Monday, March 28, 2016

gypsy wife section two link party

 march is winding up, so it's time to complete section two and link up your posts below.

no one minds that mine is still technically in 5 pieces, right? that will be dealt with shortly.

how did this month go for you? i know pershing was quite a block to tackle. still, i have seen many section two's completed on instagram. i think in general it was an easy-ish month/section. hardly any strips this time around.

the main complaint i am hearing is people are having difficulty in getting the sizing right on section pieces which leads to them not matching up well. if you are experiencing this, you are not alone! this is such a huge frustration after all the work put into individual blocks. i think the key here is in the scant 1/4" seam. i've noticed that even when my component pieces are perfectly sized i can have trouble with the block being a bit small. just the nature of working with so many intricate pieces, i suppose. so if my pieces are accurately sized, it has to be my seam wherein the problem lies, right? it's not too hard to adjust for that when a few pieces are going together, but it can make a big difference in the areas where there are lots of pieces or strips. my best advice is master that scant 1/4" seam and keep trucking. i know we all want these labor-intensive quilts to be perfect, but i'm told by the veterans that it's such a busy quilt, the little faults tend to get lost. so let's just keep going, shall we?

did you know that even those spectacular 1/4" piecing feet you buy for your machine need to be checked? if you are having sizing issues, i suggest you check your foot for accuracy. and the next step is to figure out the scant 1/4" seam, which basically means you are sewing a thread or two less than 1/4".

for some guidance on the scant 1/4" seam or how to find out if your machine foot is accurate, check out some of these tutorials:

diary of a quilter
craftsy
that quarter inch!

i hope this helps!


you know what else is giving me just a bit of trouble? keeping track of my strips! goodness, they switch places quickly. currently, i have a whole section on design wall A where i am storing the strips in order. some of them are already cut into the smaller sections, so i just layer them together in their place. i've seen some ladies label their strips with the id numbers i assigned them. very smart!

so how did you do?

what do you think about this section and it's blocks?

any tips or suggestions for others who will be doing these in the future?

gyspy wife section two link party



8 comments:

  1. I love the red in your version Hydeeann! I agree that this quilt is not too forgiving about inaccurate 1/4 inch seams, but I think if you are consistently inconsistent it should work out :-)

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  2. This is going to be incredible! I love the red too! I sometimes use a different line on my 1/4 foot to make a scant seam - I just eyeball ball it following one of the dents on the foot - not the most helpful but it works for me!! I often find there's a big difference when working with blocks with lots of little pieces!

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  3. Here is a link to my Pinterest page showing how I managed to keep strips organized. http://pin.it/Q6-LAgP Hope it's helpful. Love this quilt by the way. Your spreadsheets were invaluable because I was having problems labelling strips correctly AAND trying to figure out nlock sizes.

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  5. I have found those 1/4" feet on 2 machines are not accurate. There are a lot of small pieces. Just keep measuring and you will be right.,don't rush....

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  6. Love your fresh cheerful colours - reminds me of Spring! Always nice when we're in Autumn! Heading on to see your links on
    the 1/4" seam.

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  7. Impressive. Pretty and colorful

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