How to Label your Quilts

All my tutorials can be found on the Tutorials page.

Recently, our local group finished a quilt (you can see it hanging in our exhibition in my previous post) and we decided to hand it over to its destiny: To make money for charity. However, before we could hand it over we needed to add a label.
This is how I usually make my labels, and yes, I always label my quilts! My quilts are part of my history in their own small way after all.

1. Create the text.
Always include the maker's name (or makers' names), place (town), and date (at least the year it was finished). More details can be added as you wish; the occasion it was made for, the recipient, start and finish dates, materials, etc. I always use WORD in a font that I like, centre the text, and change the font size(s), but you can vary that to your liking. Just make sure that the words are arranged how you want them to appear on the label. Then print.
Of course, if you have lovely hand writing, you can write the text directly on a piece of paper. Do make sure it is large enough to be legible, keeping in mind that the text will appear less sharp on the label fabric.


2. Iron a piece of cotton fabric large enough to cover the complete text with at least an inch extra around it. I usually use a white or cream plain fabric, but any light fabric will be suitable. This time I used a left over scrap of calico. 

3. Pin the calico over the text, making sure there is enough space around the text.

4. Trace the text onto the calico with a soft pencil. Follow the shapes of your lovely writing carefully, though you do not have to transfer thicker/thinner areas of the individual letters too accurately.

5. Take out the pins and go over the pencil lines with a fabric marker or a permanent marker with archival ink. I do like my Pigma micron 05 pen, but if I want a slightly thicker line I might grab my Tee Juice fineliner. Make sure you place a piece of scrap paper under your fabric to protect your work surface, the ink marks sometimes through the fabric.

6. If you want, and depending on your chosen font, you can go over the text again, emphasising the variation in thickness of the letters. You probably will not be able to see these details through the fabric when tracing, so just look at the original printed text and thicken the letters on your label  where required.

7. Cut the label to size. I measure an inch outside the letters, I feel that is the minimum space you need. Make sure you cut your label with straight corners.

8. Mark each corner at 1/2" from each edge with a light pencil dot.

9. Take the label to your ironing board and fold over each corner in turn so that the pencil dot becomes just visible. Pin the corner to the padding of your board on the dots, making sure the label lies straight. Press the corner creases.

10. One by one fold over each edge and press.

Corners will show a diagonal fold without bulk:
 

11. Pin the label in place on the back of the quilt. It is usual to place the label on the back at the lower corner of the quilt, but if your quilt is not going into an official show (where they usually have specific requirements of where to place your label - as well as what information to include on it) you can place it anywhere of course!

12. Stitch the label to the back with neat stitches. I use a virtually invisible slip stitch in a matching thread, but you could make the stitching a decorative feature if you wish, as long as it is stitched down securely. Make sure your stitches don't go through to the front of the quilt.

13. At the corners, use your needle to guide under the fold, so that the corners are square. Also, make an extra stitch or two at the corners for security.

14. And there you have it:

Sandra

Accurate Sashing - Tip on Thursday #3

Sashing to fit

For a full list of my tutorials go to my Tutorials page.

If it looks as if I am making a whole series of Tip-on-Thursday blog posts, I never set out to do that. But it seems that I have a few tips to share, so for the moment I am running with it... I am not making promises for the future though!

During the week I came across two (completely unrelated) people who had trouble lining up blocks when putting sashing between them. In some cases it can be very annoying to notice that blocks have shifted along the sashing, and sashing strips do not align straight across. I have made a few sashed quilts, and the trick I used seems to work so I am happy to share it here in case more people find it helpful.

My very first quilt was this small sampler (and it is hanging on my wall still, twenty-odd years and many house moves later):

There are only 6 blocks so it wasn't too difficult to line up the blocks evenly along the sashing, but since this quilt was made as a first project to learn the techniques, it was made using the methods as I was taught them at the time.

This is how I did it, and I do it this way still:
- In this example I assume that all the blocks are the same size and are placed in a straight setting as in the sampler quilt above. -

Step 1: Trim your quilt blocks to size: If they are very unevenly sized (for example because they are made by different people) you may decide to trim them to a smaller size then originally planned, or you may want to add an extra edge to a very small specimen. In this example I'll use 12" square blocks, so they are 12½" unfinished.

Step 2: Decide on your sashing width, and cut your strips. I'll make the strips 3", so cut size is 3½" wide.

