First trip of 2020

The usual combination of three set off for Farnham on the Sunday 12th arriving at 1pm to take advantage of the late entrance fee. I spent more time shopping than usual but to good effect and enjoyed going round more or less together. Judi was buying for the Oast Quilters' raffle and combined good priced FQ's very thoughtfully.

The red fabric is 108" wide and was only £10 a metre. It's the same as on my "Amish" ninepatches quilt from over 15 years ago and I've been looking for more ever since. I wish I'd found it in time to go on the back of my Joseph's Coat quilt. The blue is a heavier weight bought from the same stall. The cacti pots fabric was in the £3 metre pile under another table. I bought the rest of the bolt. It's lovely  quality and I can back a quilt with it and give the surplus to Belinda who has the whole collection.

So I had less time for the quilts and demonstrations and for photos than usual, only two!

This is Penny Mitchell's Sewers Quilt" made from sewing themed fat eighths bought "blind" by her husband on the internet.

This is by Brigitte Gillespie, "The Super Star Quilt in a day"
which she is going to teach at the Farnham Maltings. 

U3A mystery finale

U3A patchwork group with their mystery quilt projects

Jane has made a bag from
last year's hexagon log cabin
 star poject.

There were lots of finished tops to Show & Tell on Monday. It was lovely to see all the different fabric choices laying emphasis on different aspects of the pattern. I produced mine as well (all with mitred borders). The leafy one was not made mysteriously but I drew out the pattern to enlarge it and constructed the central square in rows. These were not as straightforward as one might have supposed as the background squares are framed by fabric 1 and by fabric 3 and the strip squares are arranged asymmetrically. We agreed the shapes were simple but the pattern was more complicated than first appeared.

79" square leafy quilt to be long arm quilted by friend Maggie

The bright back

Orange and Black Mystery 54" X 72"
This will be given to Linus at Oast on Saturday.

Backing for
Flowery Mystery

Flowery Mystery 58" X 75"

Borders 05: pieced

Fabrics cut right sides together

Strips sewn together and sub cut into two patches which are
joined to make four patches and in turn to make borders the required length.

There are lots of options for pieced borders. I chose to make pieced squares. First I cut 2" strips and sewed them together, then subcut into two patches and then sewed these together into four patches. I followed the same alignment so that when I snipped the surplus stitches at the centre seam crossing of the four patches I could make the seams turn the same way so that they all nested together when I joined them to form the borders. See illustration HERE, at the end of my blog post for Monday October 1st 2018.
I needed 4 four patches for the first border, 5 for the second and third and 6 for the final one, 20 in all.

First 12" finished size border added
with five 4-patches ready to join for the
second border,

Last two borders  to attach.

Completed

Borders 04: corner posts

If you don't have enough fabric to extend beyond the edges of the top or it is tricky to make a pieced border pattern go round the corners, corner stones can be the solution. 
Cut four pieces the length of the top and add squares of the same width at the corners as shown.

Pieces laid out

 First two sides attached

All done

Border Matters 03: mitres

If I have sufficient fabric I like to make a mitred border. You need the length of the side of the quilt plus two border widths for each one. I add a little bit extra. 

Here illustrated with my quilt.

First I mark the seam lines at the corners on the reverse side of the quilt top. Where they cross is the starting and stopping point of the seam stitching.

Reverse of top piece

Then match the centre of the border strip to the middle of the edge of the quilt  and pin. 

Centre fold of border strip matched
to top piece centre.

Pinned

The rest of the pinning is done with the back of  the quilt top uppermost and right sides together.














Sew all four border strips stopping and starting where the seams cross. I do two opposite sides and then the remaining two.

 

First two sides. Note stop and start points.

Last two sides pinned at the centre ready to turn over and
sew on the reverse.

Now draw or press a 45 degree line from the marked point to the outer edge of the border strip, using the lines on your ruler or a set square.

Using a set square. note side of the
set square is aligned with the edge of
the border trip.

Using a ruler.

Place the two adjacent strips alongside each other and pin.
Sew along your marked line either back stitching or using a smaller stitch before you reach the point.

Ready to sew: borders pinned together and sides aligned.

Open out and press. 

You see the excess length I cut
poking out

Trim away excess fabric.

Be careful!

Border Matters 02

The final stage of a partially pieced border setting

When I haven't got enough fabric for a mitred border I often resort to a partially pieced border. The length is calculated as the finished edge length of the quilt plus the finished border width plus half an inch though I usually add a bit extra. 

The first border length is only partially attached leaving the end unsewn. Then the remaining three sides are added (the second at the bottom of the above picture). Finally the first strip is completed. This becomes especially clear with striped fabric as in my cushion top piece below.

First and second pieces added

Rounds complete

Final borders laid out

Border Matters 01

At Christmas I swap the everyday cushion covers in our living room for seasonal ones. When our group taught a block or technique I would often make a Christmas version and make it into a cushion cover. Now I have Christmas covers without a suitable size cushion and larger cushions without a matching  Christmas cover. I do have some orphan 12" blocks from a wonderful applique class taught by Inger Milburn and I am killing two birds with one stone, adding borders to upsize them and illustrate different border strategies to the U3A class.
I was surprised by how good my 20+ years ago applique technique was, both machine and but especially by hand. I'm not sure I do it so nicely now. I think I mastered needleturn in Inger's class; perhaps I  need to relearn it. We learnt a different technique with a different block every class and I always tried my very best.
Anyway a basic technique for borders is to add a strip to two opposite sides and then longer strips to the remaining sides. I don't do this very often. The busy prints hide the joins.

I added 4" x 12.5" strips top and bottom of the block and 4" x 19.5" strips to the sides. Quilting will reduce the size which I shall trim to 18.5" to make an 18" finished size cushion.

Here is my basic sample with the longer strips at the top and bottom. I should have taken assembly pictures.

Quay mysteries

These pictures of versions made by Quay Quilters were taken in 2006.

Clue 17: One Last Heave

Add the two remaining triangle pieces to the other side of the medallion. 

Side pieces ready to add

All done: note uneven edges

I had upsized the triangle pieces so some stick out. 

At the end the smallest overlap was 1/2" so I trimmed the rest of the piece to this width as shown.

Same section after trimming.

Trimmings

Now the mystery is revealed. You can either sandwich and bind or add a border or borders to enlarge it. I'll be posting about borders in the coming days.

Clue 16: Coming Together

Stitch the lob-sided ABC triangles units to opposite sides of the medallion so that the pattern matches and the ABC background squares are framed by Fabric 3.

Clue 15: Central Medallion

Join the pieces from Clue 13 and 14 as shown to form a square.
You have two background squares diagonally across from each other framed by Fabric 1 top left and bottom right and the other by Fabric 3 top right and bottom left..