Unpicking.......................

I cut one strata of the William Morris Trip Around the World project and got 16 loops.  I need 14 to have one complete sequence (because I have 14 fabrics).  I unpicked a different seam on each loop to see what one quarter plus center row at right and bottom will look like.

As I explained in my tutorial last week (label is Trip Around the World tutorial on my label list and also at the bottom of this post), I could now move strips from the left one at a time to see what each fabric looks like at the center (bottom right corner).  In this photo I have moved 3 strips and already I know this is what I want.  There are 2 things to consider here, the center and the breakpoint - the fabric that will make the complete diamond touching at the center of all 4 sides.  I like a larger print for the breakpoint.

I took the remaining 2 loops and pinned them to the wall to show the center better.  I sewed the last seam in the other three stratas and after pressing I will be cutting loops from them.

 

One off the wall, another up......................

I needed one last photo of this group of blocks because I needed to take them off the design wall.  I can continue to cut more squares and when I have enough, I will put all of them up on the design wall again, and then it can be sewn.

I got the seam sewn in a backing for a flannel quilt and got the fold line and seam pressed.  Then I had 3 errands to take care of.

I took the 4 stratas for the William Morris Trip Around the World to my ironing table (30" x 60") in the basement and started the pressing sequence.  In the middle of the second strata, my iron died.  I bought that iron at least 15 years ago.  When I was teaching quilt classes in my home, I had 2 irons in the basement and one in my main floor studio.  I never cared for this particular iron but I started using it again about 11 years ago.  I use steam and this iron has always been a good steamer and has never leaked.  I have a fairly new iron to use now and it has to be coaxed to steam.

I flipped the above photo to make a point about the order of the fabrics.  In a TAW quilt I tend to like the fabrics to blend up from light to dark as in this photo rather than blending down as in the above photo.  This is a decision I make before I start unpicking a seam in the loops.  I have the seam sewn in one strata so I'll be cutting loops and unpicking today.

Out in the garden................

This is the view of my front garden, viewed from the porch.  You can't even see the pavers that divide the areas.  There are Black-eyed Susans growing in the crack between 2 pavers for most of the width of the garden as well as a couple Coral Bells at one end.  There are many of the Susans coming up in other areas too.  If I don't clean it up, it is going to be a mass of blooms.

The first Evening Primrose blooms are in the back garden.  The original plant came from my mother-in-law's house back in the 1980's.  They spread easily so I have patches of them here and there.

These remind me of the buttercups I used to pick when I was a little girl.

At the beginning of May I bought one pot with two Cucumber plants in it.  I got it planted in a big pot when I was planting tomatoes.  The 2 plants are looking pretty good so far.

I was out close to sunset last night to talk to my tomato plants and encourage some fruit on them.  This branch of the Weigela bush is near the raised bed.

I did my grocery shopping yesterday and today I hope to be sewing. 

May 2026 monthly recap...........................

There was one finish early in the month of May.  I used strips that were cut many years ago to make the Double 4 Patch blocks and many orphan blocks in brown/beige/gold joined them for a nice throw quilt.  It is 63" x 70".

I completed 2 quilt tops in May.  The Kaffe Medallion has been a slow project for several months, and when I finally decided it didn't want any more borders, it was done.  It is a wall hanging and measures 48" x 53".  When I get to the edge finish, I'm planning on doing a facing instead of binding.  The small still life top is not in proportion to the Kaffe top.  It is only 1/4 as tall as the medallion top but I left it larger for this collage.  It's only 10" x 13".

So what else did I do in May?  I had company staying with me for 8 days and then planted my tomato plants, 3 to the raised bed and 5 in pots.

I also planted all of my new porch pots.  They are starting to fill out.  I think I lost at least one little Begonia on the bottom shelf so I might be out looking for a new one or two.

I also wrote a 4 part tutorial for Trip Around the World.  During the time I was composing that I got steroid shots in my SI joints and am finally getting relief from my pain that started 10 months ago.  I'm just hoping that the relief lasts a long time.

And lastly, I knitted three dishcloths, the best stress reliever, the most calming thing I do all month.

Trip Around the World tutorial 4....................

 As you read the following paragraph, you may start wondering what you are going to do with the piece you just removed from a loop.  It is just a scrap to be used in another project, or it can be used to create a full sequence of the fabrics into a strip to be used on the back or to replace a problem unpicked loop.  Now that you don't need to worry about that, here are the final directions for the Trip Around the World quilt.

For the bottom half of the quilt, you don’t want duplicate pieces at the center of the quilt (the horizontal center row).  Look at the bottom color of the first, left hand strip.  Unpick this color totally out of one tube segment.  This has created a strip for the bottom half of the first row which you now sew to the top half strip with the fabrics in mirror image and re-hang it on the design wall.  Do this for all strips.

In this post, 4th photo, shows where to unpick.

This post shows progress unpicking bottom half strips.

Here is another post with all loops unpicked and top partially sewn.

One more partially unpicked bottom half.

