I have been having problems making this quilt as the pattern calls for. The blocks will not line up the way they should. The pattern gets thown out of correct allignment. I have been trying to figure out what I have been doing wrong and this is what I have come up with:
1/ As I started this quilt 6-8 mo ago I forgot some of the details of construction. I had used jelly rolls cut on an ACCUCUT from my LQS ( they were experimenting) I do not think they were totally accurate. I also cut some of my own fabrics using a rotary cutter and am not sure if those were accurate either. Next time I am going to try a commerical cut 2-1/2 STRIP PACKAGE or I will cut all of the strips myself. Hopefully that will make it more consistant. I found some neat BRIGHT BATIKS by TimeLess Treasures that will look great.
2/ I sewed the strips to make sets …. 80 inches long per directions. The longer the strip set… the less accurate they are. I should have sewn width of fabric ( or less ) to make the strip sets. I do well with short runs to make strip sets, but am not good on keep the long strip sets accurate. I was careful to not get any bowing in my strip set as I sewed each set of the strip sets alternating top and bottom.
3/ I had friends helps me sew the strip sets. ( long story) Upon examination of the strip sets I found some of the girls sewed with a true 1/4 inch and some sewed with a scant 1/4 inch. All discrepancies in the sewing compounded and the strips sets are miss aligned.
I just have to know the source of PROBLEMS /MISTAKES etc so I can take steps to avoid or correct them in the future. YES THEY LEED TO DESIGN OPPURTUNITIES.
This is a QUILT AS YOU GO / SEW THEN FLIP method of quilting. If I had to do this again I would extend the stitiching lines all the way to the end of the fabric. I am probably going to go back and do that on columns I have not done yet. I will be adding borders to this quilt using the sew and flip method to. I am not yet sure what pattern I will use to make this quilt.
Happy Quilting
Nonnie's Quilting Dreams 