If you like to quilt, there are few things that are more everyday than a growing pile of scraps too big to throw away and too random to fit most patterns. In theory, making a scrap quilt is a great way to get another quilt made with little further outlay. But what if you don’t have enough scraps? Can’t work out how to work them into another quilt? Or worse? Are you Bored with your scraps?! What if your scraps are just not inspiring?!!
Finding Quilt Inspiration in the Everyday: Day 29
When I first started quilting, I didn’t have many fabrics or many scraps yet. But I’d bought a book with a technique I wanted to try. So when my friend (Romana – who got me hooked on quilting) said she needed to clear out some space, and did anyone want her (considerable) pile of very random scraps, I said “Yes!”.
That was when I discovered that it is much more fun to work with someone else’s scraps than your own! So if you are uninspired by your scrap pile, consider asking around. It may be that someone you know will happily send their scraps to a good home. Or swap scraps with you.
How was I inspired by Romana’s scraps?
The book I had bought was “Create your own free-form quilts” by Rayna Gillman of Studio 78 Notes blog. If you are looking for some improv quilting inspiration, you should definitely pop over and have a look at her blog. Coincidentally, she is releasing a new book really soon that is a follow up to “Create your own free-form quilts”, called “Create your own improv quilts” (this is not an affiliate link, and I don’t know Rayna, I just thought you might be interested).
Anyway, the quilt project from the book that inspired me was a nine patch set out in a wonky fashion. I loved it at once. So I set out to make something similar. I took a scrap I liked from Romana’s pile and built up an improv block around it. Rinse, repeat 8 times and…. blahhhh!
I loved every block individually, but together they just didn’t work. So, I made some more, with the intention of swapping some out. But eventually I got to 16 blocks and discovered that I loved them all as a set. So the quilt just ended up considerably larger than intended.
Then I showed my quilt to a mutual friend, Susan. And it turns out that a good portion of the scraps that I had gleaned from Romana had actually originated with Susan. Susan makes her all own trouser pants, and often makes them out of batiks.
So we were sitting there, with Susan pointing at fabrics on the quilt, going “That’s pants. That’s pants. That’s pants”. Until she got the giggles. Turns out that Susan had lived in the UK for a while, and there the phrase “That’s pants” means “That’s rubbish!” We laughed until we cried. And then I named the quilt “That’s Pants”. It was indeed made of other people’s rubbish. What else could I do?!
Not long after, “That’s Pants” was gifted to Romana for a birthday and now it hangs at Flinders University. One day I would love to make another “That’s Pants” quilt. I certainly have enough scraps to give it another go!
How about you? How do you find inspiration in your fabric scrap bin? Have you ever had the privilege of playing with someone else’s scraps? What did you make?
Do you have scraps you’d like to send me? hahahaha ….. of course not. You’ll be wanting to rush off and make your own scrap quilt now! But how interesting would it be to generate quilts from readers’ scraps and blog about all the stories that go along with them!? All those quilt stories from around the world, all come together in Australia to continue their journey….. mind blowing idea!
I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. There are only two days left in my Write 31 Days challenge! Where did October go?!!
Dandelion Shadows: How to Shadow Trapunto with Felt.
Did you know there are an amazing number ways of achieving the stuffed quilting known as trapunto? When I was at school we were only taught one method. Snip the back of your work after stitching the trapunto outlines, stuff in some extra padding and sew the hole back up again. Of all the trapunto methods I now know, this would be my least recommended!
Trapunto quilting can be achieved by hand or machine. If you want to do trapunto by hand, read this fabulous article by Quilts A Lot and watch this video she recommends. This is a much nicer method than the slit and stitch I was taught. I would like to give it a go, “one day”.
Actually, even if you don’t want to do trapunto/french boutis by hand, these links are worth a look. The trapunto wedding rings quilt of Quilts A Lot is amazing, and the more techniques you know about, the more idea resources you’ll have to use in all your designs. 🙂
Machine Trapunto
Probably the most common method of trapunto I see these days is created by machine free-motion stitching onto fabric layered over polyester wadding. The wadding is then clipped to the trapunto shape before a quilt sandwich is made. There are many experts out there on this, including Geta Grama. I am not one of them, but I have given this type of trapunto a go recently on my Dream Big mini quilt. Now I am playing with shadow trapunto.
