Trace around all four edges and trim
the block back to the line.14
Sew a white café-umbrella
shape to the top of the
appliqué block. Press the seam
towards the smaller shape.15
Match two cherry (J) café-
umbrella shapes, right sides
together, and join them along the
widest (bottom) edge. Turn the top
layer of fabric over so that the wrong
sides of the fabrics match and press
the seam. Topstitch^11 ⁄ 8 in from the
seam with matching thread.16
Pin the cherry café-umbrella
pocket on top of the white
shape, matching the edges. Check
that the cherry pocket completely
covers the white fabric. Baste around
the edges to keep the pocket in place.
Border 117
Fold the 2in white Border 1 strip
in half, short edges matching,
and fi nger press a crease to mark its
centre. Unfold. Make a light pencil
mark in the seam allowance of the
bottom edge in the centre crease. Pin
the top edge of the strip to the bottomof the block with an equal amount
overhanging at each end. Sew this
seam and press it outwards.
Border 218
Arrange the trimmed half-
square triangle units in pairs
with one grey and one black triangle
in each. Match the pairs, right sides
together, and join them along the grey/
black edges. Press the seams open.19
Sew the pairs of units together
side by side with the triangles
facing the same way and press the
seams open. Sew a coloured 3in square
to each end of the pieced border.20
Pin the pieced border strip to
the bottom edge of Border 1:
the base of the grey and black
triangles should be next to the white
strip and the centre seam in the
pieced border should match the
pencil mark you made on the white
strip in Step 17. Sew the seam and
press it towards Border 1.21
Press the block, then use a
quilter’s ruler and rotary cutter
to trim the ends of the border strip at
an angle in line with the block edges.Quilting
22
Lay the fi nished block on
the cotton batting and cut
the batting out about 1^1 ⁄ 2 in by eye
outside the edges of the block. Pin
the block to the batting, making
sure the edges, appliqué and seam
areas are especially secure.23
Fit a walking foot and set
the stitch length to 3 (about
eight stitches per inch). Begin by
stay stitching right around the
block^1 ⁄ 8 in from the edges.24
Using white thread, stitch
in the ditch of the seams
of Border 1 and the café umbrella.
Claire and Jemima then switched
to clear monofi lament thread and
a free-motion foot to outline quilt
all the appliqué shapes on the
panel. Rule random parallel lines
over the background fabric and
quilt along them using a walking
foot. Don’t quilt Border 2 at this
stage – it will be done in November,
in Part 10.Step photos courtesy of Jemima.CLAIRE TURPIN (left) – MY
MISTAKES AND HOW I LEARNT
TO AVOID THEM
Everyone makes mistakes. That’s how we all learn.
Here’s what I’ve learnt relating to my craft:- It’s a mistake to buy cheap quilting fabric, as the
weave is so loose nothing stays square. - It’s a mistake to buy a cheap sewing machine, as
it will bounce all over the table, and you’ll never get
a nice straight line.- It’s a mistake to buy cheap pins, as they are
either too blunt, too fat, too bendy or you melt
the plastic pinhead with the iron! - It’s a mistake to leave a rotary cutter on the
fl oor with the guard off – when you accidentally
kick it, it hurts and there’s blood on the carpet!
- It’s a mistake to buy cheap pins, as they are
JEMIMA FLENDT (right) –
MY MISTAKES AND HOW I
LEARNT TO AVOID THEM
Over the years, I’ve learnt that taking the
wrong shortcuts only leads to tears and
frustration. Quilting and sewing is a fairly
precise game, and you need to be careful which
shortcuts to take, as sometimes ones you think
will be quick lead to a lot of unpicking and an item
you are not really happy with. I have also learnt to
trust my own style. I was told by someone early
on in my quilting career that I had terrible colour
combinations, and that largely put a big dent in my
ability. I lost confi dence with what I wanted to put
together and now see that you don’t necessarily have
to follow a colour chart or some ‘rule’ – it takes a bit
of time to develop colour confi dence.