Like a petulant child unwilling to eat her vegetables or adhere to her bedtime, I've been avoiding the next step on the Peace quilt: trimming it to square. With no true borders or blocks at guide and a size larger than my cutting mat, this was going to be tricky. I'd done my best to make sure the only true lines in the design were centered and smoothed evenly over the felt "batting", even though the satin stitching along the raw edges of the applique had skewed a few places. But the quilting process apparently skewed things some more, and as I measured this way and that and put down a few chalk marks along the sides, I could tell I'd not end up with a squared quilt using my usual methods. Instead, I ended up folding top to bottom (where there seemed to be the least amount of discrepancy), matching those only lines in the design and lining up the folded edge with a line on the mat. Measuring from that fold, I marked the finished length of the quilt and trimmed away. I then trimmed either side before unfolding, measuring from the center of the design. I really had no wiggle room in this since the bottom width of the felt was exactly what the finished width of the quilt would be.
6 comments:
I LOVE this piece……perfection in simplicity! Although I have a very large cutting table with a single very large mat (Endura Mat from Signwarehouse.com) I still have trouble squaring projects. The legs of my 40 years fold out table are warped and no matter what I do, I’m unable to obtain a perfectly flat top. As much as I use this thing…..you’d think by now I’d just go ahead and buy a new one…..oh but that thrifty midwest upbringing has not allowed it!!
I wish I could take credit for the design, but at least I can take credit for the fabric and the quilting design choice! I love it too, just never dreamed it would throw up so many obstacles to speedy completion. Very much looking forward to getting the back and sleeve on and edges covered so I can hang it someplace where I can see it every day.
I've seen those giant mats, drooled a bit over them but never wanted to put out the money for one. Plus now that I've switched over to two banquet tables shoved together instead of the unbroken expanse of a ping pong table, working over that inevitable bump would be problematic. Just as well I stick to my current mat which I can easily spin and when not in use, lean against the wall. Few really perfect solutions for those of us of the thrifty bent - lol. I didn't grow up in the Midwest but both my parents lived through the Great Depression in South Dakota and later when they raised their family in Idaho there were always undertones of the waste not want not mentality and other thrifty behaviors. I really don't see that as a bad thing!
...or square enough. It's always nerve-wracking whether I have borders to measure from or not! Sometimes you have to just do it! Have a peaceful Thanksgiving. Stay well! Jan in WY
Yes you do sometimes just do the Nike thing - lol. Wishing you also a peaceful and safe Thanksgiving - I'm astounded by Wyoming's numbers and hope that like me, you little piece of the state is staying relatively in check.
I absolutely dread having to square up a quilt that's larger than my cutting mat, so I've started not making any that big. And your quilt is stunning!
Thanks Sherrie, and I have to admit, my thinking is starting to go that direction too, just like starting to shy away from quilts big enough that it will require wrestling and stuffing to get them through the machine while quilting!
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