First of all, let me express my thanks to those who welcomed me back from my bloggy absence. It really surprised me and also made my day. Oh, you are so going to wish you'd never encouraged me!
So I started sewing the baby quilt I mentioned yesterday. I sorted out the strips and then sewed them together in groups of 6. Each group of strips will then be cut into three 12 inch squares.
But here's my dilemma; Is it just assumed that everyone knows the secret of the 'scant' quarter inch seam allowance? I'm not a quilter but I do have a couple of quilting books and I've also read and watched a lot of tutorials, yet not one of them mentioned this term. I can't remember when I first heard about it but I did know upon starting this quilt that I should follow the rule. I know you can buy a special foot for your machine but apparently it isn't always accurate. Then I heard that the line spacing on index cards is measured at pretty much a 'scant' quarter inch. So of course I bought a batch of them at my local Winn-Dixie.
It would appear that my teflon foot is the closest thing to what I need (yet still not quite right), so I measured as best I could from the needle and taped a hunk of memo pad to the bed of my machine as a guide. This much I know; 6 strips of sewn together fabric should measure 12 1/2 inches across. Mine are pretty close yet not necessarily exact and that pisses me off. And the individual strips after having been sewn should come in at 2 inches (except for the two outside pieces that still have unsewn seam allowances). I'm sewing as carefully as I can but I can't help but wonder if the fact that the quality of some of the fabrics is different from the others might be the problem. The lighter colored fabrics are much lighter in weight than the darker ones.
I swear, only I can find a way to make something so simple, so complicated. But regardless of these minuscule discrepancies, I'm going to continue to charge forth. After all, this is for a baby whom I expect will puke, poop, and do God knows what else to it, so who cares if it's not perfect.
One set of strips. Remember these came pre-cut and some of the prints aren't exactly centered.
Three sets hanging on my clothes line (Wilbur's retractable leash).
Now that Wilbur's an adolescent, I don't dare leave my camera lying around. Here he tweets yet one more selfie.
The weather these last few days has been wonderfully cool and perfect for sewing. Tomorrow I plan on cutting these strips into squares and then trying to come up with a good layout.
I also need to find a way to keep my iron from spitting rusty stains up all over everything.
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2 comments:
You might try running vinegar through the iron to clean it out. I think there is also some type of cleaner you can purchase but I just use vinegar.
I'm gonna have to that for sure. But doesn't it figure that all the yucky stains are on the light fabric!!??
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