Shadow Trapunto
Shadow trapunto is when the top fabric and clipped wadding is laid directly over a second fabric rather than straight onto the quilt batting. The fabric between the polyester wadding and the quilt batting is expected to show through the top layer, except where the trapunto lies. Here the wadding obscures the fabric design underneath, creating a “shadow”. Thus the trapunto design has even more visual impact than ordinary trapunto.
Cross-section through a shadow trapunto quilt sandwich
The remainder of this blog post is a description of how I did the Dandelion Shadows trapunto with felt.
Felt Shadow Trapunto Cushion Project: materials
What you need: which fabrics to choose
The first step of a shadow trapunto project is to choose the top fabric and the feature fabric. The main requirement for the top fabric is that it needs to be partially see-through. You can use very transparent fabrics like tulle, or more opaque fabrics, like cotton lawn. Choose white or a very pale colour. For this project I wanted a subtle effect, so I choose white cotton lawn for its partially opaque nature.
The most important requirement for the feature fabric for shadow trapunto is that there is good contrast within the print. Light coloured prints often perform very well. Saturated prints that look bright but have low colour value contrast do not give very pleasing results. If in doubt, lay your top fabric over potential feature fabrics until you find one that shows through as you would like.
The feature fabric for my Dandelion Shadows project practically chose itself. While I was out shopping I noticed this hexagon print fabric, and it sparked an idea. It is “Grecian Bath House Tiles” by Emma & Mila.
Grecian Bath House Tiles fabric by Emma and Mila
Don’t forget, of course, that you’ll also need quilt batting and a backing for your project, seperate from the trapunto supplies.
What you need: which trapunto stuffing to choose
Finally, you need a material for the trapunto stuffing. To do a project with the method I am describing here, you will need a thick non-fraying fabric that you can cut into shapes without stitching it down first. I used felt, but thick fleece or similar would also work. The result is a much flatter trapunto effect than the traditional method…. perhaps it is “modern trapunto”. I like both effects…. but I would use them in different contexts. Choose a colour that works with your feature and top fabrics, because the idea is that you will partially see the trapunto stuffing through the top layer.
How much of everything you will need:
For this cushion (about 42cm square) I used:
– 50cm WOF of the feature fabric, cut into 2x 50cm² pieces.
– 50cm² white cotton lawn
– scraps of yellow and white felt
– 50cm² low-loft polyester batting
I didn’t use a backing because I intended to make a cushion out of the trapunto piece, so a backing would just be hidden inside the cushion. However, if you wish to back your trapunto, by all means do so.
My furry helper approving materials for the shadow trapunto.Time to do something else for a while. These materials are taken!
Felt Shadow Trapunto Cushion Project: creating the trapunto quilt sandwich
How to create your trapunto shapes:
Once you have chosen your trapunto materials (and rescued them from your furry quilting friends), the next job is to produce the felt shapes to make the trapunto design. I chose to overlay the printed hexagons on the feature fabric with felt hexagons of the same size. You could exploit any medium or large scale fabric print in the same way. Or you can create any original design that you are willing to cut out and glue down onto your feature fabric. Either draw your design in reverse onto the back of your felt, or trace your reversed design onto freezer paper and use these templates to cut out your felt pieces.
Freezer paper adheres really well to felt…. who knew?!
I used freezer paper. This was actually a bit of an experiment, because I thought that the freezer paper would not stick to felt more than once, due to the great amount of fluff that remains on the freezer paper once the felt is peeled away. But I got at least 4 re-uses out of each freezer paper template, and it would have been more, but I didn’t require any more felt hexagons.
Attaching the felt to the feature fabric:
Elmer’s glue works well to tack the felt shapes down, but use it sparingly.
