For this project I chose the Feeling Crabby quilt pattern which can be purchased on-line in various places and here is one site that has it for $8.89. Since I live in Maryland and the state is known for its crabs, I just had to make this quilt.
I first photocopied the patterns. I just used regular photocopy paper on my printer at home. A lighter weight paper would be easier to tear, but I haven't purchased anything different at this time.
The wave block was too large for one sheet of paper, so I had to copy in two sections and tape together. I try to keep the tape off of the sewing lines.
Then I cut the pieces for the borders, bindings, and the blocks and placed them all in baggies to keep organized.
I started with the wave block and laid all the pieces for one block out to view the effect. This is actually laid out in reverse because I will be adding all my pieces to the back of the pattern.
I've found the tediousness of sewing and ironing each piece very time consuming, so I plan to sew the same piece on all my blocks at one time. Then I iron and trim all the pieces at the same time. I think this speeds up the process vs. doing one block at a time from start to finish.
The quilt asks for 8 wave blocks, but I'm going to make a small wall hanging for a friend, so I will be making 10 of each block. Here I've laid out the 10 pieces to be placed in spaces 1 and 2 together (right sides together). Piece 1 will be laid face up on the back side of my pattern and piece 2 will be face down on top of it. I use a small dot of glue stick to hold in place. I try to keep my glue in the seam allowances or on the very edges as they will be trimmed off later.
I sew from the printed side of the pattern, so under my presser foot I have from top to bottom: the pattern with printed side up, piece one facing downwards, piece two facing upwards. I sew on the line between pieces 1 and 2. Here is the result when I turn the paper over. You can see my stitch line on the left side of the block. I have found it is helpful to reinforce the beginning and end of each stitch line by backstitching 2-3 stitches. Since the ends of the lines are not usually caught up in the next seam, they have the tendency to unravel. I also shorten my stitch length because it makes the paper easy to tear off at the end of the project.
I need to trim my seam allowance to 1/4" so I fold the paper on the stitch line and use an "Add-a-Quarter" ruler to trim. One can be found on Amazon.com here.
I ironed the two pieces open for this picture.
Then I use a piece of card stock to help me fold the next line. I crease the pattern between what I have just sewn and where my next piece will go. In this case, I will have to attach both pieces 3 and 4 at the same time. All other pieces will be added one at a time.
After folding, I trim the place where my next piece will go to 1/4" with my ruler. I lay my next piece (right sides together) directly on the edge of this cut and my seam allowances stay at 1/4".
Here pieces 3-4 are sewn together and the seam allowance is pressed to the dark side of the fabric.
I place pieces 3-4 onto pieces 1-2 lining up my seams and sew from the top of the pattern.
After sewing these pieces on all 10 blocks, I iron open the pieces. The photo below shows the pieces untrimmed. I will then fold on the line between my attached pieces and piece 5, trim to 1/4" with my ruler, and lay piece 5 face down, lining up my cut edge to the cut edge of the attached pieces.
Below you see pieces 5, 6, 7, and 8 attached. These pieces have been trimmed to 1/4" and you can see the folds in my paper.
Below you see pieces 9, 10, 11, and 12 attached. These pieces have also been trimmed to 1/4" and are ready to receive the next piece.
Below pieces 13, 14, 15, and 16, have been added. Just 4 more to go!
The finished block trimmed 1/4" wider than it will be in the quilt. Remember to sew your seams on the outermost pieces into the 1/4" seam allowance. I did not backstitch on these last seams as they will be caught up when sewn to adjacent blocks.
The time consuming part of removing the backing paper. I fold and crease my paper at each stitch line before tearing, and it is important not to pull at the threads when removing the paper.
Pictured below is the back of my block after all the paper has been removed. I am particularly pleased with the nice 1/4" seams.
Below are 9 of my 10 blocks laid out for one view if you were making a quilt only of the wave blocks.
Below is a different layout using the dark blue and medium-dark blue waves to touch.
And below is yet another layout using the the light blue and medium-light blue waves to touch.
Now it's on to the crab squares. I'll have a lot of fun playing with the texture magic on their bodies. Click here to see my Texture Magic tutorial.
