Last row!!

We removed pins, opened and ironed 7, and now will pin down the other edge of 7

Sewing 6 to 5 to the backing

Pinning 6 to 5. 1 is to the right, and then the rest rolled up

Remove pins and press

Ran out of bobbin thread like a foot from the end.... Grrr

#5 pinned down the unsewn side of #1, sides rolled in so only stitching area is showing, bulk rolled from bottom up, stitching #5 to #1

Tubes 5-7 are now cut strip sets 5-7

Squaring/straightening tube edges

Made some serious progress today :)

We have three more strip sets to QAYG on the top half, and then it's poly pellet time! (The cat wrings his paws with glee)

Press seam open, pin down next strip, and QAYG

Again... we sewed two strip sets (right sides together) to the backing. We folded open the strip sets, pressed open the seam, smoothed down the newly exposed strip set, and then lined up another strip set on top of the strip set we just pressed open, again right sides together.
This post might be out of order, but it might not be, LOL. It's the same thing that we're doing with every seam at this stage...

Cutting Strip set #4, 12" from center

I had to shift the tube a bit in order to cut on the blue starry part of the tube. Don't worry, it will make sense :)

We are getting tiiiiired...

cut strip sets #2 and #3

We ironed open cut strip set #2, went back to the table and smoothed it down.

We then placed #3 right side up so that the strip sets were staggered correctly.
Then we flipped over #3 face down on top of #2, right sides together, pinning the edges to be sewn together.
We rolled up the sides of the quilt to expose only our sewing area, and rolled from the bottom to the top.
We sewed our seam (unrolling the bottom as we go), went to the ironing board, removed pins and pressed open, and returned to the table.
My helper and I are working so well together :)

Roll it up and sew!

We rolled up both ends of the quilt backing so only the area to be stitched was visible. The less bulk to manage, the better.

Then starting at the bottom (the end we were NOT starting the stitching at) we rolled the whole thing up. Then we sewed our seam, unrolling as we went.
This is Quilting As You Go because the quilting is both the seams holding the strip sets in place, and the seams we sew the poly pellets into the strip sets with, as opposed to adding quilting after the quilt is done... which we couldn't do anyhow over the poly pellets without breaking needles/making massive messes...

Tube #2 becomes cut strip set #2

Strip set tube #2 we cut 4" from the center of the blue side of the tube (not the starry side). #2 is no longer a tube, but cut strip set #2.

We placed cut strip set #2 face down on cut strip set #1 (already pinned to the backing), lining up and matching the seams on the adjoining 4" blocks whenever possible (it looks better when the cut strip sets are staggered neatly).

Layout onto quilt backing begins

We centered cut strip set #1 on the backing, and pinned both long edges down to the backing with safety pins (straight pins will poke us, repeatedly!).

We will be using cut strip set #1 as our guide to lay out the rest of the strip sets. Cut strip sets #2 and #5 will be sewn on either side of #1.

A big step! Cutting tubes, preparing to sew to backing

This is where we need to really pay attention and go slow. Here the time needed to correct mistakes increases exponentially...AMHIK*
We need 7 tubes.
Each tube is composed of two strip sets sewn together - one strip set of each color combination, with a 4.5"X10" end block of the matching color sewn onto each end.
Each tube has two strip sets and four blocks. This makes more sense if you look at the picture. You can't see the blue/water strip set sewn onto the other side of the starry blue/white strip set, but it's there.
We will be cutting the tubes in a staggered manner so that when they are laid out, they will form our pattern.

Here's the method of our tube-cutting madness:


I have a 12"X18" cutting mat that I put inside each tube, in order to cut through just one side or layer of the tube. 
I cut through the solid blue strip sets with the water strip in the middle (NOT the starry blue strip sets with the white strip down the middle).
Tube #1 was cut in the middle of the solid blue half of the tube.
Tube #1 is no longer a tube - it is cut strip set #1. It will be pinned and sewn to the middle of the backing, and the other cut strip sets staggered from there. 
Tube #2 was cut 4" from the center of the solid blue side of the tube (not the starry side). #2 is no longer a tube, but cut strip set #2. Repeat...
Tube #3 was cut 8" from the center of the solid blue side of the tube (and is now cut strip set #3), and
Tube #4 was cut 12" from the center of the solid blue side of the tube (and is now cut strip set #4).
We basically will do the same with cut strip sets #5, #6 and #7, with the measurements matching #2, #3, and #4.
I squared up the edges (trimmed them with the rotary cutter so they are even). Feeding the OCS monster again :)

*ask me how I know

Or no starter scrap??

