Hi Lois, thank you for the welcome. Everybody is so nice here and shares their experience so freely.
ritzy wrote:
Yes, it makes sense even to me I always wash fabric when I have bought it. I come from a clothes making background so want to avoid shrinkage and running (I even wash silk and wool before using or storing it). I find that some quilting fabric often is very off grain because it is cut instead of torn off the bolt and gets very distorted when washing. Maybe I should fold the fabric prior to ironing it after the wash instead of ironing it unfolded and then try to fold and cut. Another small experiment to undertake. I will need a notebook to write donw all the tips and tricks you all hand out.
Marianne

Welcome Marianne! The more the merrier! We quilters always want to do eveything we can to nuture the addiction in others. Happy to have you aboard. My house guests have left and today I spent catching up on my job work. Tomorrow morning will be more of the same but in the afternoon I will hit the sewing room and pick out fabric. I am going to pick it out and starch it using Rosemary's method. I hung a clothes line on my screened in porch to help give the electric dryer a rest from doing all the bedding after the guests. I am going to leave the line in place to dry starched fabric. I can't wait. I think our humid climate will leave just enough moisture in the fabric for it to be pressed just beautifully. While I wait for it to dry I will work on something else. My sewing room is just so very lonely for me. Actually, I got up there a few hours over the weekend because my SIL wanted to learn Gyleen Fitzgerald's butterfly seam. It was so much fun to have someone there sewing with me. I hate it that she lives a whole state away. Thank goodness I have the Forum!

ritzy wrote: Totally agree. Well said.

Tech support is looking into the missing PDF re: cutting instructions ,ie. how many strips, how long, how wide, etc.
We can do it the hard way, but that's no so hot ! for a class. I think you're on the money, Renata...Thanks !
But If we have to do it from scratch..someone should say so !

I think the key to avoiding that V is the match up the selvage edges and letting the fabric hang away from the table. If it hangs well, nothing that looks like a bubble in the fabric, it is OK to lay it on the table. If it doesn't hang well, you have to adjust one of the selvages to the right or left until it hangs correctly. Once it is laying correctly on the table you can fold the fold up to meet the selvages and make you cleaning up cut. Hope this makes sense.

Marianne-is-sewing wrote: I have also had problems with getting the 'v' when cutting across the width strips, my reaction was ''well it is going to be cut into shorter pieces anyway so I shan't let it worry me, and if all else fails I'll fudge it in the seam allowance'', because I would rather have it right on the front & iffy seam allowances, than perfect seam allowances & iffy on the front, and quite frankly I am too 'tight' to waste the fabric. Besides 22" strip sets are easier to handle than 44"

Hello Ritzy!
I am looking forward to trying the starch if it can help not only when you piece but also for cutting because I always get the "ditch" or "valley" if I fold fabric like Laura Nownes shows and that she warns against. I tried cutting like this the first time after I had watched Sharon Peterson cut long strips right across the fabric by folding but gave up after realising I would have to cut several inches away in the middle anyway. I am getting excited especially now I have chosen my fabrics (mostly fat quarters so I would not have to cut long strips )
Marianne

Hi Marianne, and welcome to the forum. I am not doing this exercise but I am watching the videos to see if you can teach this old dog a few new tricks. I do not starch my fabrics but I have be sewing for a very long time. I think it would be very advantageous to a beginner just because it is easier to cut a stiff fabric than one that is soft. Also, I think that the starch keeps the fabric from slipping when you are sewing two pieces together. Hope you have fun with this and learn a lot. These girls are a lot of fun.

Cathy,
Thank you - now I get it! It is the short, sharp videos listed before the class today. Wow, how silly of me :shock: I have actually already watched them once but will watch them again tonight. Thanks again.
I am sure I will have lots of fun here. Must try to get some sewing done in between running around the whole web-site like a headless chicken
Marianne

Hi Marianne, the resource library is in classrooms, then Laura Nownes, then view lessons. The resources are the ones about fabric, thread, sewing machines, etc. Just general info for us. Welcome to the forum. Hope you have alot of fun, and learn alot. The forum can be addictive, so enjoy.

Watched the first class now. More questions: where is the resource library that Laura Nownes talks about?
I have done a search but nothing came up although I did find other things that I had no idea was on the site
I aso got some spray starch. If I don't like the smell I will try my hand at the homemade variety if I find it helps me to be more accurate.
What a gorgeous set of hand dyed fabrics - very summery. Must make my own choice now.
Marianne

No I don't have a border fabric, these were just ad hoc dyeing to use up left overs from the Hestia costume, and the border will depend on either what is left or maybe a shopping trip or something. I definitely haven't got that far in planning yet

How gorgeous, Rosemary! I know the photos don't render as you'd like them to but all I see is a fantastic sampler coming up. Are you going to combine those colors into a border? Do you have a border fabric already? Your effort was well worth it... I wish I could hop over and learn from you!

PosyP wrote:
the second from the left is the extra one that I did, not really any orange about it, but it is a stronger yellow and it fits in the general scheme of things. (sorry the picture appears dark, it seemed fine on the camera. )