Today's Quilter - UK (2020-01)

TECHNICALTIP

Cutaqua/turquoiseand

neutralstripsintorandom

widthsfrominto2infor

string-piecedunits.Strips

neededwillgetshorteras

youcoverthebasetriangles,

soanylengthofstripcan

beused.Cutenoughtoget

going;cutmorevariety

as needed.

imagepairsof trianglesforstar

pointfoundationpiecing.

QCutfive-hundred-thirty-two(532)

rectangles2inx 4in;placetwo(2)

rectanglesrightsidestogetherand

cutonthediagonaloncetoyield

two-hundred-eighty-eight(288)

mirrorimagepairsof trianglesfor

sashing unit foundation piecing.

3

Fromaquascraps,cut eleven (11)

2in x WOF strips.

Preparingfoundations

4

Traceorcopyone -hu nd red-

forty-four(144)of theStraitsof

MackinacStarPointFoundation

pattern(page17)andfive-hundred-

thirty-two(532)of theSashingand

BorderUnitFoundationpattern(page

18),usingthefoundationpaperof

yourchoice.Duetothemanyseams

inthisquiltandthenumberof seam

allowancesaddingbulk,Bonnie

doesn’trecommendpiecingona fabric

orotherleave-infoundation,making

thingsevenmorebulky.Sheprefers

tousepaperandremoveit before the

block and quilt assembly.

Note:Thestitchinglinesonthe

shadedareasonthe4infinishedstar

pointfoundationareforguidance

only.Bonnierandomlyfilledthe

areawithdierentsizesof strips,so

theseamsfellindierentplacesand

thepiecingoneachtriangleunitis

dierent.Shestitchedthesmaller

2infinishedsashingunitswithtwo

(2)piecesof aquaineachcentre

section.Theseunitscanbecutwith

Tr i-RecsTools( byEZQu i lt i ng).

Keepinmindthattheunitsare

4 in unfinished and 2in finished.

1

Beginbycentringthefirstpiece

of fabricbehindarea1 onthe

foundation,placingthewrongside

of thefabricagainsttheunprinted

sideof thefoundation.Look

throughthefoundation,holdingit

uptothelightortowarda window,

andpositionit sothereis at least

inseamallowanceextending

beyondtheline,separatingarea 1

fromarea2. A smalldotof gluecan

holdthefabricin place – pins can

distort paper.

2

Placethenextpieceof fabric(for

area2)againstthearea1 fabric,

rightsidestogether,extendingthe

seamallowancebeyondthepiecing

line.Cuttingpieceslargerthan

needed will make positioning easier.

3

Asyouaddfabricstotheblock

foreachstep,placetheminthe

correctpositionontheunprinted

sideof thefoundation.Holding

theblockuptowarda windowor

otherlightsourcecanhelpwith

pieceplacement.Fillthecentrearea

of thelargetrianglewithrandom

widths of strips as desired.

4

Sewthestarpointseamsby

stitchingdirectlyonthelineon

theprintedsideof thefoundation,

extending the seamline a few

stitchesintotheseamallowanceat

eitherend.Futureseamlineswill

crosstheseandlocktheminplace.

Backstitching is not necessary.

5

Presseachseamafterit has

beensewn.Usea dry,warm

iron,makingsurethateachseam

is pressedcompletelytotheside.

Anytucksorpleatscreatedduring

pressingcouldbelockedinplaceby

thenextseamthatcrossesoverand

willaecttheaccuracyof thepoints

or corners within the block.

6

Foldthepaperbackalong

theseamjustsewn,andtrim

eachseamaseachpieceis added.

Becausetheseblocksaresosmall,

andstringquiltscanbeheavy,

Bonnietrimmeda bitsmallerthan

thetraditionalinseam,butkept

theseamallowancemorethanin.

Shesaysshetendstotrimwith

scissorsrightoverherrubbishbin,

ratherthantakingthetimetolay

everythingbackona matwitha

rulerandrotarycutter.Youwillget

goodat eyeballingwheretotrim.

If,whilesewing,youfindyourself

witha tornfoundation,grabsome

printermailinglabels,cutthem

intonarrowstripsandusethose

like‘adhesivebandages’toholdthe

foundationsbacktogether.These

won’tmeltwhenbeingtouchedwith

the iron, as regular tape will.

7

Afterpiecing,trimeachunitby

placingtheinlineof a ruleron

theoutermostseamlineof theblock,

trimmingeachunitinbeyond

theseamline.Atthispoint,before

assemblingthequilt,carefully

remove all of the paper.

8

It is easytochainpiecethe

neutralstarpointtrianglesin

placeafterallof the centre sections

have been sewn.

PA PE R- PI E CI NG B A SIC S