Shenandoah Baskets General Instructions

Transcription

1 General Instructions Before Starting Read these General Instructions before starting and refer to them as necessary when making each month s blocks. Illustrations show the dark background version of the quilt; only the background fabric differs in the light version. All seam allowances are ¼-inch. Press seam allowances to one side. Basic quiltmaking and foundation-piecing knowledge is assumed. About Your Fabrics If you have purchased a kit, the fabrics are provided in Fabric Number order. The Fabric Guides include images of each of the fabrics included in the quilt. However, you might choose to add a swatch of the actual fabric to the Fabric Guides for your reference purposes. Fabric requirements assume 42" of usable fabric width. Choosing Your Cutting/Sewing Method The instructions for making making this quilt include a variety of quiltmaking techniques including working with templates, foundation piecing, and fast cutting/ piecing methods. However, not all methods are appropriate for all pattern pieces. Templates are included for all patches, except for the basket handle sections of Block 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 which are most easily foundation pieced or appliquéd. If a patch can be accurately cut using a ruler and rotary cutter, cutting dimensions for that patch are also provided. If a patch cannot be easily rotary cut, use the template provided. Note that border print patches are always fussy-cut using templates. Even if you decide to rotary cut your patches, the templates have important information: arrows indicate fabric grain line, and some templates have dots marking seam intersections. Transfer the dots to the wrong side of your patches to assist you in matching your patches and sewing accurately. Note that the identical patch used in two places in a block may have different grain lines; this is to minimize stretch when piecing. The rotary cutting instructions take grain line into account, too. Making Templates Use see-through template plastic to make your templates. Using a permanent marker, transfer all markings including the dashed sewing line, mirror line, grain line arrow and dots, from the patterns to your templates. (Not all templates will have all markings.) Be sure to mark the Template ID (such as Template 5-B) on each template. Please note that there are no I templates in any of the block patterns. To cut a reversed patch, simply flip the template upside down so the markings are now face-down on the fabric. In this way, Template 5-B can be used to cut the (reversed) 5-Br patch. Half-Square Triangles: Quick Method Many of the blocks incorporate halfsquare triangles (HST). If the patches can be rotary cut accurately, we suggest this method: it s fast and allows you to avoid working with bias edges. Cut the number of square patches indicated in the pattern. (Each square will yield two HSTs. There are blocks in which both HSTs are not used or are one is reserved for use in a future block.) Mark a diagonal line on each background patch. If you do not use a ¼-inch foot on your sewing machine, mark a sewing line ¼-inch on both sides of the center line. Pin the marked background patches to their partner fabrics, right sides together and with the background patch on top. Sew along both marked sewing lines. If you did not mark the sewing lines, stitch both to the right and left of the center diagonal line, aligning your ¼- inch foot with the line. Cut carefully along the diagonal line and press. Shenandoah Baskets 2011, Jinny Beyer. All rights reserved. General Instructions - Page 1 of 5

2 Marking Fabric Patches Some patches (such as squares) are easily sewn together simply by matching the raw edges of the pieces. Other patches (such as triangles or patches with odd angles) are much easier to match with adjoining pieces when the seam intersections are marked. Correctly matching the patches will greatly improve the accuracyofyoursewing. Templates: If you are making the blocks using templates, seam intersections are marked on the templates with a dot. To transfer these markings to your fabric patches, punch a small hole in the template plastic, place the template over the wrong side of the patch and mark. Rotary Cutting: Many of the patches in Shenandoah Baskets can be made using a rotary cutter. To mark the seam intersections on these patches, either use Jinny s Perfect Piecer (an acrylic marking tool) or the corresponding template in the pattern. Jinny s Perfect Piecer is a simple tool designed to help quilters achieve perfect points and even stitching lines. The tiara-shaped acrylic template includes all the common angles used in traditional quiltmaking. Simply line up the correct angle on the Perfect Piecer with the patch. Mark pencil dots through the holes and you will know exactly where where the seam intersections are, even on odd-shaped patches. About the Blocks & Framing Strips Each of the Shenandoah Basket blocks is framed with background fabric before being sewn together. Before framing, the blocks should measure 9½" square including seam allowance. After framing, the blocks must measure 14½" square including seam allowance. If your blocks do not measure exactly 9½", you can adjust the size of the framing strips so they will end up the correct size. Instructions for adding the framing strips will be provided with the Month 12 pattern. Appliqué Elements The floral appliqué elements are completely optional. In addition, three of the block patterns include appliquéd handles or stems. Alternatives for completing these elements without using appliqué techniques are provided. Printing the Patterns at Home The accuracy of the templates is critical to your success in making the blocks. However, not all printers or photocopiers reproduce accurately. Each block pattern includes a Template Size Check on one of the template pages. This box must measure 2" square; if it does not, the templates will not be the correct size and you may have problems piecing the blocks. If the templates are not printing correctly, check to make sure that your printer settings are set to Page Scaling: None or Print 100%. If the settings are correct and the Template Size Check still does not measure 2" square, you need to use a different printer or copier to reproduce your pattern. Foundation Piecing The pattern assumes basic knowledge of foundation piecing techniques. Each foundation is labeled with the Fabric Numbers for each patch and the piecing order. Patches that do not have a Fabric Number use the background, Fabric 7. After completing a foundation, trim the outside edges on the solid lines. Do not remove the foundation paper unless otherwise instructed. Shenandoah Baskets 2011, Jinny Beyer. All rights reserved. General Instructions - Page 2 of 5