WHY am I not using a starter scrap??  I don't remember. Maybe to show you that if you don't use one, you have to hold down your thread ends so they don't get sucked away by the take-up lever and the Great Black Bobbin Case Hole. Although this also looks like a seam that was frogged (rip it, rip it).
Oh, yeah. Someone forgot the right-sides-together thing. *whistling*

starter scrap in place, sewing with 1/4" quilting foot

My starter scrap is still attached, go me. I usually wait until I need to sew onto it again to snip it off (and you would think it would be called a starter/ender scrap, but mercifully no, no one does that).*
The foot I'm using (on both machines) is not your standard sewing foot - it's a handy-dandy 1/4" quilting foot. It has a vertical metal piece on the right that helps you keep your fabric lined up exactly 1/4" to the right of the needle.
I use it a lot (see "feeding and care of your inner OCDer"). It is awesome!
*Yes, I know about leaders and enders. Please Google it if you want to know more...

Whew

All better. Time to start!

WHY WE USE A STARTER SCRAP...

Because if we start sewing without one, and don't realize right away that the thread ends have been sucked away from the sewing area, then we are either sewing nothing and/or creating an increasingly large knot of thread under the needle, that jams the bobbin case and that we can't even see until after unscrewing and removing several parts.
Penalty for not paying attention: 15 minutes-2 hours, if I can fix it myself (please oh please let me be able to fix it myself)...

frogging... rip it, rip it *grumble*

Again... the directions are for a full size quilt and WE ARE MAKING A TWIN... <<banging head>>
I should have measured the total length of the tube *before* I assembled it, to make sure it won't be longer than the width of *our* quilt.
I re-measured and shortened the strip set, and reattached the end block to the shortened strip set. Not a big deal in the long run, but annoying when you think you have it all figured out and *surprise* you don't. LOL
This is a clue that I need sleep...

The Tube, a la bargello quilt assembly

The Tube, a la bargello quilt assembly - assemble, press, then (cut) discover you should have measured before assembling...

I heart chain piecing

To chain piece is to sew sets (usually of 2*) of fabric together one set after another, without cutting the thread in between sets.
Chain piecing is a fast way to sew a bunch of pieces of fabric together quickly, especially if you're sewing hundred(s) of little squares or triangles together (BTDT).
Chain piecing is great because it wastes less thread, and keeps the needle from unthreading if the take-up lever isn't all the way up when you last stopped sewing.
It is super-annoying and a massive time waster to have to stop to rethread your needle and/or fish the bobbin thread out of the bobbin case. It's the same as using a starter scrap to keep your thread ends from getting sucked away, only you're not using a starter scrap. It's the same, but different! LOL
*I know of one exception: you sew 3 pieces together at once for Kaye Wood's Attic Windows pattern

design decision... cutting strip sets (fuzzy math)

We have to cut the strips (in half) to size before we sew the end blocks on. (See previous post re: too confusing to describe what I discovered I had to change)
Read the directions three times, measure twice, cut once.
In related news, I have a headache. LOL

more squaring strip set ends

I already trimmed the starry blue/white strip sets, and here I've trimmed the blue/water strip sets.

I lost my helper. *sniff*

come baaaaack....
we were making so much progress...
*sniff*

more trimming selvage/ends

I trimmed the other end as well. This led to a design decision that would be ridiculously confusing and pointless to describe, LOL... remember, what matters most is that you're happy in the end!

preparing strip ends for end blocks

I like to check the waste to make sure I got all of the selvage off, instead of disturbing each of the layers to check, since they are stacked and ready for the other ends to be trimmed already.

pressing strip sets

And yes, I pressed them closed and then open...

cutting 4.5 x10 inch blocks for ends of strips

Of course, it turns out that it would have been fine just to have cut solid 4.5" strips and then chain-piece the strip ends to the solid 4.5" strips, since I'll probably have to square everything up later on anyway...

design decision: 2" (middle) strips

We are assembling 2 strip sets into one long strip and then into a tube, and then cutting the tubes so that when laid out the design is staggered (per the original pattern).
The plain blue strip sets have a strip of "water" going down the middle. We cut them perpendicular in direction compared to how all the other strips are cut, so it will look like water and not an EKG after assembly.
So the water strips are longer than all the other strips, which were cut from selvage to selvage (the factory-cut ends). Although this results in more waste after trimming, it will be worth it to have the effect we want.

