Cardston Temple City Quilters Guild: TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND DEMOS, 05 Oct 2015

Tips
Gail Purnell provided 3 excellent tips.

Gail described how to make a non-skid foot control pad using shelving or drawer material that keeps items in their place. Measure your foot control and cut the fabric large enough to cover the base and create a hem on 3 sides (right, left & back)and enough to roll the top edge around a small cardboard tube or some dowling and stitch down. This roll will stop the foot control from sliding forward off the pad with the pressure of our foot.

For those of us that still hand quilt Gail produced a tool with a magnetic head for tacks providing a larger surface to press the tack into the quilt on the frame. The lower end is configured to remove the tacks.

Gail has made small bags filled with bird shot to hold down patterns avoiding the pinning process before cutting. These are small weights, she also has larger weights to hold larger sections of fabric.

Techniques
Half Square Triangle Block (alternate method)
Heidi Sharp showed another method of creating the 1/2 square triangle block. Cut fabric in strips the width of the finished squares. In this method two strips of fabric are stitched right sides together on both long sides with quarter inch seams. Then you place the sewn strip onto your cutting board and using a square ruler you place the diagonal on to one seam and cut along the side of the ruler and then alternate placing the diagonal of the ruler on the other seam, etc.

Demos
1. Snowball Block
a. Cut three strips of fabric. Two of the same fabric with one contrasting fabric. Stitch them together with the contrasting fabric in the center. Strip width determines the size of the cross-cut. This constitutes the middle of the block. See the strip and the sample blocks in the photo below. Two additional strips are cut to attach to either side of the stitched strips. These two additional strips are of the same fabric.

b. Adding the 45 degree corners. When you are only adding two corners, be sure that your blocks are facing the same direction.

c. Cut a square of fabric and fold it diagonally and place it into the corner. Finger press. Open the square and stitch on the fold line. Trim and Press.

d. Gail is showing another version of the snowball block using many different fabrics without the center contrasting square.

e. This sample quilt shows one of the block arrangements possible when using only two triangles on opposite corners.

This quilt uses two corners as well but the colour placement draws interest into the center of the quilt.

2. Magic Pillowcase - Tutorial http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/…magic-pillowcase-tutorial
a. Pillow Talk is the book Alice used demonstrating how to create a one seam pillowcase. There are many demonstrations available on U tube. Type in Magic Pillowcase into your search engine and they'll all come up. Who is the author of your book Alice?

b. Sorry about the fuzzy photo! Alice shows the lipstick border between the main body of the pillow and the band. This piece is folded in half with wrong sides together.

c. This third piece layered on the top is the pillowcase border or band located at the open end. All layers are placed right sides together. Alice says to leave salvage edges on until the pillow has been turned.

d. Keeping the yellow band free roll the pillowcase beginning at the bottom in preparation then bring the yellow band over the roll and around to the opposite side matching rough edges. Sew the single seam.

e. Once the pillowcase is stitched you need to turn the pillowcase right side out. If you're making a small pillowcase this might be a bit of a challenge.