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#1
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Why do they tell you to do this?
Ladies, I'm a slow, new-to-machinequilting quilter and have been lurking for
some time now. It's given me a lot of respect for your collective wisdom. Please can you help ? My problem; I've found a wall-hanging in the Kathleen Guerrier Little Book of Little Quilts which I'd like to make, ( the Plain Sailing one). It's foundation pieced with beach huts and sailing boats. The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? The pattern is symmetrical, I can't see how the pencil lines where you trace the template will be seen when the block is finished and it seems to make the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. I've got masses of fairly thick unbleached cotton that I'd like to use for foundation but I can't really see through it that well. My family can't see it either ! Thanks, Sue from Oxford, England |
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#2
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because if it's a directional pattern...it won't turn out backwards when you sew it.
What you have on the paper (or should have) is a reverse image of what you will have when you're done. -- Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request) see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne See what DH is up to at http://www.teamintraining.org/participant/kinney-162652 "Mosiacquilter" wrote in message news:0jO0c.2455$zu.1503@newsfe1-win... Ladies, I'm a slow, new-to-machinequilting quilter and have been lurking for some time now. It's given me a lot of respect for your collective wisdom. Please can you help ? My problem; I've found a wall-hanging in the Kathleen Guerrier Little Book of Little Quilts which I'd like to make, ( the Plain Sailing one). It's foundation pieced with beach huts and sailing boats. The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? The pattern is symmetrical, I can't see how the pencil lines where you trace the template will be seen when the block is finished and it seems to make the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. I've got masses of fairly thick unbleached cotton that I'd like to use for foundation but I can't really see through it that well. My family can't see it either ! Thanks, Sue from Oxford, England |
#3
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I should add....if it's a perfectly symmetrical pattern, it doesn't matter either
way. -- Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request) see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne See what DH is up to at http://www.teamintraining.org/participant/kinney-162652 "Mosiacquilter" wrote in message news:0jO0c.2455$zu.1503@newsfe1-win... Ladies, I'm a slow, new-to-machinequilting quilter and have been lurking for some time now. It's given me a lot of respect for your collective wisdom. Please can you help ? My problem; I've found a wall-hanging in the Kathleen Guerrier Little Book of Little Quilts which I'd like to make, ( the Plain Sailing one). It's foundation pieced with beach huts and sailing boats. The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? The pattern is symmetrical, I can't see how the pencil lines where you trace the template will be seen when the block is finished and it seems to make the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. I've got masses of fairly thick unbleached cotton that I'd like to use for foundation but I can't really see through it that well. My family can't see it either ! Thanks, Sue from Oxford, England |
#4
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I believe it is that way, so that you can see the lines that you drew so you
can sew on them. Don't know if I explained it too well, but hope so. That is what happens when I paper piece, never did it onto fabric myself, but eventually one of these day's will try it on muslin. Maine-iac Rose @--- remove the thorns and add a hyphen between the 2 words to email me. "Mosiacquilter" wrote in message The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? The pattern is symmetrical, I can't see how the pencil lines where you trace the template will be seen when the block is finished and it seems to make the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. I've got masses of fairly thick unbleached cotton that I'd like to use for foundation but I can't really see through it that well. My family can't see it either ! Thanks, Sue from Oxford, England |
#5
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Because you sew on the lines you drew. If you put the fabric on the
side with the lines and then turned it over to sew you couldn't see the line then. You can do the paper foundation thing instead. Trace or copy the drawing onto tissue weight or translucent vellum paper. You will then be able to see through the paper enough to place your fabric accurately and then sew on the line. After you have finished sewing the block you remove the paper. marcella In article 0jO0c.2455$zu.1503@newsfe1-win, "Mosiacquilter" wrote: Ladies, I'm a slow, new-to-machinequilting quilter and have been lurking for some time now. It's given me a lot of respect for your collective wisdom. Please can you help ? My problem; I've found a wall-hanging in the Kathleen Guerrier Little Book of Little Quilts which I'd like to make, ( the Plain Sailing one). It's foundation pieced with beach huts and sailing boats. The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? The pattern is symmetrical, I can't see how the pencil lines where you trace the template will be seen when the block is finished and it seems to make the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. I've got masses of fairly thick unbleached cotton that I'd like to use for foundation but I can't really see through it that well. My family can't see it either ! Thanks, Sue from Oxford, England |
#6
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I love this question. Once you get the hang of foundation piecing, the
answer will be so obvious you'll dopeslap your own forehead. Until you get it, the whole process will be confounding. In my experience, women have a lot of trouble with the concept, especially women who have trouble with spacial relationships. Are you able to follow directions to find an address easily? I'm horrible at it, really learning disabled in that area. Foundation piecing was impossible for me. I kept trying to follow the directions and getting hopelessly confused. I finally took a class in the subject and still have to go step-by-step looking at my notes when I do it. With foundation piecing, you flip and sew. The pattern is on one side where the lines are so you can see them and sew on them. The fabric is on the other side. My boyfriend understood this concept immediately as have the great number of men I've told it to without even having a pattern or fabric at hand to make my point. --Lia Mosiacquilter wrote: The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? |
