Biased: Introducing Bias Cut Fabric

We talked last time about the construction of fabric and what " straight grain" means.

From Threads Magazine

Basically it means the fabric is cut along the line with either the warp grain( the long threads of the fabric) or the weft grain, (the threads going across).  Fabric is just woven threads. It's not static. The threads can easily shift within the fabric.So it can stretch, warp, or shift on you in a moment's notice.  The straight of grain fabric does that slightly. But what if you cut at a 45 degree angle across the square. The picture shows us a log of thread ends with nothing to hold them in place. That 45 degree cut is a bias cut. And since the threads aren't holding each other in place, it stretches. Not just a little bit. A lot! 

Is that a good thing? Again, nothing is  good or bad but thinking makes it so.

You may think this talk about grain doesn't matter to beginner sewers, or people making simple quilts. But it helps you predict how fabric will react as you sew it. And if you think it through, you'll understand some of the problems involved with sewing bias and some of the solutions.

Elizabeth Hartman from Oh, Fransson!

Remember how we talked about half square triangles, and how many different kinds of blocks you can cut from them? That seam across the half square triangle is bias cut. Any quilt we make with triangles or diamonds by definition has a bias seam, waiting to stretch out before your eyes. 

Before you start to panic, quilters have dealt with this from the beginning of quilting. And knowledge is power. Are you wondering why one square is bigger than the other? Pointed slightly differently? Why the seams don't match. It could be due to bias stretch. Here's some ways to control that,

From Exuberant Color

Bias coping skills

• The simplest thing to do about bias is to remember not to stretch it. Don't pull it through the machine. Don't tug it into place. Don't encourage it to stretch more than it does just in sewing.
•  Cut accurately and trim to even things out rather than stretch a seam to make it match.
• Use a walking foot to make your fabric feed evenly top and back side. A walking foot grabs fabric from both the top and the back side.
• Use pins. A lot of pins
• Don't drag your iron along the seams. Lift it. Place it. Let it steam. Repeat.

If it stretches a little, that's fine. Just don't encourage it to stretch a lot.

From Nettie at aquiltisnice

Is there an upside to bias? Actually yes there is! That curve you see on this bound edge is from cut bias strips. The bias stretches nicely to accommodate the curve. Many quilters use bias binding because that stretch leaves a smoother bound edge.

We'll talk more about bias binding next time!

Sewing Against the Grain: Knowledge is Power

Thermoweb.com

When most of us start to quilt we usually start with projects that look pretty easy. Square pieces, simple straight lines. So why is it that we're sewing along and all of a sudden the seams we pinned don't match and one side is a lot longer than the other.

We think of fabric as being square. That's not really true. Fabric is thread woven. Those threads can and do shift within the fabric. Fabric is only square if we cut it square. And that can change when we pick it up and move it.

Illustration Janet Wickell

The secret is in the weave. The long threads of your fabric going down the length of your cloth  (the weft) are tightly stretched in the weaving. The threads that go back and forth between the edges of your cloth ( the weave) is placed between the stretched weft. They don't have the same tension on them so they are never as tight. What does that mean? The weave edge of your fabric is stretchier than the weft.

When we're cutting our fabric we think of straight of grain. Both weft and weave are straight grain. But they don't act the same way. The weft is much more likely to stretch. And it will stretch right under your sewing machine foot.

Is this a good thing?
A bad thing?
Nothing is good or bad if thinking makes it sew.

Back to our seam. It makes sense if you sew a weft cut piece to a warp cut piece that one will stretch more. Here's some strategies that help us work around that.

• Pin everything well. It will move some. We just want it to move less.

Janet Wickell About Quilting 

• Cut cleanly. Clean rotary cut fabric is  is always easier to sew because it's more accurate. It's impossible to sew torn fabric evenly because the edge stretches in the tear.

• Consider sewing strips and cutting them in segments for construction. It's much more accurate.
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• Even up squares before you stitch them together. You're seams aren't completely even in the block? A swift round of rotary cutting each block to exactly the right size can save you a lot of trouble later.

  

  Amanda Herring The Quilted Fish

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• Sew long strips together from the same side. I know it's awkward. But your strips will stretch the same way and iron much better.
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• Use a sewing machine foot that helps you keep your seams even.  A  consistant 1/8 inch discrepancy in a nine patch makes for blocks that can be 3/4" different in size. Accuracy does count.

  

  Faith Jones of Fresh Lemons Quilts

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• If you have one side of a piece your piecing that is longer, you can put that on the bottom. The top will stretch and the bottom will not.
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• Finally figure out how much accuracy matters to you. You are the only judge here. If you're happy with your results, no one else gets a say about that. My grandmother's quilt seams didn't match either. I'm upholding a fine tradition.

Janet Wickell has a great article fabric grain  at  quilting.about.com.

Faith Jones also has a great article for making seams match on Quilting Gallery. 

Next time we'll talk about the exception to all of this, bias.

Aphabet Soup: Say it in Fabric Letters

Wanda's letters

Whether it's a baby quilt, an art quilt that needs to say something or a journal quilt that depends on words for design, it's good to have a fabric alphabet. We'll explore some of the ways we can do that, both on and off a quilt.

The ideal thing is a beautiful printed panel of alphabet letters. These letters were a panel piece that was fussy cut sewed onto another  layer of cotton with bat between. Pinking sheers make the cool serrated edges. Our resident MacGyver, Wanda, made the batch above.

Of course the alphabet is an endlessly interesting toy, and every little kid would like to put it in their mouths when they're not spelling with them. So nice play with cotton letters are a great use of scraps and always appreciated.

