Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Jill's Zig Zag Fun and Some Helpful Hints for Finishing- read to the bottom

What makes things like this Zig Zag Quilt Along fun is that you bump into other people and it makes blogging not so solitary.  I received this from Jill this morning.  And even better are the blocks along the side so you can see what she is working on!  Love those New York Beauties!


Jill says:  "Just wanted to share my zigzag quilt in progress.  I am waiting for some border fabric to arrive as it is too narrow to finish, but will be about 60 in long.  I am sewing the blocks together now.   The colored strip is 2 in and the off white is 2 1/2.  I was surprised how well this worked.  This has been a fun work in progress.  Thanks for the inspiration and push to do it."

I love her colors, they feel so luscious.  I am thinking that a nice zig zag center surrounded by some really nice New York Beauties could be called Just Zipping Around New York City!  LOL.

Jill, what if you took a roll up shade and covered it with flannel?  Then hung it where your "design wall" hangs off the ceiling tress?  Then you made a cornice of wood to hide it up there?  You could center it and have it look like a design element in the opening.  And you would have a permanent design wall, that could be hidden away when not in use?  If you look in some window treatment books you can find some really neat cornices, depending on how fancy you want to get.  From just 3 pieces of wood, to adding batting and covering it with fabric to using a scroll saw and cutting the wood into intricate shapes (oohhhh, like scissors and spools and sewing machines, LOL!)

It just popped into my head (and I ran with it) as I was trying to see into the room beyond the quilt, just being nosey.  You know daughter Carrie designs commercial interiors of buildings for an architectural firm.  She has all kinds of ways of making spaces work for company needs.  And she has done something similar for several companies who need an AV screen but don't have a lot of extra room in a remodel.

My helpful hint for the zig zag quilt is to watch how you iron it when you get it all together.  If you have done what Jill and I did and put the blocks on point, then you have to worry about bias.  If you iron on the bias you stretch the block and the quilt.  So make sure you iron with the grain and not the bias to keep your quilt from stretching.  

I also used a heavy duty spray starch to have a better chance of keeping the quilt from stretching as I was handling it.  I had a somewhat difficult time when I was squaring it up.  This is where the HSTs are easier to work with than the rail fence method.  

I will put the borders on mine after I get off the computer.  

Thanks, Jill!  Thanks for sending your picture and for playing with me and the zig zags!

glen


 

2 comments:

  1. I like her zig zag too! I love the idea of a design wall that hangs free, and even better if it would roll up and down. Very neat idea, I'm going to work on that one!

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  2. LOL. What you are seeing is a flannel backed table cloth that is tacked to the wall and over a closet with mirrored doors. I wish my space was that big. I Love the idea though. I like the border idea with NewYork Beauties, but don't think I have the energy to tackle that many blocks. Just playing along with one block, not four, each week. Thanks for sharing my top. I will show you the finished quilt when I get there.

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