Today_s_Quilter_-_November_2019

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ESSENTIALGUIDE lfabricstripweaving

70

I madea 12inwovenblockfora cushioncover,butwhenI addeda plain

borderroundtheedge,someofthe woven area was lost in the seam. How

doI preventthishappening?

Tr ythis...Gettingtheverticalandhorizontalstripstorunstraight(andstay

straight)canbetricky.Whenallofthestripsareinplaceandpinnedtothebase

boardat thesides,beforeI fusethemtothefusibleinterfacing,I findit veryhelpful

tospendsometimeadjustingthestripsindividuallytomakesuretheyarerunning

true.Fig 7 showssomeexamplesofareasthataren’tquiteright.I adjustthem,

andwhenI thinktheylookright,I placea largesquarerulerontoptocheckwhere

theedgesare.A 12insquarequiltingrulerwouldbeperfectforyourblock.

Placeit onthewovenblockandcheckthesidesoftheblock(wheretheseamwill

eventuallybe)runalongthesidesoftheruler,pullingoutpinsandadjustingstrips

if needbe.Checkthecentreareaofstripstoo, to make sure they are following the

vertical and horizontal lines on the ruler.

FABRIC WEAVING –

TROUBLESHOOTING

Manipulatingfabricstripsintowovenpatterns is verycreative.

Here are answers to some questions about the process.

Aboutthedesigner

LindaClementsis a leadingtechnicalquiltingexpert,

editorandwriterwho,for 25 years,hasworkedon

manyfabricandcrafttitlesfor F&W Media and other

leadingcraftpublishers.

AmongthemanyquilterswhohavetrustedLindato

ensuretheirbooksarebothaccurateandreaderfriendly,

areLynneEdwardsMBE,SusanBriscoeandPam&

NickyLintott.Linda’sownbook,TheQuilter’sBible, is

themust-haveguidetopatchwork,quiltingandappliqué,

and includes everything she has learnt working with the

industry’sbestdesigners.ForTo d ay’sQ u i l t e r, Lindais

workingwiththeteamtoselectpracticalandcreative

techniquestohelpyoubuilduponyourquiltingandsewing

skills.Shewillthengoindepth,exploringthemethods,

takingthemfromthebasicpremisetotheirfulltechnical

andcreativepotential.Youcancutoutandkeepthis

section to build your own bespoke technical handbook.

ESSENTIALGUIDENEXTISSUE:

SEWINGSIMPLEPATCHWORKSTARS

Tr ya rangeoftechniquestocreateiconicstarblocks

I’vetriedweavingbut

foundit diculttoweave

thestripsoverandunder.

Istherea knacktothis?

Tr ythis...Youcanbuy

weftingneedlesmade

specificallyforfabricstrips

(seeFig 8 ). Thisflatgadget

madeofplastichasa tab

at theendforloopingthe

endofthestrip,securingit

inplaceasyouweave.It’s

anextremelyusefultool

tohaveif youplantodoa

lotoffabricweaving.For

thesamplesmadeforthis

article,I didn’thavetime

togeta “weftie”,soI just

usedmyfingersanda long

pairoftweezers,pokingthe

tweezersunderthevertical

stripandgrabbingtheend

ofthehorizontalstriptopull

it through.It alsohelpsto

feedstripsthroughfromthe

centrewhenpossible,where

thereis moreofa gap,and

then slide them into place.

Fig 7 Squaring up a block

ig

Thisstripis

skewingoff

centreand

leaving gaps

Thesestripsarebowed

and not running straight

Thisstriphas

slippedunder

another strip

Thesestrips

areoutof

placeand

not straight

Fig 8 Wefting needle