A word of caution about fabrics

First here's how I froze my peppers. I spread them out on a cookie sheet that I keep in my freezer. That way it's cold when I add the foods. It gives them a head start on flash freezing.









You see the liner? This is a bag from a cereal box. Nothing sticks to it. It's better than parchment paper. I can wash it to use over and over again. When the food is frozen I simply roll it up and use it like a funnel to pour the food into a freezer bag.

Here's an example of what happens when you buy "cheap, cheap" fabric and don't know it's content. My SIL bought this fabric on the discount table. I'm all for getting a discount table bargain but sometimes it backfires. She spent the time to cut the pieces for her quilt. I thought there might be a problem so I pressed it.

Instant shrinkage!

Why do I show this? Well, if you ever piece a block that is supposed to be one size but find it has become a smaller size.... this might be the reason.

I think the economy is causing manufacturers to "stretch" the threads out when creating yardage. Fewer threads spread out in the same width so it appears you are getting what you have always bought. You might call it "spreading the threads" too. In the food industry this is called short sizing. Stretching is the fabric equivalent to putting a dimple in the bottom of a container.

One way to check to see if a fabric has been stretched is to see how thin it is. If you can see through it like this then it's either a gauze fabric or else its stretched.

Not only are prices getting higher and higher but manufacturers are getting even more of our money by giving us less in the same size package. Consumers are being hit from both directions. Geeze, when will the short sizing end?!

I spent most of yesterday chopping up green peppers....







and red, yellow, orange peppers for the freezer.

It may not look like it in the photo but those are large bowls of peppers. About 6 months worth as often as I use them in cooking. It was a deal from the discount bin I just couldn't resist. Have you seen the price of foods lately?

I have to admit my daughter was right. No way I can continue to replenish our food pantry on only $10 per week. Not these days anyway. Each time I go to the grocery it seems like the cost of everything on my list has skyrocketed since the trip a couple of weeks before. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy convenience foods. I'm talking about the cost of staples, fresh veggies, and fresh fruits getting higher and higher.

Peppers sold for about .20 cents each only 3 or 4 years ago. They are selling for between $1 and $1.20 each these days. I got about 30 peppers from the discount bin for $5. That's a big savings. I just happened to get to the store as these were put into the bin. I didn't take all of them because that would be too greedy. I left plenty for other shoppers.

Did I hear the media right? They are reporting the economy is getting better? I don't believe it! So long as my food dollar buys less and less they will never convince me the economy is getting better. You know what? It was a lot easier to be poor when my kids were young. Fewer people depended on the discount bin back then. I could take everything from the bin and no one would care. These days people are snatching and grabbing as soon as discount food is put out. (scary!) This makes me even more determined than ever to have myself a victory garden in the spring. I plan to grow what I can in a very small space. Heck, if I only grew peppers I will save myself quite a bit of money.

Ten to what?

I rarely use a pattern to piece a quilt. I prefer to see the design in a photo or sketch and come up with my own dimensions and piecing steps. Very often I piece a quilt block backwards. I start with a square; then, using a series of cutting and resewing, the pieced block emerges.

I would appreciate comments from anyone who decides to create this quilt using my backwards technique. Is it helpful? Would you want to see more backwards quilts? Did it help your accuracy? Will you donate your quilt or give it to someone special. How long did it take? Was it faster or slower than your normal piecing? That sort of thing.

This is a picture of the inspiration for this quilt. I want to give credit where credit is due so here it is:

The photo I saw was from the magazine Fabric Trends for Quilters, Spring 2008 issue, page 44, a design called Opposites Attract, by Kathy Brown for Troy Corp.





Kathy Brown gives cutting and piecing instructions to create twelve 18" blocks which make a quilt that's 70 x 88. As soon as I saw the picture I knew I wanted to make one of these but only much smaller. A smaller size would work to satisfy my craving to make this design, would give me a finished charity quilt, and could be done backwards very quickly.

I'm putting the instructions here so you can try out my technique yourself. I started with 30 squares of fabric. All are cut 10" square. There are 15 light and 15 dark.

Start by paring up one light with one dark fabric, right sides together. You will have a stack of 15 pairs. Cut these in half right down the middle of each pair. Pin the halves together and sew.

You should then press the seam toward the darker side. I should tell you that pressing is a very important step in the creation of this quilt. You must press correctly at each step to get perfect piecing at the corners. If it isn't pressed the right way you will get fabric warts at the corners.

Now turn the sewn back blocks a quarter turn and cut down the middle again. Like this.

Flip the stack on the right like this. Pin two halves together and sew.

I always pin my pieces together before sewing. For this quilt, I match the center seams very carefully and pin there first. If I've done this correctly the seams will lock together because they are now pressed in opposite directions. Next, I pin together each end.

.

Ok, another bit of caution here. Be sure you sew the blocks back together correctly. If you get one turned wrong, as seen in this photo, it won't work. Every time you sew the pieces back together they must be sewn exactly the same.