Now to attach the sashing: Make your blocks fit the sashing, not the other way around. And sorry, but don't just start sewing sashing strips to your blocks and trimming away what sticks out either! Instead:

Step 3: The first sashing strips are as long as the width of your block, in the example 12½", so cut enough strips exactly to that size. Line up each block with a sashing strip, match up the corners, and pin them. Then ease any discrepancies between block and sashing along the length. Since I made the sashing strips to size there should not be much difference, but sometimes the blocks are not that accurate, or they are stretching a bit.
Sew together, and press the seam allowances the way you want/need them to go (I won't go into that now). Continue until the blocks are joined into the required long strips of alternately blocks and sashing strips.

Step 4: This is the crucial step!
The long sashing strips go between the long block/sashing strips (from step 3), and it is here that it can be tricky to line up the intersections. Again, don't just start sewing!
Mark up those intersections instead, and align your cross seams to your markings:

Start at the corner, this is 0 (zero). Since your first block is now 12¼" wide (finished on one side only), make a mark at 12¼", then 3" further (finished sashing width), then 12" further (finished block size), etc, ending with a mark where the last block corner should be (12¼" away from the previous marking). Do this on both (long) edges of the sashing strips.

- If you are sure of your markings, you can trim the strip to size, or you can sew first so you can be certain that the strip is the right size before cutting. Also, sometimes strips need to be joined together to make a sashing strip of enough length. I do this with a diagonal seam, and press this seam allowance open for a least obtrusive result. -

Now, pin each cross-seam to its concomitant marking, no matter if it fits exactly. Remember, you are making it fit! Again, ease any discrepancy between the pinned markings/seam intersections working on only one section between pins at a time. Use more pins if needed, especially if you are easing a (relatively) large amount. When sewing, take your time. Where a lot of easing has to be done and to prevent pleats, gently stretch the two fabric layers between the markings, so they lay together flat while sewing.

Sew, press, et voilà!

I use this method for all long sashing strips. When there is more than one long sashing strip, I make sure that they are all of exactly the same length, too. The result is a straight, flat quilt, with crossways sashings lining up where they should.

An other quilt I used sashing in wasn't quite so straightforward since there were different sized blocks so the intersections don't all go straight across:

However, the same principles were applied: The long horizontal sashing was marked according to the sizes of the blocks and sashing width that needed to be stitched to it. In this case, one side of the sashing strip was marked for 12" blocks (and one 6" block) and 3" sashing, the other side for 6" blocks with 1½" sashing.

Oops, sorry for the fuzzy pic!!

In another quilt the blocks were very uneven (a collaborative effort, above, and sorry for the fuzzy photograph!), and I had to trim them all to 11⅞". In this case I marked at 11⅞" instead of 12½". If blocks are very stretchy, maybe because their edges are on the bias, still pin the corners to the sashing markings, easing the excess between the pins. Remember, you are making the blocks fit the sashing, not the other way around... If the discrepancy is very big, check the markings you made. You may have made a mistake measuring them out (how do I know?!). Also, measure out the markings using a ruler, preferably the same one you used to measure how big your blocks are. Did you know that a measuring tape

s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s with use?!

Dependent on the fabrics used, I mark lightly with pencil, making sure to mark well within the ¼" seam allowance. Sometimes I indicate my markings with a pin perpendicular to the strip edge instead.

Thinking about my tips to share I realise that my first quilt teacher gave me a good grounding in basic quilt making techniques, and though I have learned a lot more since, I still feel the benefit of her generous teaching!

Happy sewing, and make those quilts beautiful!

Sandra

Ironing out the inaccuracy - Tip on Thursday #2

Pressing and Ironing

For a full list of my tutorials go to my Tutorials page.

Earlier today I showed off my new project with improv curved piecing, tentatively named "Energy". I was very happy with the top, but to be honest it was rather wavy and not as flat as I liked.

This was to be expected I suppose, because there was no extra fabric for seam allowances added to the pieces due to the method I used. This caused the pieces to not fit exactly, and especially with the "curvier" curves the result is not quite flat. It is particularly noticeable on the left side and in the top left corner, and it bothered me!

So out came the iron, ironing board, and a wet cloth. Often we are admonished to "press, not iron" our patchwork in order not to distort it. It is usually good advice, but the reverse is true too: If you use your iron well, you can "encourage" your distorted patchwork into a better, in this case flatter, shape. This is what I did:

Step 1: Press/iron your patchwork so that seam allowances are pressed to the right direction, and the fabric is as flat as possible (as above).