#7
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http://www.paperpanache.com/howto/buttrfly.htm
The above link has been the lifesaving trick for me to learn to paper piece efficiently and without any "hold it up to the light" problems. I have taught it at our guild meeting for a techniques day and teach it to friends every chance I get. You will figure out how to cover odd shaped pattern pieces as well as knowing which way a stripe (or grain) will lie after the piece is flipped. I'd love to know if anyone else has learned this technique from the website. I admit that I follow directions pretty well, but I think the directions are so well written, almost anyone can learn the trick. Happy paper foundation piecing! -- Kathyl yup, that's an L http://community.webshots.com/user/kathylquiltz |
#8
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Hullo Sue
What the others have said! You absolutely do need to see the pencil lines clearly to sew on them. And, you do need to be able to see through the foundation, whether paper or fabric, in order to get your pieces added in the right way. I will add that I have never liked foundation piecing onto fabric - though I love FPP itself and have done a great deal of it. I wonder if it would be easier for you to accept the processes if you tried one on paper, just as an experiment. I realise that does involve you in the 'getting rid of the paper stage'. To help you with that: if you score all the seams with a ruler and the back of your stitch ripper, they come off beautifully cleanly. It takes a minute, but so does scratching away at the paper to get the last tiny pieces off!! If you have a lot of the thick cotton, perhaps you might like to try a flip and sew method of making a quilt? That way you piece and quilt at the same time. .. In article 0jO0c.2455$zu.1503@newsfe1-win, Mosiacquilter writes Ladies, I'm a slow, new-to-machinequilting quilter and have been lurking for some time now. It's given me a lot of respect for your collective wisdom. Please can you help ? My problem; I've found a wall-hanging in the Kathleen Guerrier Little Book of Little Quilts which I'd like to make, ( the Plain Sailing one). It's foundation pieced with beach huts and sailing boats. The instructions tell you to trace the outline of the beach huts and sailing boats onto calico and then " turn the foundation fabric over to the side you have not drawn on and place the first piece of fabric right side up over the position of the centre square. Hold the calico up to the light to ensure the placement is correct." I'm sure I'm missing something here but why turn the foundation fabric over ? The pattern is symmetrical, I can't see how the pencil lines where you trace the template will be seen when the block is finished and it seems to make the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. I've got masses of fairly thick unbleached cotton that I'd like to use for foundation but I can't really see through it that well. My family can't see it either ! Thanks, Sue from Oxford, England -- Best Regards pat on the hill |
#9
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Many thanks to all you wise ladies ! Julia, you are absolutely right about
spatial relations thing. You're reading a lady who once sewed two dress sleeves in inside out ! I've got all my fabric sorted out and I'm going to spend the morning looking at the online tutorials recommended and then go for it. Don't hold your breath though -I'm VERY slow .I will however follow the instructions to the letter, something I'm not normally good at doing ( too ready to try shortcuts) I'm so inspired by all your quilt shows though and how quickly you all make things. I love looking at them. Sue, in sunny but cold Oxford ( -6deg C but all the spring flowers out and some warmth in the sun) |
#10
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I tried to get it by following directions step by step. The part that tripped me up was always the part about how big to cut the fabric. The instructions would say something along the lines of cutting the piece large enough to cover the next area plus seam allowance. It makes sense to me now, but at the time, it was incomprehensible. If you get there and have trouble, just cut an oversize piece. Foundation piecing does waste fabric in a way that traditional piecing does not. It saves on not having to make templates, do math or fumble with accuracy. I now do both depending on what's easiest for the particular block I'm making. I'm always interested in how different minds work, the way one person will understand a sewing method that depends on working in 3 dimensions or having something come out in reverse or turning something over so you sew on one side and have it come out on the other. Those are all the things that drive me nuts though I have little trouble with the math. Working with fractions and adding seam allowances is a proverbial piece of cake for me. I believe that's why I took to quilting the first time I tried it. Quilting is basically working in small flat surfaces unlike finding addresses which is large flat surfaces or fitting dresses which has the element of 3 dimensions. I'd never been interested in any sort of sewing before. Well, I'd been interested enough to try but not enough to finish one project and go on to the next. The teaching method that seems to work when someone isn't stupid but is having trouble with concepts in one area is rote memorization. That's what you and I are doing with paper piecing. Not able to wrap our minds around this business of having the pattern on one side with the fabric on the other, we memorize what to do without understanding why we're doing it. After we've done it enough times, the understanding comes later. I've seen that happen with students and math. They don't really get what's going on with those fractions and what's happening that multiplying by 1/3 is the same as dividing by 3. That's a hard concept, but if you use it enough, it starts to become apparent why it works, why it is the same thing. --Lia |
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