Stacking the stash

I grew up in a neighborhood where housekeeping was an art form. Chores were performed on schedule depending on day, season, or holiday. Windows were washed, porches were swept, grass was mowed, and Christmas lights strung in a timely fashion. Not only relatives, but church members lived nearby and by golly if you were off schedule, it was duly noted. You know what I'm talking about. These women had jobs, with a capital J and a big S. I call them the steel apron generation. Not only did they raise their own children, but any one elses who happened to be in the vicinity. Chances are, you were one of those children.

They taught me the value of order, and thank goodness for them.

This stack of fabric has been on the waiting list since last summer. It was recently rinsed in water, dipped in a bucket of spray starch solution, and hung out to dry. Now that it is stiff and pressed, trimming must be done. This is the part that can be done a little bit at a time. Sometimes I use box lids to stack according to size and/or color.
More recently, I've begun using my grandmother's drying rack to separate size and color. When I'm done trimming, most will be filed accordingly. Some will be trimmed for the 2" square box. Some will be trimmed for the 3-1/4" square box.

Like seasonal chores, this is a process. An ongoing process that works for me. Now if only I could apply it to the rest of the house.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . . .

A pressing issue

My friend Susan, who owns the lil' fabric shop known as The Quilter's Block, encouraged me to do a post on fabric preparation. Or, more specifically, how I prepare my fabric for cutting. It may seem a bit more involved than what you are used to, but for me, the benefits far outweigh the time needed. These benefits include ease of handling small pieces and much less fraying.

I'm not going to cover washing fabric, as you can find all you need to know regarding that subject in Harriet Hargrave's book, From Fiber to Fabric: The Essential Guide to Quiltmaking Textiles. In it, Harriet covers many aspects of dye testing including washing in the water that comes out of your faucet. See if your libary has the book or can borrow it via interlibrary loan.

After my fabric is dye tested, washed, and dried accordingly, I tear off a section based on what size and number of strips I'll be cutting. Generally this includes 2-1/2", 2", and 1-3/4" strips. These pieces will be for my fabric library. The idea is to cut for current and future projects that I have floating around in my head. To this measurement I add 1" for trimming allowance.

The fabric section can have a stringy bottom, which I quickly trim off, tossing the trimmings into my scrap basket.

I iron a sheet of freezer paper on to my ironing board to keep the spray from soaking in. It also keeps the cover cleaner so I don't have to wash it so much. Then I spray each fabric section and pin it to my design wall to dry overnight. (This process is assisted by the dehumidifier which runs 24/7.)

When the sections are dry, I iron them straight (as shown in previous post). If needed I re-spray any areas that are not stiff enough.

Here is my next stack waiting to be trimmed in to strips and/or squares. The fabric pieces left over after cutting strips go in to a separate bag for string quilting. The basket holds any pieces too small to use. As the basket fills, I dump it in to a box. When the box is full, it will be donated to an art teacher or to the local humane society thrift shop. There are many fiber artists in this area who make paper, do felting, etc. Someone will find a need for the fiber and it won't go in to the landfill.

The only change I will be making to this process, is switching from canned spray starch (which has jumped 14 cents per can) to spray starch concentrate, which is much cheaper and I will mix up myself. I'll post more on that process soon.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . . .

The Straight and Narrow

Title sounds like a PG-13 movie pertaining to blue jeans worn in the 1980's. Forgive my warped sense of humor, it's been a very long work day.

Today's quilt class is really about working with the "straight of grain." I've been promising a couple of folks that I would cover this aspect of quilting and now FINALLY it's here. Please forgive the delay ladies, you both know the hours we work.

1. Begin with 100% cotton fabric of course. Clip a notch about 2" down from the top and tear straight across from selvedge to selvedge. (save torn strip for string quilting) You now have a TRUE grain line.

2. On the right hand side of your well-padded ironing board (I use an old mattress pad, flannel sheet, or army blanket), pin the selvedge edges together in a straight vertical line. Make sure it is even and straight - VERY IMPORTANT.

3. Notice how the fabric bubbles. This is because the top edges are not in alignment.

4. Insert the big long ruler in between along the fold. Spray with water or spray starch. Using your hands and your hip, (yes, this is quilter's aerobics), apply gentle pressure to the fold line allowing your torn top edges to line up evenly. Your fabric fold line and your straight of grain each must be straight. Press with a warm iron, tugging and pressing at the same time to align the top edge and keep the fold vertical.

