I had forgotten that the little shift on ruler placement on the strips results in a lot of headaches! An Irish Chain machine pieced quilt is pretty straightforward, but when it comes to cutting on a 45 degree angle and matching seams, things get more complicated. My friends are waiting to put together the large component diamond shapes that they made last week and I thought that beforehand I'd take the opportunity to make my own diamond shapes and review how this quilt is made.
ARGGHH! It is made with great difficulty!!
I made my diamond shapes but they DID NOT turn out perfectly! Whether I messed up in cutting or in sewing I don't know but try as I might I could not get the diamonds to fit the template I'd made. (And I hate to be pessimistic but if I, a thirty year quilter, can't get the diamonds to fit I have a feeling my patchwork friends of 5 years are going to have some difficulties too!) I tore apart and resewed. I made new diamonds. I cut edges off. In the end I went to Mrs. Furui and she reminded me of all the trouble we had originally had making this quilt. (We'd both made it many, many years ago.) Her advice?
"Put it together as is and hope for the best when quilting."
Well, I'm not at the quilting stage yet, but though the star points are a little off, the border pulled everything in line. The flaws are not as evident as they originally were. And hopefully the quilting will hide the mistakes even more.
Now can I teach this to my friends? We have those inset seams you know...
It looks good to me. I've only made one, baby quilt or wallhanging size, and I remember having to straighten the cut after every two or three strips. I used Eleanor Burns' Radiant Star pattern. I found that it wasn't really all that hard just tedious making sure everything matched and all the pinning.
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely. I tried some diamonds and forgot that offset and mine were a mess. I haven't fixed them yet. They are on the list... :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks absolutely wonderful, and my favourite purples. and just like the song, ' Diamonds are a girl's best friend". Cheers from Jean.
ReplyDeleteAre you piecing with individual diamonds? There is a strip piecing method which is much easier. I'll scan it to you if you like? I believe you have my email.
ReplyDeleteLurking LInda
Tanya, the star quilt is beautiful...I love the colors you used.....as for all those quilting terms....hahaha.....I haven't a clue as to what they mean...except the final outcome is awesome......hugs, Pat in IN
ReplyDeleteMy friend always reminds me "it'll quit out" when things don't quite come together. Yours looks lovely - good luck with your teaching.
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful. You do such a beautiful job with quilting and you are so very generous with your time to help others to learn.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to tell you that I have a new sewing machine! It's a Brother 1250D and PE Design Next software. My Honey got it for me for my birthday which is in December, but got it early because we will go back to sea at the end of December. Now I have time to use it before we leave again.
No, I don't have quilting on my mind right now. I'm excited about being able to do some machine embroidery. I plan to embroider shirts for my daughter's CPA practice as well as some decorative embroidery for the grand kids. We bought shirts embroidered with the company name the last time and they were pretty expensive. Yes, I know, it had to be less expensive than the new sewing machine and software!
I also want to be able to stitch up some linings for the purses I knit and crochet and some linings for lavender sachets covered with fine crochet.
All the best from Ohio,
Lois :)
I'm sorry the diamonds gave you such problems but the quilt looks lovely! I predict that the quilting will solve anything you don't like because it looks terrific just the way it is. I love that we don't have to be perfect quilters. "Quilt it out" is a great mantra! Have fun, Tanya!
ReplyDeleteI have made a number of these star quilts and the best ones I did by hand so all the pieces behaved. Two were strip-pieced with my daughter on the machine. In the end, it might be a bit difficult to figure out which is which.
ReplyDeleteOh, Tanya... it's absolutely gorgeous! You say there are a lot of mistakes but I don't see them. It's beautiful!!
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