To get the felt accurately attached to the feature fabric I used a very thin smear of Elmer’s school glue (available in Officeworks here in Australia) to position the pieces. Once the glue was tacky enough that the pieces couldn’t shift, I flipped the project over and hot ironed from the back. This sets the glue hard so it cannot damage my sewing machine. However, if I want to re-position any pieces, they just gently peel off. Elmer’s glue is so fantastic!
Take care to use just a little so it doesn’t soak through to the front of the felt, especially if you are using a highly transparent top fabric…. but if it does, Elmer’s glue washes out, so as long as you can wash your project, it shouldn’t matter.
Once the pieces are securely attached and ironed dry, layer your work over the quilt batting and backing (optional for cushions). Then layer the top fabric (cotton lawn) over the top of everything else.
Cotton lawn laid over my felt shapes glued to my feature fabric, and the quilt batting.
Secure all layers with your favourite basting method (in my case, quilting pins).
Dandelion Shadows trapunto pin-basted
Felt Shadow Trapunto Cushion Project: quilting
Now it is time to quilt. I chose to quilt around the trapunto with a pebble, spiral and feathers design I saw on Karen Miller’s work posted in the Free Motion Quilting Frenzy facebook group (if you are into FMQ – join this group!!). There was no particular reason to use this FMQ design, except that I really wanted to try it. Any dense fill you like will do.
I densely quilted the background around the trapunto to help the feature fabric show throughClose-up of the FMQThe pebble quilting is easier to see from the back
I finished off the quilting by adding some stems and leaves to the trapunto flowers and dandelion clock. These are quilted in a very pale grey-green. The idea is that they don’t detract from the trapunto and are only really noticeable if you are closely looking at the piece. Ghost details, if you wish.
Felt Shadow Trapunto Cushion Project: finishing off the cushion cover construction
Once I was happy with my trapunto piece, I squared up the sides. I cut the remaining piece of my feature fabric in half and hemmed one long edge on both pieces. I then sewed these pieces to the sides of the trapunto sample.
Dandelion Shadows trapunto with fabric attached for cushion envelope.
I then folded the flaps over the trapunto piece, right sides together, so that the cushion backing pieces overlapped by 3-4 inches. I then sewed up the top and bottom of the quilt cover and trimmed the excess from the seams.
Envelope Cushion cover ready to sew.
Here is the back once it was turned right sides out and filled with a pillow form.
And the finished cushion 🙂
I hope these instructions are clear enough. If you have been following my blog lately, you’ll know that I am writing things in a bigger hurry than usual. If you have any questions, please ask and I’ll endeavour to answer and/or edit to clear things up.
Shadow trapunto with felt is a lot faster and less stressful than the more traditional kind. No risk of accidentally snipping fabric or stitches. But it does give a different effect, so it’s not a replacement for stuffed trapunto. I really like the effect this gives. I will be doing this again, for sure.
What do you think? Are you going to give this a go? Have you already done trapunto using this method? I’d love to know what you made.
Now, I’m going to have to love and leave you….. we have a family day in between all the work we are doing here in Vanuatu. Going to see an active volcano!!!!!! I am hoping tomorrow’s “everyday” quilt inspiration slot will be anything but! xx
If you have been following for a little while, you may remember that I have been attending monthly local Handiquilter group meetings at the Adelaide Sewing Centre. I really like these meetings because they expose me to different techniques and give me a semi-hard-deadline to try them before the next meeting. This past two months we have been looking at trapunto.
The meeting before last, Heather talked about trapunto in general. Then last month she upped the ante by talking about shadow trapunto. This is fantastic, because I first discovered shadow trapunto on the internet years ago, and put it on my to-do list. Where it sadly stayed ever since. Until now.
I was pretty pleased that the next month or two’s worth of homework is something I have always wanted to try. But of course, time slips away and the next meeting is looming very large, so today and yesterday I have been madly going trapunto! 🙂
Researching my Trapunto Homework
A few months ago, I also discovered an amazing quilting blog by Geta Grama. If you are not familiar with this blog, you are definitely missing out. I highly recommend that you check it out (Hey, not just yet! – when you are finished here!! ;)).
