Does it really have to be done by the measurements?

I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

Debra, I have just been the Mother of the Bride and am just entirely too
wiped out to go look - but there's a book, it may be Marti Michell's, where
she explains YOPM - your own personal measurements. Her writing explains
when and when NOT you can use a different seam width and be just fine.
Sometimes, the seam width really doesn't matter so long as it is
consistent.
Sometimes, nothing will fit and all the points and corners will be
wonky.
I think you better hold off until better help here arrives. Getting a
new son is glorious but exhausting. Polly

"Debra" wrote in message
...
I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

I think as long as you account for the larger seam allowance when cutting so
you end up with the finished size you want, go for it! And big block quilts
can be pretty cool too. I've seen some that were very pretty.
Good luck
Debi (a fellow math-challenged person)

"Debra" wrote in message
...
I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

Howdy!
Mary Ellen Hopkins PPM=Personal Private Measurements

Consistency is important, not size. g

She also has: PPR=Personal Private Rule
PPV=Personal Private Variation

Ragmop/Sandy


"Polly Esther" wrote in message
link.net...
Debra, I have just been the Mother of the Bride and am just entirely too
wiped out to go look - but there's a book, it may be Marti Michell's,
where
she explains YOPM - your own personal measurements. Her writing explains
when and when NOT you can use a different seam width and be just fine.
Sometimes, the seam width really doesn't matter so long as it is
consistent.
Sometimes, nothing will fit and all the points and corners will be
wonky.
I think you better hold off until better help here arrives. Getting a
new son is glorious but exhausting. Polly

"Debra" wrote in message
...
I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

Debra wrote:
I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA


The answer here is yes and no. For the 9-patch, all squares, as long as
you are consistent, you can play with the seam allowance. All that will
happen is, like you say, you'll get a different size for the finished
block. For the Ohio Star which has triangles, the cut size of the
pieces in the pattern depends on a quarter inch seam allowance. If you
vary the seam allowance without varying the size you cut the pieces,
things are going to go wonky on you. The squares made out of triangles
will not match the size of the squares that you cut plain.


There is no reason not to vary a block pattern to make it bigger. The
easy, practically no math, way to do this is with graph paper. Draw the
block you want on graph paper. Office Max has the 17" x 22" size.
Don't worry about the math. Just draw the block you like. Cut out the
pieces with paper scissors. Pin each piece to your fabric. (You could
use freezer paper too, but this is the way I do it.) Hold your ruler
against the paper with a 1/4" away from the paper. Rotary cut there.
You've just added your 1/4" seam allowance (or whatever size seam
allowance you like) with no math whatsoever.


--LIa

I've done several patterns were my seam is different then called for. If
your ok with the finished size being different I don't see a problem.
Joanna

Debra wrote:

I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

--
Remove Quilt to reply

Hullo Debra
You've already had the answer on seam allowance - 'it depends'! There
are, anyway, techniques where seam allowance accuracy does not matter;
for example, foundation paper piecing and English paper piecing, strip
piecing (if the cutting width is giving including the seam allowance,
just take off half an inch to get to the actually required width and
then re-add your own seam allowances), string piecing, and so on. If
you have a template and you know that the template pieces fit at the
seam line (you need to have both the seam line and the cutting line
shown on the pattern), you can re-draw them, marking the seamline and
add whatever seam allowance you want. As you already agree, consistency
is vital.

If you want to make a pattern larger, that is not difficult to do.
However, you must always get back to the measurements *NOT* including
seam allowances, before you do any increasing. For example: you want
to make something four times larger. You have a square in the pattern
which is given as: 'cut a square 4.5". Half an inch of this is seam
allowance. So, take that off and you have 4", which is the part to be
increased. You want to make the pattern four times larger, so that
makes the square 16" - then add your own seam allowance to that (you do
that, even if you are using quarter inch seams).
One other thing to remember is that you are increasing measurements
along sides. If the pattern gives fabric requirements, that is given as
area. So, if you are doubling side measurements, you need *four* times
the amount of fabric. Doing a quick drawing will show you this more
easily than I can write it!
..
In article , Debra
writes
I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

No problem for most blocks, especially blocks with no points. Do a test
block first!!!!!
And if you want one bed-size block, it's your quilt! To do it (I'm no math
whiz myself), I'd decide what size the block needs to be. Then figure out
what sort of grid it is, i.e. a 3 X3 or 4 X 4 or whatever. For example, a
9-patch or Ohio Star is 3 X 3.
So if you want a giant Ohio Star 60" square, each of the 9 sections that
make this block will be 20", plus seam allowances. (If you want a size that
doesn't divide easily, please just round it up a bit to something you can
divide, and save yourself a headache!)
If you feel insecure about cutting these pieces with only your ruler, you
can buy huge sheets of dressmaker's tracing paper and make giant patterns.
Roberta in D

"Debra" wrote in message
...
I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right? Sure it will be a slightly different finished size
than the pattern says it should be, but that's alright by me.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger? Is
there any real reason not to do that? I'd like one giant block to
cover a whole bed......or maybe four blocks, I"m not sure yet. How
can I do that easily? I'm terrible at math. I'm talking
"multiplication for dummies" would be a good study course for me.
Debra in VA

worked for me until it came time for the sashing.....I was off due to
the seam allowance. I tend to cut a lot and then peice....so I ended
up having to re-cut the sashing as it was to long even though I had
cut according to the pattern. I found this to be true not only for
sashings but for any peice that is any given length that is "suppose"
to fit any given side.

Donna

Debra wrote:

I know this may be heresy, but I've got to know.

Ok, say I want to make a quilt, and I 've got a simple pattern like 9
patch or Ohio Star, but I sew my seams wider than the pattern calls
for. As long as I am consistent in my seam width it should not be a
problem, right?

Totally all right, as long as you are consistent.

Also, what if I like a block pattern but want it much bigger?

I do this all the time. There's a simple fish block
that I like and it's supposed to be some small-ish
size (3" or 4"). Well, I made a 12" block to be the
center of a lap quilt and my 16-month-old Pillbug is
quite happy with that!

Remember, there is no quilt police!

-- Anita --