82 McCall’sQuilting January/February 2020
Weindicatelengthwiseor crosswisegrainwithanarrowonthe
templates.
Cutting
Tofindthegrainlineof yourfabricforrotary
cutting,holdthefabricwithselvagesparal-
lelin frontof you.Keepingtheselvages
together,slidetheedgeclosestto youto
onesideor theotheruntilthefabrichangs
straight,withoutwrinklesor folds.Thenlay
thefabricdownonyourcuttingmatandcut
perpendicularto thefoldline.Usethiscut
edgeasyourstraight-of-grainline.
Manypatchescanbecutfromstripsof fab-
ricbyrotarycutting.First,cuta stripof fabric
thewidthneeded.Then,cross-cutstripsinto
patches.
Tocutfroma template,placethetemplatefacedownonthe
wrongsideof thefabricandtracewitha sharppencil.Reverse
(r)templatesshouldbeplacedfaceuponthewrongsideof the
fabricbeforetracing.
Piecing
Alignthecutedgesof fabricwiththeedge
of thepresserfootif it is ¼ ̋wide.If not,
placemaskingtapeonthethroatplateof
yourmachine¼ ̋awayfromtheneedleto
guideyou.Sewallthewayto thecutedge.Appliqué
Theinstructionsgivetheappliquétechniqueusedbythede-
signer.Fusibleappliquépatternsarealreadyreversed.Toconvert
betweenfusibledesignsandturned-edge,youmayneedto
reversethedesign.Noturn-underallowancesaregivenonap-
pliquépatterns.Whenpositioningpatches,leaveenoughspace
aroundtheoutsideedgesof theblockfortrimmingandseam
allowance.
Fingercreasethefabricin halflengthwise,crosswiseanddiago-
nallyasneededto formguidelinesforplacementof thepatches.
Usea tear-awaystabilizeronthebackto supportmachinestitch-
ingthatis dense(likesatinstitching)andto keepthefabricfrom
tunneling.Choosea stabilizerthatmatchestheweightof thefab-
ric.Aftertheappliquéis complete,gentlyremovethestabilizer.FusibleAppliqué
Raw-edgeappliquéusingpaper-backedfusiblewebis a fast
andeasywayto appliqué.AddE ̋ underlapallowanceto those
edgesthatlieunderanother.
Tracethepatternpieces,alsodrawingtheneededunderlap
allowances,onthepapersideof fusiblewebleavingat least½ ̋
betweenallthepieces.CutaboutE ̋ outsideeachdrawnline.
Toeliminatestiffness,trythisvariationforpatcheslargerthan1 ̋:
Cutoutthecenterof thefusibleweb¼ ̋insidethedrawnline,
makinga ringof fusibleweb.
Followingthemanufacturer’sdirections,irontheweb,paper
sideup,to thewrongsideof thefabric.Cutouttheshapeon
thedrawnline.Carefullypullawaythepaperbacking.Fusethe
patchesto thebackgroundwheremarked.
Tofinishtherawedges,machinesatinstitchwitha coloredthread,
or zigzagor blanketstitchusingmatchingor invisiblethread.PreparingYourFabric
We recommendthatyoupre-washyourfabrics.A shrinkage
factoris includedin ouryardagecomputations.- Rotarycutterandmat
- Acrylicruler:Manyshapes
andsizesareavailable;a
goodoneto startwithis
6 ̋ x24 ̋with¼ ̋and⅛ ̋
markings - Scissors:A separatepair
for paperandfabric - Sewingmachine
- ¼ ̋ foot
- Walkingfoot
- Darningfoot
- Pins
- Ironingboard& iron
- Markingpencils/markers/
etc. - Needles
- Thimble
- Safetypins
- Templateplastic
- Thread
BasicQuiltingSupplies
AboutourPatterns
We recommendthatyoureadallof theinstructionsbefore
startinga projectandthatyoucutandsewoneblockbe-
fore cuttingallof yourfabric.
Usinga rotarycutter,matandanacrylicruler,cuttheshape
to thesizeindicatedin thecuttinglist.
Our patternslistfinishedblocksizes,whicharetypically½ ̋
smallerthanunfinishedblocksizesbecausetheydonot
includeseamallowances.Getting Started
Quilt Basics
MachinePiecing
It is importantto cutaccuratelyandto sewexact¼ ̋seams.
Templates
Trace thepatternsontemplateplasticandcutoutaccurately.
Planning
Measure,markandcutthebindingand
border stripsbeforecuttingpatchesfrom
the samefabric.Cutlargerpatchesbefore
smallerones.Forbestuseof thefabric,
arrangepatcheswithcuttinglinescloseor
touching.
One or morestraightsidesof thepatchshould
follow thelengthwise(parallelto theselvages)
or crosswise(perpendicularto theselvages)
grain offabric,especiallythesidesthatwill
be on theoutsideedgesof thequiltblock.ABB BBCut543211(^23)
(^45)
Techniques
THE BEST OF AMERICAN QUILTING
Quilt Basics continued on page 84.