What’s more, I discovered Geta Grama about the same time Heather announced that we were going to be looking at trapunto for the next few months. And, guess what Geta does a lot of? That’s right! Trapunto! So ever since, I have had one of Geta’s tutorials earmarked. Now I am having a crack at it, and here’s how it went….
After downloading Geta’s “Dream Big” file, I printed the pdf (4 pages) and stuck them together…. this went without a hitch. Now, here’s where I started to deviate from the script. I don’t currently own a working wash-out marking pen, and they make me nervous anyway. So, I traced the lettering onto greaseproof paper and layered this over white cotton quilting fabric and 200gsm (30mm) polyester wadding. I immediately wished I had opted for the thinner polyester batting, as the fat wadding didn’t fit very well under my sewing machine foot. It probably wouldn’t have been such an issue if I had just marked the fabric rather than trying to use baking paper, so perhaps I shall have to remember to buy a washout pen next time I am shopping.
Anyway, with a little care, I managed to sew around the lettering without losing the baking paper. I used soluble thread on the top and ordinary bobbin thread underneath.
“Dream Big” sewn onto fabric and polyester batting“Dream Big” sewn into polyester batting (from the back)
Then came the bit that has always put me off trapunto. The cutting away of the excess polyester batting. I hate the thought of nicking the top fabric or the stitching holding it all together. Just to cut out this little project took me an hour, and I did accidentally cut the stitching once. It promptly started coming undone quite badly, so I re-sewed the loose part straight away. Thankfully I didn’t nick the top fabric at any point. At this point I was pretty sure that trapunto is not for me. Too stressful for a hobby!!!
“Dream Big” trapunto cut away from excess batting.
I will note here that I should have read Geta’s tutorial more thoroughly before I started. She says starching your fabric really stiff helps keep the fabric from getting accidentally snipped. I’ll have to try that next time. If there is a next time….. see, I am warming to the idea.
Putting the Quilt Together
Once I had the trapunto prepared, I layered it over another two layers of bamboo/cotton blend batting (that’s what I had at hand) and put white fabric on the back. I used two layers because I read on Karen’s quilt blog that this will give you better quilting definition and more texture. I wanted to give this a go, and there’s nothing like killing two birds with one stone.
Then I traced the innermost heart shape onto more greaseproof paper and positioned it over the quilt sandwich using the lettering as a guide to placement. I stitched the outline of the heart in white thread and removed the paper.
Marking the boundary of the innermost heart with stitching.
Then I filled in the heart around the lettering with micro stippling and finished off the letters and heart outlines by going around them twice. I used variegated Wonderfill cotton thread for the micro stippling and Robison-Anton rayon for the outlines. The Robison-Anton shreds too easily in my Sweet 16, although I never had any problems with it in my domestic machine. I personally prefer Madeira rayon in my Sweet 16. However, the colour was the decider from the threads I had on hand, so I just persisted through the inevitable broken thread episodes.
Micro-stippling allows the trapunto to really pop out.
Quilting the background
The original pattern from Geta Grama was finished off with some simple echo quilting. But never one to stick to a pattern, I had to mess with it. Besides, I am always looking for ways to increase my quilting practice without increasing my number of projects. So, I drew up a slightly altered echo quilting plan and filled in the first concentric heart with half feathers. By this stage I was having fun. There will probably be a next time after all.
“Dream Big” trapunto with echo quilting.
Then I decided to complete the feathers rather than repeating the half feathers and alternate the feathers with other designs. I started with pebbles, but my bobbin ran out. Which was fortuitous because I decided I didn’t like the pebbles after all and ripped them out.
Here are the pebbles I started before ripping them out.
In the end, I decided to fill in the gaps between the feathers with micro-stippling. It seemed better to keep the number of design elements to a minimum.
Micro-stippling combined with feathers between the echo quilting.
