Re: Pinwheel Stack & Whack

What Patti and Leslie said! And I would add that it is very easy when sewing
bias-cut pieces to stretch them without realizing. Especially if the fabric
is maybe a little on the light side, which pre-cut kits may well have been.
Then you have built-in curves, even if they don't look particularly curved,
and the centers will act up.
Roberta in D

"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." <quilteacher@xxxxxxxxx> schrieb im
Newsbeitrag news:1174735269.334312.92940@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pat told you all the important stuff, but I can add one small
suggestion. When you have half of the unit/block assembled, lay the
edge of a ruler along the edge of the half block and make sure the
half block unit is straight. Then would be the time to take up or let
out the seams- rather than trimming unless it's just a sliver off. If
the two halves are not straight, then you'll end up with a lump or dip
or some kind of uh-oh at the center.

Bummer about the kit- they are usually more expensive than cutting
your own pieces and you *should* be able to work with them without
needing to adjust everything. grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

On Mar 24, 3:30 am, Patti <P...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There are a few things that can help with a bulky centre, René; and it
is worth mastering, because so many lovely patterns have components that
meet in the centre.
Starting right at the beginning, you must be sure you have either cut
accurately, or marked your sewing line accurately.
Then, make very sure that you keep your seam allowance exact, especially
at the ends - some machines have a tendency to 'waver' when there is not
much material under the feet.
At the centre end, finish sewing the seam at the centre point *not* at
the end of the piece - it does mean marking that point, but it is worth
it. You could start at the centre point, so that you don't forget and
whizz off the end!
Join the pieces in pairs first, then fours. That seems to work better
than just adding one to another etc.
The technique of pressing to the same side is the one to follow, having
trimmed off a bit off the 'dog ear points' - not the whole! Then a
little magic: gently pull the centre ends upwards, place your index
finger (usually the most powerful!) in the centre of all the ends and
twist/turn them in the *opposite* direction to that in which you pressed
the seams.

You didn't mention whether you got them meeting nicely, at the one
point. The better they meet, the better they will lie. In fact, it is a
good idea to sew the centre couple of inches first, to make sure the
points are matched. Sew with a long stitch, check the matching, unpick
if necessary and try again - it only takes seconds to unpick with a
large stitch. When you have them matched the best you can get them, you
can sew the whole seam, right over the long stitches. You can take them
out if you wish, but it isn't usually necessary.

HTH
.
In message <qH2Nh.5007$oV.3248@attbi_s21>, René <My.Pen...@xxxxxxxxx>
writes





A couple of years ago, I got several precut kits of Pinwheel Stack &
Whacks. Great fabrics and great color combinations. I've been
housebound and decided it would be a good time to get them put
together. There's 100 blocks, total, not all the same, but averaging
ten 9" blocks for several full size bed quilts, and using occasional
plain blocks to fill it out.

I started sewing them together and could tell right away that they were
all "out of whack!" All these triangles and none of them fit like they
should have. The first 10 will end up on a couple of doggie blankies,
cause they won't care. :) The rest have needed to be squared up at
nearly every step. I've finally gotten to the point where I can
estimate what can be left until the final squaring, and where I need to
square it up early in the block making process.

My question is this -- are there any good ways to reduce that bulk in
the center, where all 8 triangles come together in a point? I've tried
pressing the seams all in one direction, and then pressing them all
open. Nothing seems to really matter. There's still a huge knot in
the center of the block.

I've got them all done, and will never use that pattern again. It was
easy to see very quickly that some of them were not cut correctly,
setting everything off on a wonky angle at the very beginning. But
I've figured out how to take care of most of that. It's that center
point that's so bulky.

I'd like to do some fancy fabric kaleidoscope quilts, but this has
soured me a bit. I've got some terrific fabric that I know will work
perfectly. But I don't want to cut it up and discover it ends up
looking like a ruffled doily. :)

Any hints, advice for me? (And I was hoping those precut kits would be
so nice and handy.)

René

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -



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