Woven Wanderings

 Many of my quilt designs and patterns are quite complicated, with many peices and involved techniques. So I thought I should design a quilt that is simple to make, has just one block, and is perfcect for beginning quilters. Woven Wanderings fits the bill!

The block that makes up this quilt is one that I've made many times for block exchanges. It looked very cool on its own. I started wonderibng how it would look repeated over and over again.  So I made several of them and really liked how the pattern took shape. The problem was that there were too many seams to match. I wouldn't want to attempt matching that many, and it certinaly wasn't appropriate for a beginning quilter.

So, ever curious, I began playing with the block to see if I could achieve the same look without the matching. And of course there was another way.  However, this block required one additional simple technique - partial seams.

I've made the quilt in two colorways and I think the results are pretty darn cute! This pattern is a great way to feature a pretty fabric - either in the woven strips or in the background. I've done this in each of the samples I've done.

I am so excited to share this pattern with you. I hope to use it to teach beginning quilting, and I think it will make a really cute lap quilt. Woven Wanderings is available on my Etsy Shop and at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in Overland Park in June of 2023. If you make it, let me know and send some pictures.

Cheers!

Acorn Precision Piecing Seam Align Fabric Glue

I am being totally spoiled at the moment - I'm on a Hawaiian Quilting Cruise. I'll write more about the cruise and teacher in another post. But I do want to tell you about a helpful notion that the teacher introduced us to. I had seen it before, but never used it.

"It" is the Seam Align Fabric Glue by Acorn. It's a Canadian product, so it was a bit hard to find at first, but now many shops are carrying it. I will have it in my booth at the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival in June as well as in my Etsy shop as soon as I get back from the cruise (1 February).

What makes this glue so great? Well, first the applicator is very small so it gives you great precision. You only need a tiny bit. It's repositionable until pressed with heat, and then its more lasting but still not permanent. It is perfectly safe for your machine as it dries once its activated with heat.

The only drawback I see is that it requires an additional step - the pressing. If you're like me and need a bit more exercise, then its not a drawback at all! 

For me, any drawbacks disappear when you look at the precision you get. Especially with bias seams. The block we are sewing on this cruise has bias seams everywhere. I started with pinning and was not getting my ends to match. The pieces were laser cut, so I couldn't blame my cutting. The bias pieces were stretching. Even using 3 to 4 pins on a 2.5 inch pieces wasn't doing it.

As soon as I started using the glue, all my pieces fit. Every time!

Here's the easy process - 

Apply just tiny dots within your seam allowance, about every quarter inch.

 

Align your second piece - starting at the ends first and pressing towards the middles with your fingers.

Press with heat to activate the glue. You can still pull it apart if you need to.

Sew as usual. 

Have you tried this miracle glue? What do you think? Let me know!

Always Curious!