Finally I decided that I liked the extra white space left at this point, so I actually didn’t fill in the last few sections with dense quilting. So the project finally ended up looking like this:
From the Sewing Room – Sewing the Jewel Tone Diamonds Tumbling Blocks Quilt (Part II)
Over the last few weeks I have been working on a new project stemming from Colour Inspiration Tuesday. It all started with the Jewel Tone Triangles colour scheme. What was supposed to be a quick example of how to use this colour scheme has turned into a significant part of my recent quilt story! My daughter has convinced me to actually make her a Jewel Tone Triangles-derived quilt. This quilt is my first effort at tumbling blocks and is now called Jewel Tone Diamonds.
Now I am in the process of constructing the Jewel Tone Diamonds quilt top. Some people have asked how to put the tumbling block units together. The short answer is…. You don’t. While the illusion of this quilt is of lots of three-unit pieces stacked together, this is not the simplest way to construct the patchwork. Let me tell you how……
The process I use to construct the Jewel Tone Diamonds Tumbling Block Quilt.
Here is the basic tumbling blocks design. Fabrics of three colour values are arranged in a repeating pattern to get the 3D effect.
The method I use is a divide and conquer process – breaking the patchwork up into pieces that will sew together most easily. This process will work for any tumbling block design. This is because it ignores the pictorial design and only relies on the grid-work of diamonds that underlies the tumbling blocks design.
Here is a basic diagram of the tumbling blocks design carved up into sew-able pieces.
Here is the same basic tumbling blocks design carved up into the pieces I believe are the easiest to sew
So, what I am sewing as my basic patchwork unit is actually a six-pointed star within a hexagon. Not a three-diamond unit tumbling block. Let me step you through what this looks like in real life.
How to sew the basic Tumbling Blocks Hexagon Star Unit
Step 1
The very first thing to do is to lay out your diamonds for the section of quilt you are working on and separate them into the units that need to be sewn. This makes it easier to see what has to be sewn to what next. Unless you have a cat or small child to keep disturbing them for you…..
Anyway, pets and small children aside, this is what you are aiming for:
Separate your Tumbling Blocks diamonds into hexagon sewing units.
Make sure each diamond is in it’s correct relative position in the quilt, but otherwise ignore the tumbling blocks design. Right now we are trying to see stars and hexagons!
Step 2
Let’s use a methodical way to sew the hexagon-star units together.
Start with these three diamonds first. Sew them together starting with the top two. Don’t forget to leave the seam allowances un-sewn where the broad corners meet.
Start on the left side of your hexagon unit and sew the three leftmost diamonds together in order from the top down. First sew the top two diamonds together, leaving the seam open one quarter of an inch at the broad angle end.
Sew the first two diamonds together from the narrow point towards the broad point.
Now add the third diamond in this group in the same way. Sew from the pointy end to the the broad end and leave the seam allowance un-sewn. Press with seams open.
Your sewing will now look like this
Step 3
Now we need to do two Y-seams. We want to add in these two diamonds next:
Next sew in these two diamonds
I usually sew the bottom one in first, as it causes the seam allowances to nest better later and reduce bulk in the middle of the hexagon star unit. But don’t get too uptight about this if you accidentally start with the top one instead. It will be fine.
Once you are done, flat press with seams open and you will have a piece of patchwork that looks like this.
Step 4
The next step is simply to repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other half of the hexagon star diamond set that you laid out in step 1.
Sew this group of diamonds next, exactly as you did in steps 2 and 3.
Then your layout assembly should look like this. Two sewn half-units and two loose diamonds. We are going to get this done before those kids and cats mess this up after all……
Two half units finished and ready for assembly
As an aside, you might notice if you compare this photo to the last, that I have changed my mind about the position of several diamond colours. It’s called designing on the fly…. or quilting your own story! I tend to do this quite a bit. In all likelihood, it won’t be the last deviation from the “pattern” that my daughter and I settled on. She won’t mind…. the original layout was a bit arbitrary anyway.
Step 5
Now we need to get those two half-units sewn together. Basically this is just a straight seam. But there are two things we need to achieve in this seam, and therefore to keep in mind.