Happy Together Creates

There are some great tutorials on making cloth letters. Jessica, on Happy Together  has made rag letters that have frayed edges that soften when washed.

Threading my way

Pam from Threading My Way has another tutorial that shows sewing the cloth letters onto felt. Both of these processes involve blowing up a letter on your computer to a 8 x 11 inch size and using it a a pattern. Choose a font that's a bit bulky and not to complicated, as you'll be cutting them out. Both of these alphabets are cute as buttons.

cut paper letters

There's also another way of cutting letters. This is an old primary teacher trick for free cutting letters out of paper. I found it in the New Zeeland Digital Library, but it was something I learned from my teacher mother. It's another great way to cut out letters.

Of course the same letters you cut separately for a child's toy can be appliqued anywhere.

Whatever you choose, it's a great toy for a toddler, a great use of scraps and a lot of fun for you.

Fussy Cut Applique: Modern Broidery Perse

We' ve been talking about piecing with those great novelty prints. And it's a whole lot of fun.
But there is another way: applique!

Broidery perse one of the earliest American quilt techniques. The very first prints in England and America came from India. They were extraordinarily expensive and frugal quilters used them very sparingly. So they would cut out some of the fabulous flowers and paisleys and applique them onto a white/cream background. Tree of life was one of the most popular patterns. The flowers/foliage on the tree would  be cut and appliqued from the chinz.

P&B Textiles

Of course, everything old is new again. Quilters have rediscovered fussy cutting as a way to applique those amazing english rose prints and more.

Original broidery perse was needle turned, hand stitched and very labor intensive. There are people who still have that skill, but modern fusible webs give us another alternative.

The Crafty Quilter

You can back your applique flowers with fusible, fussy cut them to your delight and apply them with a hot iron. A talented sewing machine with a button hole stitch makes a darling edge. Or an inobtrusive zigzag will work in a pinch.

You can place a fabulous image from your print right where you want it. How cute is that!

Fussy Cutting for Pieced Quilts:

 Fussy cutting for piecing has to always take the seam measurement into account. You want to look at the pieces put together with the seam allowances in the piece but somehow subtracted from your design.



The hexagon  pieces here are  carefully cut with the rose center, and the leaves and petals going around. It isn't exactly how the fabric was printed, but it holds the image of the rose beautifully.

What should your seam allowance be? It can be anything you like as long as you're consistent. Mary Ellen Hopkins called it your Personal Private Measurement. For many of us, our foot width  from the edge is a good choice. 1/4" is standard, but not necessary. What is important is that you know where it is on your ruler, and you stick with it.

The same print can give you many choices for your blocks. It's all in where you place the design elements.

http://suedaleydesigns.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/02/so-what-is-this.html

For more complicated pieced fussy cutting, some people use mirrors to see what their design will actually look like.

Wise choices and a consistent seam allowance let you put your prints right where they shine.

Next time we'll talk about fussy cutting for applique.

  

Novelty Prints: Picking Prints for Fussy Cutting

Fussy cutting is ALL about the fabric.It's picking the exactly right print for a quilt and then picking out exactly the right image in the fabric for the piece. And it's always dramatic.

The simplest fabric for fussy cutting has already been designed for the purpose. There are fabulous panel prints that are just made to cut apart and put in a quilt square. 
Some fabrics require a little more thought.

Love this Dick and Jane panel. But say, it's a bit large. Cropping it is easy. Focus on the part of the print that matters most to you. You'll lose something but it makes the print more important in the quilt.

Fussy cutting for piecing usually involves placing the fabric in a square or rectangle. Your print may or may not be the size square you need. You can use borders to plump it out a bit. If you need it smaller, then cut judiciously. 

 
Sometimes a print will offer you several great choices for a mixture of blocks.

Some prints are more random and you'll need to turn and twist to get the look you want.

Your clear plastic ruler is a real help for this. It allows you to center in on just the part you want and figure your seam allowance. Does it matter if you have extra bits of the print around the edge? Actually, no. Your eye will pretty much ignore the periphery and focus on the center.

You may find a print is too small for your block. Not to worry. Add a border or two and you're good to go.

Take your novelty print over to your cutting board, tart looking at it through your ruler and you'll see it in a totally different way.

Fussy Cut Piecing: The Fabric Makes the Quilt

We've talked a lot about working smart rather than hard. Here's a secret.If you choose amazing fabric, the fabric makes your quilt amazing.Even if the pattern is really simple. The fabric ALWAYS makes the quilt.

A lot of modern piecing construction is about sewing together strips and cutting them into segments. If you need a quilt finished fast, that's a great method. But you never know where the print will land in the block. That takes a little more precision and care but it's in no way hard. You just need to choose fabulous fabric and fussy cut.

Fussy cutting is placing your fabric exactly where you want it in your quilts. It's not hard, although it takes a bit of planning. 

For the next couple of blogs we'll look at fussy cutting techniques and the kinds of fabrics that make it so exciting, personal and fun.

But it always starts with the fabric. Have you seen a print that was perfect for your daughter? Weird and fabulous and something they really love? That is a reason to buy the fabric now. No I'm not kidding. NOW! Fabric comes and goes out of production very quickly and you never know. You may be hunting it years from now.

Those odd, personal fabrics are known as novelty prints. They can be the backbone of amazing quilts. They are so fun. And they make fussy cut quilts awesome.
What makes great novelty fabrics?

• Larger prints 
• Fabrics that are personal for a particular person
• Great colors
• Clean clear printing/design

When you see a novelty print that is perfect for someone you love, make sure to add it to your stash because you'll want it when you're ready. And besides, you need to age your fabric to perfection.