Here is the top panel of my Flower Pots quilt. I have been busy putting the top together and will post it soon. Today I had a bit of a mishap while trimming the panels. I was trimming the final borders of appliqued circles and realized that on one of the borders it was not straight and some of the circles were too close to the edge on one side. Fortunately it could be fixed by removing the circles and shifting them about 3/8 in but it was pretty frustrating. I think trimming down the applique blocks is my least part of quilting. So scary after all that work, one wrong move and disaster. Anyway, that slowed down my final assembly by several hours but I still love the quilt and all is well now.
Heather, The Happy Appliquer (no I'm not always happy, but applique makes me happy!)
This goes along with my comment on your last post-vibrant!
ReplyDeletePhew - I was holding my breath reading that! Same here - I managed to put off finishing my only applique quilt for 6 years as I was nervous trimming the blocks - how silly was that - back on track now!
ReplyDeleteSometimes when I sit down at my selling machine, it can change my whole attitude, I think quilting probably makes us all a little happier. Can't wait to see your blocks come together, wishing you all a wonderful day of stitching.
ReplyDeleteI have a real fear of trimming blocks too! I'm so glad you were able to fix your border. Your quilt is going to be gorgeous. I love that bowl in the center of your panel especially. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your quilt! I am working on Flower Pots, too (as well as Princess Feathers and the medallion one!). Kim has a good idea in her instructions that I'm using now, and it makes the trimming at the end easy. I machine baste down the middle vertically and horizontally before starting the applique. Then at the end it's easy to measure only half of each side before removing the basting! Thanks, Kim, for that one!
ReplyDeleteKathy Webb
Gorgeous top panel, love the colours you've chosen! Well done, love to see the other panels.
ReplyDeleteAnother tip from me regarding the centre lines is to actually measure the whole widths after you've marked the sewing lines. If you only measure the halves from the centre line, it might be a bit off ( mine goes like that) I can end up with different sewing lines each time, don't ask me why! I usually measure about 3 times or more before I trim off the excess, and it is scary. Also, I don't keep pressing the appliqué panel until just before I measure for the sewing lines. The reason for this is that I like to have the appliqued piece shrink and there is less chance of appliqué pieces falling off outside the lines.
Another way of ensuring you won't go outside the lines is to measure the finished size before you start and sew a basting stitch on it so you can see it on the right side of the appliqué piece BUT when appliqué is done, you should measure the finished piece using the centre lines again. Usually my appliqué would have shrunk the background piece. I tend to draw the design fairly close to the edges and also to fill up the panel because I prefer to appliqué than to quilt!
Hope this is useful, Kim McL
I too think trimming the blocks is scary. I'm glad you were able to makeyour block work out ok. It's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt is always a heartbreak when you trim down and find that the space required is somewhat lacking...
ReplyDeleteYour work is fabulous - and I would love to see it added to seamedUP.com - a new quilting website a la ravelry.
(full-disclosure - I am a cofounder of the site!)