Friday, September 30, 2011

Quilting is pretty math


Don’t believe me?  Do you do piece work, take away the pretty fabric and put it on graph paper, or in a program like ElectricQuilt ( my favorite)—remind you of geometry in school—yep it is.  Oh, you only do appliqué? How do you figure out how much fabric to use, or how to miter a corner? Math.

Personally I love math. Eventually I want to do a quilt based on the Fibonacci Sequence, I just haven’t figured out how. I do have an entire color way of a fabric I intend to use. We all know that may change. How many times have you thought you would do a particular quilt in one set of fabrics, only to change your mind, sometimes even after you start?

Many new tools and techniques make the math easier for quilting. Invest in good rulers; it will make for better outcomes. There are other things that help, but those are for a later blog.

You know all those intersections that get a bit bulky? I use a seam whacker, and a heavy espresso tamper to tame them. Of course a hot iron first is helpful. I press as I go with a bamboo finger pressure tool that my Grammy made. You can buy them in many shapes and materials. I have others, but prefer her bamboo one.

Now back to that mystery quilt…

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