Thursday, December 17, 2009

Finished For Friday And A Tiny Tut!

While I was in the watercolor quilting mode I decided to make one more Christmas gift.
It is even more crucial I think with these quilts to have really accurate seams - I have talked about the "fork pins" before and how they facilitate perfect piecing.

For a little test, this time I sewed an entire row of blocks together using regular pins and found that my fabric shifted just enough to offset the blocks ever so slightly, not good enough in this case. The next row I used the fork pins, the result, total accuracy on every seam! Did I say I love these pins?!


I tried to insert a little video showing just that, sorry but it would not load, not sure why, I have done it before successfully. Maybe the file was too big?
The pins are very fine and are easy to sew over, just slow down as you come to each pin and "walk'' the machine over carefully. If you love accurate piecing or struggle at all with it do try these pins. "Connecting Threads" has them if your local QS does not.

You can see how offset seams would be very obvious and would detract from the watercolor effect here.

It's important too that seams be nested [pressed in alternate directions] in order to have that "seamless" appearance, you just cannot get away with a sloppy pressing job or careless seaming with this sort of design.
I like accuracy but I'm also a bit of a speed freak [one reason I have a LA] I want to be as productive as possible but there are times when a little extra time and care is crucial to the desired result.
Now if it were as easy to find a Christmas gift for my DH, life would be so much more simple!

The quilt from the back.

6 comments:

Gramma 2 Many said...

I have never heard of fork pins. Probably because I really do not do much quilting. However, there are times when I am trying to get other seams to match perfectly and they do not. Wonder if they would work in those instances.
Might go buy a set.
The quilt is beautiful.

Barbara Jean said...

THAT QUILT IS GORGEOUS!
Beautiful colors and the cross is great.

Thanks for coming by

blessings

barbara jean

Snooze said...

Thanks for the useful tip. It's really handy to know.

Miri said...

What a lovely Christmas gift!

Thanks for the info on the fork pins-totally new to me!

Threeundertwo said...

This quilt is absolutely gorgeous. Watercolor quilts are on my (humongous) list, and this is very inspiring. You did such a beautiful job with the quilting too!

How have I not heard of fork pins before? I am going to order some today.

Andee said...

The orange cross quilt is gorgeous..I have been loving orange all year this year! I think I will put these pins on my next Connecting Threads order too. We should get together so I can pass off my Christmas Lights quilt to you for quilting...I also have my Picnic Schnibbles all ready to go when you have time!