Step 2: Lay your fabric on the ironing board, making sure straight lines (edges and seams) are positioned straight, even if this gives waves or lumps in between. You can even pin crucial points in place onto the ironing board (put the pins in as flat as you can, and preferably small pin heads). If the patchwork is larger than the ironing board, I usually start with the middle section first, though if one section is particularly bad, I may start there. In this case the middle section included the waviest bits, so that part got the treatment first. I did the top and bottom sections after.

Step 3: Pat down the fabric to even out any lumps and bumps as much as possible. Then gently iron as flat as possible, leaving each section flat in place until cooled then moving to the next section. In my case this was not enough, though sometimes this is all that's needed.

Step 4: Lay the wet, but not dripping, cloth on top of the patchwork. Pat down as much as possible with your hands, making sure there are no creases, either in the pressing cloth, or in the patchwork underneath!

Step 5: Press with a dry iron, one small section at a time. Lift the iron from place to place, the cloth will steam and gradually get slightly drier, though there is no need to iron the cloth completely dry. When the cloth is no longer very wet, the ironing can become a bit firmer without the cloth moving about, but keep a gentle touch.

Step 6: Lift the cloth from the patchwork. The patchwork will be (unevenly) damp, and disconcertingly wrinkled, though unless it was severely wavy, the large waves will have gone.

Now iron out the small wrinkles, a small section at a time, using the tip of the iron. Pay particular attention not to distort bulky corners and (straight) seams, since distortion here can be extra visible.

Step 7: Place the full iron on the piece, going around the whole area bit by bit. Don't hold the iron in one place for too long, you don't want scorch marks! But keep going round until the piece is completely dry.

Leave your section lying flat on the ironing board until the fabric is cooled, then repeat the whole process with remaining sections until the whole piece is done.

Isn't this much better? It's not completely perfect, but the small waves that are left will hardly be visible once layered with wadding, and the rest will easily quilt out!

Sandra

Perfect quilt binding - Tip on Thursday #1

To find all my tutorials go to the Tutorials page.

In the last few days I posted some pictures on Instagram which got unexpected comments. Apparently the method I was using for attaching my binding is not as common as I thought. Which made me realise that there are probably quite a few tips and tricks that I may have picked up in the twenty-odd years I have been making quilts. Starting with the way I attach "ordinary" continuous binding, here we go...

Sewing on binding

I used to trim my (quilted) quilt straight and square, and then attach the binding, raw edges together, to the edge of the trimmed quilt.

NO MORE! 

I found that the edges of the quilt stretched while sewing on the binding. And the quilt felt very hard to control under the machine.
While the use of a walking foot helped to some extent, the right feed dogs were never quite gripping the fabric since it was trimmed, and I was struggling to keep the quilt going straight. And the edges of the quilt still tended to stretch, resulting in wavy edges. Not my preferred look.

So these days I sew my binding onto the quilt before trimming. The raw edges of the binding are stitched level with the edge of the quilt top and sewn on as usual through all the quilt layers. Then I trim the quilt edges.

And then... I trim the quilt level with the quilt top, yes?

Well, NO! 

It depends a bit on the look I am after, how wide I cut my binding, but I always aim to trim the edges of the quilt so that I end up with a well filled binding while stitching the binding to the back at the stitching line. In this case, my binding was cut at 2 1/4" wide (my usual size) and folded double. It was stitched a good 1/4" away from the edge of the quilt top. Some difficult calculations Measuring the width of the binding from the stitching to the folded edge gave me 7/8" (approximately). So I cut the quilt edge just under half that size at 3/8" away from my stitching line, allowing a little for thickness (I used only light, thin wadding).

For ease of turning the corners, I trimmed away the very corners of the wadding. The corners are usually bulky enough.

And there you have it, perfect binding! Don't you love the effect the check gives?!

But hold on, what if your quilt is not quite as straight as you would have liked? Shouldn't you trim the quilt first to straighten it?

Some may prefer to do that, but I don't. When the edge needs adjusting (this happens often enough - how do I know...), I draw a line where I would previously have cut the quilt, and then line up the raw edges of my binding with that line. Afterwards I cut the quilt edges straight, parallel to the stitching line.

Sandra