot...-tutorial.html
I played around a bit with the size of the square to fit the size of my blocks and with the corner pockets. One word of warning though - using blocks makes the edges very thick and even my Bernina baulked at sewing on the buttons because they hit intersecting seams (can you tell I have problems with seams wherever I venture these days? :lol: ) They are quite addictive once you have made one you could easily get carried away. I will make more for Christmas but next time I will put a border on the blocks so the top ends up being more neat. I tried out 3 different kind of wadding: fleece, as in leftover bits of a fleece blanket from IKEA, curtain interlining and ordinary light cotton wadding. I found that for these it does not really matter what you use. Great project to practise FMQ AND use up blocks.
Marianne

[Rita C.]

Thanks for the link to the pattern Marianne, I will have a look after this. As for stitching in the ditch, I do use a walking foot - with an open toe and invisible thread in the top of the machine (Aurifil in the bobbin). When I get to the intersections if the seams are not meeting perfectly (always the aim but not always successful there :roll: ) I raise the needle, lift the presser foot and shift it to where it needs to be so that there are no awkward stitches showing. If I am stitching around applique then I use the darning/free-motion foot and do it in FM.

I know how you feel about stitching over the bulky seams and I have to say that my Pfaff Select 4 (which is a much more basic machine than my Janome Horizon) does this best. I think the fancier computerized machines are not designed for this kind of donkey work at all. If you have an old singer machine it would probably do it best of all because they were really designed to stitch though anything and still keep the stitches straight.

[wendy w.]

Cheers Marianne, I shall have fun making some