Monday, October 27, 2014

Australian fabric Trip Around the World

It was finally time yesterday to unpick a seam in each loop for the trip quilt.  How do I know where to unpick it?  Unpick the first strip anywhere and put it up on the design wall.  Then the next strip is unpicked between the top 2 fabrics on the previous strip.  You can see my thumb is on the seam to unpick.  Don't over analyze, just unpick it.
The correct way to use a seam ripper is to lay it flat on the fabric and slide the point under a stitch.  I have seen too many people use it to jab at the stitch.  I slide it under every 3rd stitch and cut.  Since I had to hold my camera in my right hand I had to hold the ripper for the photo with my left hand.  Normally the fabric is laying against my left hand and I use my right hand to slide the ripper under the stitch.

Then the seam just pulls apart and you can pick off the little thread pieces.










I have 18 fabrics so I needed to unpick 18 loops.  This gives me the top left section plus the center row.  The bottom right corner would be the center of the quilt when all of the loops have been unpicked.





Now I can move the strips one at a time from the left edge to the right edge and see every fabric as the center.  I have moved one strip here.







And now I have moved one more strip.  The pink center is getting larger with each move.

The top left corner could also be a choice for the center.  The next photo is this photo flipped 180 degrees to show that.

 

I think I will move a few more strips before I make a decision.

14 comments:

Needled Mom said...

This is one of the blocks I would like to do someday. I am always amazed at how few people know the correct way to use a seam ripper. Great idea to share the right way!

Sewing Junkie said...

This is a good tutorial. I haven't done this, but on my bucket list. Chris

Anonymous said...

Yay, the Australian fabrics! I've been waiting to see more of these!

Frebblebit

Mary said...

More inspiration! Thanks for sharing the process.

Hedy said...

This is going to be so colorful, I am waiting for the full reveal. Not sure I would attempt a quilt like this with your methods unless...I had a teacher like you beside me !

Quiltdivajulie said...

Such beauty . . .

patty a. said...

This is going to be a beautiful quilt!

Caro said...

Just lovely!

Mystic Quilter said...

These Australian fabrics look so good used this way.

Havplenty said...

It will be interesting to see what you create from these fabrics. I have a F8 bundle and about 8 half yard pieces of the Aboriginal fabrics. haven't decided how to use them yet.

tushay3(at)yahoo(dot)com

JJM said...

OMG Wanda ~ Thanks for all the photo's it has to help those dedicated to give this piece a try. It really was a treat to see this tutorial. Now I feel like I have done it too. (*._,*)

JJM

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Those oh-so-pretty fabrics are going to make a stunning quilt!

Ruth said...

Wanda, how big are your squares? I want to do this with batiks.

Charlotta said...

I'm traveling, SO IM LATE (and possibly reading posts in the wrong order) in seeing your posts. This is a great explanation of how you're doing the Trip Around the World! When I did mine, of course, I did them square by square, all by hand! MUCH more cumbersome and time consuming. This way is much easier and more elegant, by far. I just like to hand-piece, most people don't, and they should follow your explanation.