3 Y-Seams A number of the blocks require you to sew a Y-seam. (This is the same technique as sewing a mitered seam and is also called an inset seam.) Don t panic! This is as simple as sewing from dot to dot and keeping the seam allowances free. Sewing Y-Seams Sew the first two patches to the center square, starting and stopping at the dots on the side where the next patch will be inset. Finger-press the seam allowances towards the patches just sewn. Sew the next patch to the center square, starting and stopping at the dots and keeping the seam allowances free. Now finger-press those first seam allowances toward the center square. Match the raw edges of the two patches on one side and sew the seam from the dot to the outside edge. Repeat for the second side. Shenandoah Baskets 2011, Jinny Beyer. All rights reserved. General Instructions - Page 3 of 5

4 Working with the Border Print Fabric About the Border Print Fabric The border print fabric used in Shenandoah Baskets has six wide stripes and seven narrow stripes printed across the width of the fabric. A band of black fabric ½-inch wide between the stripes is used for seam allowances. If you purchased a kit, the border print fabric may be provided in two pieces: a 3-yard length and a 1¾-yard length. Cutting Border Print Patches Center a template on one of the mirror-image motifs in the border print fabric, positioning the mirror line in the center of the motif. Make sure that a line from the border print falls just inside the sewing line on the template. (This will give you a nice line or frame around the outside of the finished patch.) Different template positions will give your blocks different looks. When cutting the strips for the borders, be sure to include ¼-inch seam allowance on both long sides of the strips. The strips will be trimmed to fit the quilt before sewing. Narrow Stripe Wide Stripe Mark some portion of the design directly onto the template to use as a guide for cutting the remaining pieces. Carefully mark around the template and cut the piece out. Use the lines drawn on the template to guide you in placing the template on identical sections of fabric. The black fabric between the printed stripes is for seam allowance. Jinny takes advantage of all the design possibilities of the border print stripes when she designs. When cutting patches for the blocks, look carefully at the color images. You ll see that she almost always centers a motif in the patch, and that she likes to make sure that printed line from the stripe falls along the edge of the patch. In addition, she often uses just the intricate outer band of the wide stripe or places a template just-so to capture one of the flowers in the narrow stripes. Care in cutting your border print patches yields wonderful special effects. Shenandoah Baskets 2011, Jinny Beyer. All rights reserved. General Instructions - Page 4 of 5

5 Fabric Notes Quilt Top Fabric Guide Reserve Fabric Before you begin cutting fabric for the individual blocks, reserve the following cuts. If you purchased a kit, some cuts may be provided as separate, labeled pieces. Fabric 6 Reserve 1 yard for sashing strips. If you plan to appliqué the basket handles in Blocks 6 and 7 and the stems in Basket 13, cut the patches required in the earlier blocks working across the length of the fabric rather than the width (as shown, below). This will ensure you have sufficient width to cut the bias strips required. Selvedge Cut the first patches from this part of Fabric 6, leaving room for the bias strips required in later blocks. Fabric 1 (¼ yard) Fabric 2 (¼ yard) Fabric 3 (¼ yard) Fabric 4 (¼ yard) Fabric 5 ( 1 /3 yard) Fabric 6 (1½ yards) Fabric 7 (6 yards) Fabric 8 (4¾ yards) Bias Strips Appliqué Fabric Guide Selvedge Fabric 7 A 12" x 90" section is provided as a separate piece and should be reserved for the middle borders. If you have not purchased a kit, cut nine strips 3" x the width of fabric. Reserve 2¼ yards for framing strips. Reserve 7 /8 yard for setting triangles. Reserve 5 /8 yard black fabric (for both light and dark background quilts) for binding. Fabric 9 Fabric 10 Fabric 13 Fabric 14 Fabric 8 Reserve a 3-yard length of four wide and four narrow stripes, including seam allowance, for quilt borders. (See Working with the Border Print Fabric for more information.) Reserve a 3-yard length of one wide and one narrow stripe, including seam allowance, for blocks. The remainder will be used for sashing. Fabric 11 Fabric 12 Requirements: ¼ yard of each fabric Fabric 15 Fabric 15 is also used for the flower stems in the Block 12 foundation. Fabric 12 Shenandoah Baskets 2011, Jinny Beyer. All rights reserved. General Instructions - Page 5 of 5