...Adding a triangle to the unit. I planned to sew 2-1/2 hours today and it took me just a little bit longer to add the triangle to all 56 units. Well, that makes sense because the seam is longer than the seam in the first step. My pairings were relatively random; I just checked to make sure there was adequate contrast between the orange I was adding and the orange in the unit. One of the things I like about hand-dyes and true batiks is that, like a solid fabric, they have no wrong side. However, unlike a solid fabric, there are subtle difference between sides. This doubles your options, so in many cases if one side isn't quite right, the other side will be. Even with my double options, there were some very close matches, but I think that will lend the subtlety I hope to achieve.
Again, here's some additional info for you techies. Feeding triangles under the presser foot is notoriously tricky. Those narrow points twist in the feed dogs and the start and end of seams are often narrower or wider than the rest of the seam. When I'm concerned about accuracy and especially when I sew triangles, I use this trick that I picked up on one of the quilting shows on TV. Remove a stack from a pad of sticky notes and butt the edge against the presser foot. I find I get a better fit if I lower my feed dogs so the presser foot sits flush on the throat plate. The "gummed" side should be against the presser foot and the adhesive from the bottom note should hold the pad in place. If it doesn't, then just use a little temporary hold glue stick. Now you can feed the triangle under the presser foot using the pad as a guide and it keeps that triangle end from twisting out of whack.
I'm sewing on the bias again and I opted to sew with the pieced unit on the bottom partly because the commercial fabric in the unit is not as high a thread count as the hand-dyed fabric, thus it has more stretch. I've found that placing the stretchier fabric next to the feed dogs allows a more even feed. The feet grab the fabric and automatically ease in any stretch.
So here I am with another pile of "leaves" needing to be pressed.
Again, here's some additional info for you techies. Feeding triangles under the presser foot is notoriously tricky. Those narrow points twist in the feed dogs and the start and end of seams are often narrower or wider than the rest of the seam. When I'm concerned about accuracy and especially when I sew triangles, I use this trick that I picked up on one of the quilting shows on TV. Remove a stack from a pad of sticky notes and butt the edge against the presser foot. I find I get a better fit if I lower my feed dogs so the presser foot sits flush on the throat plate. The "gummed" side should be against the presser foot and the adhesive from the bottom note should hold the pad in place. If it doesn't, then just use a little temporary hold glue stick. Now you can feed the triangle under the presser foot using the pad as a guide and it keeps that triangle end from twisting out of whack.I'm sewing on the bias again and I opted to sew with the pieced unit on the bottom partly because the commercial fabric in the unit is not as high a thread count as the hand-dyed fabric, thus it has more stretch. I've found that placing the stretchier fabric next to the feed dogs allows a more even feed. The feet grab the fabric and automatically ease in any stretch.
So here I am with another pile of "leaves" needing to be pressed.
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