5. Next, align your straightened fabric on the vertical and horizontal measurement lines on your cutting mat. Again, your fold line must be straight. No waves.

6. Align the vertical dark line on your ruler with the fold of the fabric. This is a true indicator of how straight your fold is. If it is not straight, take it back to ironing board and try again. (This piece took me 3 trips to the ironing board.)

7. With fabric evenly placed on the cutting mat and vertical ruler line along the fold, trim off just enough of the top horizontally to create a clean edge. Not too much, you don't want to waste it.

8. Move over to the other side of your cutting mat, align the long line of the ruler along the clean cut edge and cut your first strip, whatever width you need.

9. After cutting 2 or 3 strips, move back once again to the previous side and align the vertical ruler line along the fold and trim a tiny bit off the top edge to even it up again.

10. Move back around to the side of your mat and cut your next strip.

11. If you cannot move from side to side at your cutting station, move your mat board to make the proper cut. DO NOT MOVE your fabric. When you move your fabric it shifts everything that you just worked so hard to line up.

12. I've seen some students use their cutting mat yellow line as a guide for cutting. I do not recommend this as those lines get worn. Stick with a good ruler. Quilter's Rule brand is my favorite as the lines are raised and there is less slippage.

NOTE: Not all fabric becomes off grain when wound on to the bolt.

Fabric that must have the grain straightened is best worked in small sections depending on the size and number of strips to be cut. For instance, if I need five 2" strips, I tear off a piece of fabric that is 11". That 1" allowance is usually enough for trimming. However, sometimes if the fabric is very untrue, 2" extra may be needed.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. Night Ya'll

Cheaper rotary blades???

Have you heard about L.P. Sharp Company?

Located in Gilman, Minnesota, they offer a reduced price on both Olfa brand and generic brand blades. They carry different sizes and when you exchange your old dull blades for new ones, their rate is better yet.

So contact L.P. Sharp at www.houseofhanson.com/lpsharp.html and tell 'em Gypsy sent ya.

Quick Update

Just a quick post before I'm off to work.
If you need to make your hourglass block bigger, go up 1" on your beginning block size. For instance, if you want you hourglass square to be 4", start with a 5" square of light and dark fabric.
If you want your hourglass square to be 5", start with a 6" square of light and dark fabric. You get the idea.

Don't forget to share pictures of your final quilt.

Hourglass Quilt

To begin your hourglass quilt, you will need 4" squares, 1 dark and 1 light.

From each dark/light block combination you will get 2 finished hourglass blocks, in other words, 2 sets. You can use both sets in your quilt or work with a friend and trade half of your blocks or maybe make 2 quilts.

Picture #1
To begin, place a light and dark 4" square right sides together.
On the darker square, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner using a Pilot brand fine point black pen. (Pilot brand does not

bleed.)

Stay away from pens that promise their ink will disappear. It does not, but more on that later on.

Picture #2

Using the continuous piecing method, sew a 1/4" seam on each side of the drawn black line using a size 10 or 12 to-the-inch stitch.

Once a seam is sewn on to each side of the black line, cut along the black line. You now have 2 half square triangles (or HST).

Next you will press each HST open making sure the dark side of the seam is pressed towards the dark fabric triangle. Do not press the seam open as it weakens the seam.

Picture #3
Lay out HST #1 with the dark triangle towards the top left.

Right sides together, place the second HST (in the same color grouping) with the darker triangle on the bottom right. Slide them together until the seam lines come together, but do not overlap. It must be a snug fit.

Using the same Pilot pen, draw a line diagonally from corner to corner, this time from the light triangle point to the dark triangle point.

Picture #4

Pin if necesary and sew a 1/4" seam along each side of the drawn line. Cut apart on drawn line.

Picture #5

Press open to see your hourglass block.

Trim square by placing the diagonal line of your ruler on the center diagonal of the block. Be sure to align the 1-1/2" mark in the very middle of the block in order to trim the first 2 sides. If you don't square up from the center out, your block will be off-kilter.

Blocks will finish at 3" square trimmed, and 2-1/2" square sewn.
In order to determine how big you want to make your quilt divide
width and length of required size by 2.5".

For instance, if my quilt needed to be 25" x 35" before adding borders, it would be 10 blocks wide by 14 blocks long. (I tend to make them the size I like and then add borders.)

Good luck and happy sewing.