No Food While Sewing!!

Unless it's Chocolate Emporium. What can I say, I can be bribed...

(THANKS, DINA!!)

chain piecing - two sewing machines going at once - fast!

The machine on the left is a 1957 Singer 1200 in an artisan/dressmaker's table with electric treadle.
It's the same machine as a 201-2 (great-grandma's machine, on the right) except for the knee-operated presser foot lever. 
It's big help in making quick work of sewing pieces together, one after another. (Also called chain piecing. Wheeeeeeeeee)

always press seams to the dark side (bwahaha)

We'll be doing a LOT of pressing with this project. We want our sewing to be as accurate as possible, and pressing seams open right after sewing really helps with accuracy.

Some people even press the seam before opening it up. They press the seam closed and then press it open. I will admit to having done it. I am still not sure it helps, but it definitely feeds my inner OCD monster. Nom nom. LOL

I use a dry iron. No steam holes means even pressing. No need to drag the iron around to make sure to press where the steam holes missed.
My favorite iron of all time is the Continental Dry Iron. I've had 2. Both had screws or something loose that rattled around on the inside, but as long as they worked, I didn't care.

So that was the problem: after being dropped five too many times, my last one finally quit.

My current iron is lighter (a minus), Black and Decker, and I don't love it, although it has survived one catastrophic fall so far. While on, face down on the year-old hardwood floor, of course. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

assembling the strip sets, adapting a pattern to a different size

We eventually decided on 7 strip sets total. This changed a couple times...

Be open to changing any aspect of your project at any step. Cut yourself slack if suddenly you realize that what you'd declared non-negotiable in color scheme, layout, or whatever is just not working. You want to love your project when it's done. :)

We're adapting a full-size quilt pattern to make a twin quilt.  How do we cut our fabric to get the right dimensions for *our* quilt? Which of the directions for the full-size quilt do we follow and which do we change? 
That requires... I'm sorry to say... math. *weeping*

If you are a visual person, I strongly suggest sketches and notes for each step. Labels, lists, whatever you have to do to keep things straight.

We chose a different color scheme than the pattern calls for (and changed it again, ack), and a different (but much easier, yay!) construction of the middle, narrower strips in each strip set.
So... we worked backwards.

What's the finished size of *our* quilt?
Are we following the pattern directions for strip dimensions and just shortening the finished strip sets? (yes)
We decided to make our quilt half as wide as the pattern.
The directions are Right There, and I stared at them for a very, very, long time. LOL

cutting: 2-inch strips for center of strip sets

These will be the center of the assembled strip sets, that the poly pellets will go in after being sewn to the quilt backing.

cutting: eight 4.5" strips of each color.

Lining up the layers exactly, and then cutting 4.5" strips from the (trimmed) edge, makes for less work cutting overall. If cutting through two layers, you only have to cut 4 strips instead of 8.

Pillowcase! Autism Awareness! :)

Fabulous :)

my daughter sewing on her great-great-grandma Ellen's sewing machine

That's my great-grandma's 1935 Singer 201-2 in a #48 cabinet. The cabinet used to be an UGLY green. I refinished it and love how it came out so much that occasionally I pet it. (pet pet)

first, a pillowcase

the puzzle piece theme represents the cause of Autism Awareness

ironing...

endless ironing...

preparing the fabric: washing, ironing, cutting strips

I had H. wash the fabric with the detergent that she uses. Then my daughter RM and I ironed the fabric and cut into strips. 

Read the directions three times, measure twice, cut once...


Here I trimmed what will become the backing piece, that we will sew our assembled strips sets to. Those strips we will pour the poly pellets into, one strip at a time going across.

design decisions

What color(s), which pattern to use? S.'s mom H. and I went to Joann for ideas, and here's what we came up with...

The pattern my friend H. chose is Back to Blue from Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts, Summer 2015. The instructions are for a full size quilt, and we're making a twin quilt, so we have to play with the fabric yardage a bit.

The inspiration for the construction of this quilt is taken directly from The Weighted Blanket: An Easy Quilting Project by Rob Appell of Man Sewing.  Rob's a man who sews! Cool, eh?

Other quilters I take inspiration from are Kaye Wood of the PBS series Kaye Wood's Quilting Friends (click to go to my favorite video of hers!), and Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company.