The first thing is that we need to remember is to keep the seam allowances open on both ends of this seam. If you forget this, you will be grumpy! Both ends of this middle seam are going to eventually be Y-seams. To get those last two diamonds in we will be returning to our set-in seam strategy.
The second thing is: you need to get those points lined up as best you can in the middle of the six-pointed star. Everyone’s tolerance of how well points need to match is different. I’m pretty fussy, and I wish I could be more relaxed about it. Some care here is advised though, as points that are too sloppy are going to make your tumbling blocks look like they are not well stacked! I will aim to write a tutorial about how I match tricky points another day soon, but in the meantime you will need to use your favourite method to get your points matched to your satisfaction.
Two half-units joined with centre seam. Don’t forget to leave the seam allowances un-sewn at both ends!
Hexagon-star tumbling block quilt unit all finished.
Step 7
Continue dividing and sewing your tumbling blocks quilt into manageable units like this. At the edges of the quilt you will have partial units. Remember this original diagram? These part-units are fine. They are supposed to be incomplete.
Divide your diamonds into sewable units.
Here is my stack of units finished ready to complete the Jewel Tone Diamonds tumbling blocks quilt top.
Tumbling block hexagon star units all done.
How to sew the Hexagon Star Tumbling Blocks Quilt Units together
Once you are ready to start assembling the tumbling blocks quilt from your hexagon star units, the process is relatively simple. Start with the top row of units and simply sew them together down the straight seams. Remember, leave the seam allowances open!! Add in the loose diamonds that go in between the large units, to complete the very top of the patchwork.
Also at this point I sew the 3-diamond units on the lefthand side of the quilt to their neighbouring hexagon star unit. Your pieces will now look like this. One completed row, plus some fish-shaped units down the lefthand side.
Then add one unit at a time to the next row. Sew the seams in the order shown in the next diagram. Sew the first straight seam and press. Then sew the second straight seam that makes up the first Y-seam. Don’t forget to always sew from the middle of a Y-seam outwards to the free end. That way you not push any excess fabric into the Y-seam and everything will sit flat. Sew the third seam, also from the middle out. Great! First piece in.
Sew the next piece in, in the same way, etc., etc. until you are all done!
I’ll leave you with a photo of my Jewel Tone diamonds quilt progress to date. I like it. So pretty!
Finishing up
One final comment. I can hear some of you wondering why I didn’t just sew it together as a series of tumbling blocks. Well you could. But I didn’t fancy trying to line up the points at the junctions at the same time as pulling off a Y-seam.
Is it possible to get all this lined up nicely?
Remember, until I started this quilt, I had never sewn Y-seams before. But even now, I don’t think that this would be fun. And quilting should definitely be fun! If you do your tumbling blocks this way, I’d love to hear how you manage it, and how hard it is! Maybe it is easier than I expect?….. Perhaps it gives you more control over how the points line up? Please let me know.
PS. These hexagon star blocks also work to make other designs based on diamonds. Just rearrange the colours differently and you have a star quilt instead. (Or is it circles of tumbling blocks?) Designs abound!
Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest or FB. All your follow options can be found here. And don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour Inspiration Linky parties!
The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!
From the Sewing Room – Sewing the Jewel Tone Diamonds Tumbling Blocks Quilt (Part I)
Over the last few weeks I have been working on a new project stemming from Colour Inspiration Tuesday. It all started with the Jewel Tone Triangles colour scheme.
The Jewel Tones Triangles colour palette sparked an idea that immediately appealed to my daughter. It was a small tumbling blocks quilt design with drifting colour transitions between the blue-greens and the pink-purples. I chose tumbling blocks for the design because this photo cries out for some sort of 3D design. And now my daughter wants it for her bed. ASAP. She loves the colours and is fascinated by the 3D effect. But the design was never really intended to be made, let alone in bed-size!
Coming to grips with the Jewel Tone Diamonds Quilt Design
But it is easy to draw up a quilt plan without any thought to the difficulty of construction. Which is, of course, exactly what I did with Jewel Tone Diamonds. I was primarily playing with colour relationships and colour values. Not intentionally designing a quilt to make.
