Monday, August 16, 2010

Quilting (Sandwiching) Prep Work


Before I quilt a project, whether it be place mats or a quilt, I press it and lay it on the floor. It should lay totally flat, no waves along the edges, or hills in the middle. Fixing those errors aren't always easy.  Hills in the middle may require taking apart a row, and making some adjustments.  Waves on the edges are a bit easier to fix.

Amandajean at Crazy Mom Quilts has a tip here, showing us how to straighten those rows up so that our quilt top will lay flat before we sandwich it together.  Read down to the end of that entry.  I like how she points out that your corrections need to be subtle.

Amandajean has some great tutorials.  Before you "try this at home", for the first time, her tutorials are some that I would research.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Let's finish this: Greek Square Quilt





I have been on a vacation from quilting for the summer, not exactly by choice with vacations, visitors, funerals, and college prep.  Last night I ran through some of my favorite blogs.  Everyone seems to be working on unfinished projects.  So, I'm pulling out my unfinished Greek Square quilt from this post.

One of my concerns with this quilt was the possibility of shrinkage since it is going on my bed.   Warm and Natural shrinks 3%, and it seems like my quilts have shrunk more than that.   I have a tendency of washing things that have been laying around the house in hot water, with a few "Color Catcher" sheets made by CLOROX.


So, I made an executive decision last night to add another 8 inch border of this paisley blue.   I love searching for a particular fabric on line.