So here they are pinned and ready to sew together again.

Ok, this next step is done so that the pressing can be done correctly and to give you very flat intersections. You see where there is a seam going horizontal and one going vertical?

You want to frog out the stitches of the previous seam (the horizontal one) just to where it meets the newest sewn seam. I colored this with a blue marker so it would show up on camera. With my machine the picking out is only three stitches.

You will now press the seams one side up and one side down on the back. This forms a tiny four patch at the seam intersections on the back. Isn't that cute? Turn the block over and press again. Feel the intersection with your finger. It's very flat. No wart.

Now you will cut the block again. This time measure from the center seam over to the right 1 1/2" for the cut. If you are left handed you may want to cut on the opposite side for all the cuts.

Flip the cut piece on the right around so that the dark is next to the light and pin together being careful to match the center seam so it locks. In this picture it looks like I pinned a dark to a dark but that's only because the piece underneath is just 1 1/2" wide.

Once again you are going to frog out the previous stitching just until it meets the newest sewn line and press the seams in opposite directions.

Now you have two tiny four patches on the back. You will repeat this step of frogging and pressing for every seam you sew. I won't bore you by repeating it each time.

Your block should now look like this. Now you are going to turn the block 180 degrees so the newest sewn seam is now on the left of the center seam.

Measure from the center seam 1 1/2" to the right and cut again.

Flip the cut off pieces so that you have a dark next to a light.

Pin together being careful to lock the center seams first and sew these back together.

By now you can see that you are getting a pretty good collection of four patches on the back.

Ok, now you will need to turn your block so that you are cutting across all the previous seams. measure from the center seam over to the right 1 1/2" and cut. Like this.

Flip the cut off pieces so that dark is next to light and pin together. Be careful to match up all your seams so they lock together. I find it easiest to start with the center one and move out. Sew these back together and make your tiny four patch on the back.

Take a look at the tiny four patches now. See how I continue to press the seams in opposite directions? Not one fabric wart in these blocks.

Now you are going to turn the block 180 degrees and cut 1 1/2" from the center on the opposite side. This should be opposite the last seam sewn. Be careful not to cut the wrong side.

Flip the cut piece around, pin locking the seams, and sew back together.

Oh look, now there are several tiny four patches on the back.

Ok, this is what your block should look like now. A four patch in the center and squares in the corners. If necessary, square up the blocks before sewing into rows.

Sew all your blocks together and you're done. I sewed them in 5 rows of 6. Oh? You thought you could stop making tiny four patches? Well, to avoid any fabric warts.... lock all the seams for each row then do the pressing the same as you did for creating the blocks.

Ta Da! A finished charity quilt top. Now do I put a border on it to make it larger before quilting? Maybe, maybe not. I'll decide that when this top gets it's turn on the quilting machine.

If you create this quilt I really do want to hear from you. Especially if anyone is interested in doing more backwards piecing.

Still waiting

A quick post to let you know I'm still waiting for my computer to be fixed. I designed a new "10 to ?" (ten to what) quilt and will be posting the instructions as soon as my computer is home. My daughter's work computer doesn't have photo software on it and I can only be on this computer for a brief time. I don't want to get her in trouble by me using it.

What is a "10 to ?" quilt? It's a pattern that starts with a batch of 10 inch squares and winds up as a quilt block by cutting the squares, mix them up, sew them back together, cut again, mix them up, and sew back together again until the block is formed. Sort of doing the blocks backwards. This current 10 to ? quilt uses only two fabrics. For a test of the design, I made a small baby sized top but the pattern is easily adapted to larger sizes. It would be the perfect design to make a quick cuddle quilt, a quilt of valor, a charity quilt for xmas, or a quilt for an hour project. Oh, and of course, a last minute quilt for a baby shower. My test quilt was made from 30 squares. Fifteen each of two different colors if you would like to start searching for some scrap fabrics to give the quilt pattern a try.

I sure wish I knew where I stored the other 10 to ? designs. I know there were at least 3 others I designed. Hmm.... maybe on webshots? Oh well, if I can't find the others I'll just do them over again.

I'll be back again as soon as my computer comes home.

This is soooo wrong!

I'm having troubles with my computer. I keep getting messages that my att internet access and my blogs and my email are blocked until I pay for Microsoft security software. So far I've been able to get around this by closing things or by unplugging the computer. I will be contacting ATT to see if they can help me figure it out. It seems that Microsoft doesn't want me to access my ATT webmail or Widows Exporer accounts or my Google blog accounts anymore until I pay for the Microsoft security software. I DO NOT want this software and certainly don't intend to PAY for it. I think it totally wrong for Microsoft to highjack a computer until the owner pays for their security software!

I have one more post scheduled for in the morning but if I don't post for a couple of days after that it's because of the computer problem. I'll fill you in later on anything I get quilted.