So I am mildly embarrassed to say, that the shear number of Y-seams in this design caught me a little by surprise. Simply through a lack of forward-thinking. So it wasn’t really until my daughter and I had modified the design to fit her bed, bought the fabric, cut the fabric and laid it out, that the Y-seams situation dawned on me. A fact for which I am actually thankful, because it is a skill I am well-overdue to learn and may otherwise have dodged yet again.
How to sew Y-seams (also known as set-in seams)
Don’t worry if your first attempts at tumbling blocks aren’t great. This is what my first two Y-seam attempts look like!! Meh!
Until this project, I had never sewn tumbling blocks before. So I did a bit of internet research. The most useful resource I found was this video by the Fat Quarter Shop.
Fast forward another couple of weeks, and I am about halfway through sewing Jewel Tone Diamonds. I am now quite confident at Y-seams and actually enjoy sewing them! Figure that!! Not what I expected! There is something about opening up the piece and seeing it lie flat that I find intensely satisfying.
I know that I am not alone in my (turns out, unjustified) fear of Y-seams. There are plenty of no-Y-seam tumbling blocks patterns out there to prove it. But it turns out that Y-seams are not that hard! Easier than matching points, actually. So, I have decided to show you how I conquered them. Stick to this formula and you might be as pleasantly surprised as I am.
My next attempts at tumbling blocks are much better!!
What you will need……
Some fabric diamonds. To get the exact tumbling blocks effect you see here, the diamonds must have 4 sides of equal length and two 60° angles and two 30° angles. The size of the diamonds is completely up to you, but don’t go too small. You don’t want to end up with frustratingly small pieces. Diamonds with 4-5″ sides are easy to work with. I had left overs after cutting my quilt, but diamonds made from scrap fabric will also do. I cut my diamonds with my diamond die and GO! cutter. If this is not an option for you, you can also cut diamonds from fabric strips using a ruler that has a 60° angle marked on it. Accuracy is key though. If your diamonds are sloppy, the piecing will be a nightmare.
A presser foot with a quarter-inch guide for your sewing machine. This method relies very heavily on this. This foot gets rid of the need to mark each and every seam allowance at the corners. I don’t have the time or patience to mark hundreds of seam allowances!
Your sewing machine set to a shorter stitch length than usual. Mine defaults to setting “2.5”. I turn it down to “2” for this. The shorter stitch length is important to make sure no seams start to unravel as you sew in the third diamond. It also helps you stop in the correct place at the corners, without over-shooting the seam allowance by half a stitch.
A hot iron. Quality spray starch is also useful.
Sewing Tumbling Blocks Step One
Take two diamonds and lay them one over the other, right sides together. Starting from one of the pointy ends (30° angles), sew a quarter-inch seam towards one of the wide corners (60° angles).
Sew a quarter-inch seam allowance from the pointy end of the diamond towards a wide corner.
Stop when you get to a quarter-inch before the end. Reverse sew for a couple of stitches and break thread.
Stop one quarter-inch from the edge of the diamond pieces.
How do you know when you are 1/4 inch from the end?! When you think you are close, stop with the needle in the down position and swivel the diamonds so that the sewing line is now down the next side of the diamonds. If the quarter-inch guide rests on the edge, you are in the right place (see photo below). Swivel the fabrics back to the correct position and secure with backstitch.
Swivel your diamonds to pretend to sew down the next side. If the 1/4 inch guide lines up with the edge you are in the right spot. This is perfect. Backstitch along the newly sewn seam.
If fabric peeks out to the right under the quarter-inch guide (see next photo), swivel the diamonds back to the correct direction, stitch the required number of stitches to cover the gap you observed and re-check your position. Secure with backstitch.
If you swivel your diamonds and it looks like this, you have not sewn far enough. Swivel your fabrics back and take another stitch or two.
If you swivel your fabrics and find you have gone too far, there is nothing for it but to unpick the overshot stitches. Sorry. Learn to stop too early rather than too late.
