QuiltBlocks Laceflower – Quilt Tips

Ready to start a new quilt? Do you have a few QuiltBlocks Laceflower blocks collected from JoAnn’s Fabric stores?  We’d like to share some quilt tips to ensure that you will have fun and create a beautiful quilt.

TIPS BEFORE YOU SEW

Your machine may need a little attention. Look for dust and lint in the bobbin case. Clean the area gently and thoroughly. Put in a new needle, a quilting or universal.

Light grey or white 100% cotton thread is preferred because it will match the cotton fabric. Treat your machine to a new spool of quality thread and fill a couple of bobbins.

TIPS FOR SEWING

Stitch length: about 2.0 to 2.5. Too small and you will have a difficult time un-sewing, too long will make weak seams.

There is no reason to backstitch at beginning and ending of seams for patchwork, unless the instructions tell you to. Just sew straight!

Seam allowance is 1/4″  for quilting. It’s really pretty important.  Here are some tips to check feet and seams:

Graph paper marked at 1/4″ grid – line up your needle and check the foot placement. Even if you have a bladed 1/4″ quilter’s foot, check it so you know to float the fabric next to the blade or push up against it.

This foot (below) doesn’t have a good spot to sew a consistent seam, so we’ll test it.  Using a trusted ruler, gently hand lower the needle at exactly 1/4″.  A sticky note and the line printed on the bobbin cover will give us guidance, but using the foot itself may give us accuracy problems – there just isn’t a good spot to line up.

Here’s a third foot and a different ruler.  Lower the needle, find a reference point on the foot.  Check the position and mark your machine.  This foot will work well, because you can see clearly a spot to guide pieces on the foot.

TIPS FOR LACEFLOWER BLOCK #1

Block #1 is the first block in the row. The blocks are numbered in the order they appear.  If this is your first quilt, you may want to start with an easier design – Block 2 or 12. Fewer and larger pieces will be easier for a first block.

Looking at the “Lace Ladder” Block 1, you’ll see many triangles. Inside the kit, you’ll see that all the pieces are squares – that’s right, we’re going to make Half-Square Triangle units (HST) using squares. This technique has been around for a while, it works because there will be no bias edges to pull out of shape and no tips to get eaten up in the feed dogs. After sewing and cutting the half-square triangle units, use a clear ruler with a diagonal line to “square up” the units. Trim only a little bit off each side, centering the line each time, until it measures as stated in the instructions.

Some of the fabric designs may look directional, but treat them as tonals. The White Net background and Turq. Butterfly can be used without trying to match each piece. This adds interest and movement to the finished quilt design.

Check before sewing the squares and half-square triangle units, they should be all the same size. If one is larger or smaller, measure both. Then, decide which one needs to be adjusted. Try to adjust with your sewing, not with the rotary cutter. If you need to make a scant seam allowance, just plan to add more quilting later.

To measure your pieces, please don’t pull out an old worn metal hem gauge, wooden school ruler, or fabric measuring tape, then expect perfect triangle points. You’re a quilter now, let’s use quilt tools!

Sewing in rows: pin two pieces together, sew. Press and measure. They should be 6 1/2″.  Add the next piece: 9 1/2″. Finally, the last piece makes a 12 1/2″ row – yeah!  If any of the pieces don’t measure up, pull out the thread and resew.

To have matching intersections, follow the little arrows for pressing the seams.  Each row goes  in a different direction. From the wrong side, it will look like this: 

… so that you can nest the seams. See how they snug up against each other? Like this:

When you finally put the rows together, the intersections will match neatly!

Work on one block at a time,  until you finish all 12.  The Setting Kit is the final step.  You’ll be there soon!

Happy Quilting!