lou19 wrote:
Lou, the wax doesn't just gum up the needle it also gums up the tension disks!!

As for the other things you've read, I think you need to take it with a grain of salt. And if you are ever in a place where Bob Purcell of Superior Threads offers his lecture, be sure to take it. You might expect a heavy duty infomercial, but it's not! He presents wonderful information about thread, not about Superior.

In the meantime, check out some of this info:

http://www.superiorthreads.com/education/

Hiya Margo,

Thanks for your advice on polyester thread.

I did not know that quilting thread gums up your machine needle. I suppose that does not apply to the quilting threads recommended in the instructions.

Also, I have read that you should use cotton thread for cotton fabric. Apparently cotton "deteriorates" (I hate to use that word for this quilt! I want it to last forever) faster than polyester thread.

Apparently, also, polyester thread "cuts" into the cotton fabric seams. I would not know.

Here's hoping there are other "experienced" quilters with similar knowledgeable questions.

Thanks very much for your help and advice.

lou19 wrote:
As for the thread. Your polyester might be just fine for piecing. The new polys are a lot different from what was available 5-10 years ago. And there is a difference between embroidery thread , and serging thread and regular sewing thread. So it would depend on the thread that you are considering. Does it break easily? That would be the main thing to check for.

About the quilting thread. Just be sure that you don't use that in your sewing machine. It has a waxy coating that will gum up parts of your machine. That is definitely not a good thing!

Lou, if you have watched Jinny do her hand sewing you know that it is definitely possible. However, it is also possible to machine piece with accuracy, if you know good techniques.

Sue includes wonderful directions in all of her TQS patterns, and my tutorials offer some alternative techniques, however Sue and I are both suggesting machine piecing.

Since you are new to quilting, I suggest that you try both hand and machine methods and decide which one you enjoy doing, and which one gives you the most accurate piecing.

Like the 2009 TQS BOM, this one also requires attention to accuracy. Sue stressed last year the importance of accurate measuring, cutting, sewing and pressing. It's important this year too.

If your blocks don't come out to the size that Sue states in her directions, you need to find out WHY they are not right, and correct it before you continue on. Some distortion can be dealt with, but it sure is easier if it's done the correct size from the get-go.

If you have't seen them yet, you might want to go over some of my tutorials from last year's BOM as well as this year's tutes. These are always available from my TQS profile which you can access them any time you see my photo, or just do a search for "Margo".

If nothing else, please check out the "TEST" on my Webshots album. You can access it here:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569415726bHNKHF

Hiya all,

I know the instructions suggest the use of quilting thread. However, I am absolutely swimming in polyester enmbroidery thread, and I wonder how good that would be?

Thanks.

Hiya Margo,

I have seen Jinny Beyer's work, and it is just unbelievable!! And, she sews all of her quilts by hand!!!

As a learner, I have recently done a couple of "little" blocks, and I have handsewn these, and they are OK: lying flat, points meeting, etc. In the past I have used my sewing machine, the results have been most unsatisfactory and I have felt very unhappy about them. Also, I have felt most uneasy about machine sewing small patches, and no backstitching is used. However, if others can do this without problems, it can obviously be done. I may not be at that point yet...

So, on the basis of my tremendous quilting expertise (haha) I wonder what is your view on handsewing these small 1 1/2 HST pieces. I am rather inclined to start doing these by hand.

I suppose I could machine sew the larger pieces. What is your view on mixing the handsewing with machine sewing? ... mmm ...

Thanks on your views.

Margo,
Thank you for that.

Mary, I'm glad that you figured it out!!

lou19 wrote:
Lou, these instructions will listed be in the February pattern.

On page 2-3 are the measurements for the white-on-white borders. Where are the measurements for the green borders? Sue has 3 of these in her quilt.
Many thanks.

WELL -- I can't be seen for the egg on my face!!! I went back and printed a page just to check and when the printer selections came up, somehow the "Reduce to printer margins" had been checked instead of "none" to scaling. I had tried to be so very careful after reading the discussions on this very subject on last year's BOM. The pattern was reduced just slightly, but the test square remained OK since it was already within the margin. Just goes to show that you can't check enough. So now, I have to start over. Oh well, I'll save what I have to use on something else. I'm laughing at myself and hope you all are too. What a dummy!!! Hopefully, we can all learn from this mistake. Now I'm going to scrape off the egg. Mary

Mary, if you checked the 1" test square, the paper pieced HSTs should come out to the right size. Could you please run another copy and check the test square and make a couple more units to see if they come out to the right size? Let us know how it goes.

Nope, sewing right on the lines.

Mary, I don't know what your problem might be, if you checked the 1" box and it measured correctly. Could you be sewing slightly to the wrong side of the lines? Mine came out to be the right size.