When all of the top half and bottom half of strips are sewn together you will now sew seams from top to bottom to complete your top.  Take your time and make the intersections match.  If you followed the pressing technique, seams should be going opposite directions at every intersection.  Ease or stretch as necessary to make them match.  You may want to sew groups of 5 -10 long columns together several times and then join them to have less bulk at once at your machine.  All seams are now pressed one direction across the quilt.  Staystitch outside edge before adding border.

The only thing I didn't explain in this tutorial is how to choose the fabrics, and what order to put them in.  I will probably have a post called Trip Around the World tutorial 1 A.  I think I will be able to make it post in order between 1 and 2 or before 1.

I'm happy to answer emails with questions you might have.  My email address is on the right sidebar.

Trip Around the World Tutorial 3

Before you read the next paragraph I want to explain the 'breakpoint position' is the fabric that touches the outside edge at the center of all 4 sides.  In other words, it is the fabric that makes the largest diamond shape in the quilt.

Second, you don't have to decide what fabric is going to be in the center of the quilt at this time.  You will be able to audition a lot (or all) of the fabrics after you have unpicked a full sequence of loops.

I have previously posted photos for what is described in the first few sentences below  Check it out here.

Unpick one seam on one of your loops and place it up on your design wall at the left hand edge (or lay it on your sheet if you are working on the floor).  Unpick the next loop at the seam between the top 2 colors of that first strip.  Place it to the right of the first strip.  Unpick the next one at the seam between the top 2 colors of the second tube segment.   Place it to the right of the second strip.  Continue doing this until you have as many loops opened up as you have fabrics (16 for twin, 20 for double/queen, 22 for king).  If you unpick one at the wrong place, it can be used somewhere else so don't re-sew it.  Now you can move the strips from the left edge to the right edge one at a time until you see every fabric in the breakpoint position.  If you take photos and use 2 mirrors at a right angle you can create the look of the whole center.  The mirrors you can purchase that have a hinge holding them together are small, but you can still hold them up to your actual fabric section that you are auditioning to get an idea of what the center will look like.

Here is a post where I was auditioning colors for the center by moving the strips one at a time from the right edge to the left edge.  (Backwards to what I just described above.)

(At this point what you have unpicked is the left top quarter plus the center row.  You don't want to duplicate the center row so that is why you will unpick one less tube for the rest of the top of the quilt.)

Once you have chosen the order you like, you are ready to unpick the seams for the pieces for the rest of the top half of the quilt.   Unpick the second half of tubes (to the right of these original strips) at the seam between the bottom 2 colors of the previous strip.  This will make your fabric move down one step each time.  You know you are done when the first strip on the left and the last strip on the right are identical.

Here is a post where I talk about that.

Now DO NOT sew the top half of the quilt together.  You will have all vertical seams if you continue with my tutorial, BUT if you sew the top together (vertical seams) and then sew the bottom together (vertical seams), and then sew the 2 halves togehter, you will have one horizontal seam across the quilt.  This may stretch the center and possibly always be visible as a seam going the other way.

Tutorial 4 will continue tomorrow with bottom half designing and sewing the quilt top together.

Trip Around the World tutorial 2

A few facts before I go into the next step of the tutorial.

Don't cut off selvages before you make the stratas.  The first clean-up cut from the strata tube will trim them off....and you may need 1/8" of the selvage area to get the number of loops you need from a strata tube.

I don't pre-wash regular printed cotton fabrics so I will get more loops per tube than those of you who prewash.

Batiks don't have the wide unusable selvages so you can always get more loops from a batik tube.

You are at the trickiest part of the assembly as we tackle this next step.

Sew the last seam to make your strata into a tube, making sure you do not have a twist in it.  The ends of the fabric will not necessarily match at this point.  Move the fabric back and forth until it hangs straight (see below).  Your ends may mismatch by an inch or so.

The way I check for a twist is to fold the strata right sides together as if I'm going to sew the last seam.  I hold it out in front of me (the strips of fabric are running horizontally) and look to see if there is a twist at the fold.  If there is, I slide one of the layers to the left or right to make it hang straight. This is the new match for the end that I will start sewing.  (I'll try to add a photo here when I get to that point on my project.)

You now have tubes to work with.  For larger quilts you will need to fold the tube to fit on your cutting mat and you will want to avoid stacking seams on top of seams.  Re-cut the tubes of fabric into loops by trimming the even end with a clean up cut, and then using the countercut measurement for your quilt, cut as many loops as you need.  If your cut is 2-1/2” you need to get 16 from each tube for the twin and the double/queen size*. (double/queen 2.5", king 3”)  These measurements are here to remind you that not every size quilt has the same size cut.  Refer to the yardage chart for the width of your countercut for the size quilt you are making.

Photos of some of the above are on this previous post.

*If you can't get 16 loops from a strata, you may have to piece an extra half strata.

I mark my ruler with tape for the width of cut I need to make.  Then I cut as many loops as I can out of a strata.  You may not need all of the cuts from the last strata so you might want to save the part you don't need and use it on the back of the quilt.  (To figure out how many loops you need, multiply the number of fabrics you are using by 4 and subtract 2.)

In #3 of the tutorial we will be designing the layout.