Sewing Tumbling Blocks Step Two
Take your diamonds out of the sewing machine. Your first seam should look like this.
See where the seam stops?
Open up the diamonds, lay flat and press the seam open.
Press seams open. Add a little starch if you wish.
Sewing Tumbling Blocks Step Three
Layer your third diamond underneath the two joined pieces, such that one of the narrow points lines up with the top dog-ear of the fabric on the left. The top right edge lies along the edge of the diamond on the right and the large corner lines up with the large corner of the diamond on the right. If you have sewn an accurate quarter inch seam in step one, this should be straight-forward.
Layer the third diamond under the sewn pieces so that the narrow corner lines up with the dog-ear of the left diamond and the wide corner lines up with the diamond on the right. (Note: this set is not quite lined up yet. Keep moving the third diamond under the righthand diamond until it is completely covered.)When you have done this correctly, you should see a corner of the new diamond peeking out when you lift the left diamond at the seam allowance you left un-sewn in step two.
Start sewing a new quarter-inch seam from the free narrow corner of the right-hand diamond. In the picture above this is the bottom right corner. You will be sewing towards the end of the first seam that terminated before the seam allowance. When you get about two-thirds of the way along the seam, pause.
Sew the second seam towards the wide corner where the seam terminated at the seam allowance.
Now fold the left hand diamond corner out of the way until it opens up the un-sewn portion of the first seam.Hold the folded corner out of the way as you sew the rest of the seam. Sew to the very edge of the first diamond, including over the seam allowance, but do not stitch into the folded back diamond.
Nearly there. Keep sewing this line until you reach the intersection of all three fabrics. Stop and backstitch.
Secure with a couple of backstitches and cut thread. Your work should now look like this photo below.
When you place your sewing down flat it should look like this. The new seam goes completely from one edge of the right-hand diamond to the other, but absolutely NO further..If everything has gone to plan, you will still be able to lift the corner of the left-hand diamond to reveal the corner of the third diamond, like this.
Open up your sewing, lay the pieces flat and press the seam open.
It is starting to look like a tumbling block, but with one seam still not sewn.
Sewing Tumbling Blocks Step Four
The final step! Fold the diamond that has two attached sides in half so that the second and third diamonds line up over the top of each other. It will look like the photo below.
The first diamond is folded in half across the width, which causes the other two diamonds to lay one over the other with their edges aligned.
Sew a quarter-inch seam from the wide corner at the top middle of the photo above, to the thin corner top right. This direction of sewing is important. Doing it this way prevents any excess fabric being pushed to the centre of your Y-seams. There shouldn’t be excess fabric, but if there is a little, it is harmless on the edge of your tumbling block. If it is in the centre, your block will bubble and not sit flat. Remember, sew from the wide to the pointy end, and it will all be good!
Sew from the wide corner to the pointy corner.Your sewing will now look like this
Now you are done with the sewing. Open up your tumbling block and press the last seam open.
Open up your tumbling block and press the last seam open.
Flip your tumbling block over. Press one last time and voila! A beautiful Y-seam.
Finished tumbling block. Time to do a little happy dance!
You’ll be a tumbling blocks/Y-seams pro before you know it!
Once you conquer this method, the Y-seams go together like clockwork. I promise! When I do these steps in this order, Y-seams work every time. It honestly feels a little like magic!
In my next post I will tell you more about how I put the units together to make the quilt top. There is one way I think gets the easiest matching points. And while I am enjoying the Y-seams, I am not celebrating all the matching points! I’ll add the link here once the post is up…. or subscribe to get it delivered straight to your inbox.
How about you? How do you find inspiration in your fabric scrap bin? Have you ever had the privilege of playing with someone else’s scraps? What did you make?
Dandelion Shadows: How to Shadow Trapunto with Felt.
Doing My Handiquilter Group Trapunto Homework
Finishing up
From the Sewing Room – Sewing the Jewel Tone Diamonds Tumbling Blocks Quilt (Part I)
