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Best. Tip. Ever.

1/30/2020

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fireweed panel quilt
     It seems like I would have posted about this before, but if I did I'm doing a better job this time 🤣  Most quilters will be familiar with the first couple of parts of this tip, but of course I add my own twist! 
     Here we go: most quilters know about chain piecing, where after each seam, you immediately butt the next piece up to that one and stitch. This saves tons of time and thread, and maybe more importantly, bobbin winding! 😅 It also eliminates the need to hold down your threads at the beginning of every seam to prevent the needle from coming unthreaded...

quilting tutorial
     You may even be familiar with well known quilter Bonnie Hunter's 'leaders and enders' technique. It's the same as chain piecing, except when you get to the end of your batch, stitch onto a random folded piece of fabric, and leave it under the presser foot so it's ready to go for next time. Again, no thread tails to cut off, saves the 3-5 inches of thread that would have been wasted (and since I often do 5 inch seams, that's 50% of my thread that would otherwise be cut off!), bobbin lasts longer, and you don't have to hold the thread ends to start a seam. It saves so  much aggravation!
        She then takes it a step further, and says why not keep a pile of squares or pieces from another quilt project by your machine, and stitch two of those together instead of just onto a piece of fabric. Brilliant! I made an entire quilt top this way, which was in progress for years, because I kept forgetting about it, but it's done! Except for cutting the squares before hand, the 4 hand applique blocks, and adding the borders at the end, I never spent any dedicated time on this quilt, the whole thing was done as 'leaders and enders' during maaany other projects. Definitely the way to do the tedious tiny squares border! (The center of this quilt came from a magazine years ago, but I have no idea who to credit😢 )
lap quilt
     But here's where I add my twist to this idea. While my above lap quilt used up some dark batik scraps, the majority of this is the background fabric. I have waaaaaaaaay too many scraps to use them that slowly 🤣😅 So, I decided to pull out a bunch of coordinating scraps, usually one color family even, and use this concept to do some improv piecing. This has a couple of extra benefits. One, it uses lots more scraps! And two, and probably more importantly for me, is that there is far less prep work to be done. I just dig through a tub for colors I like, then maaaybe iron them, but that's it. And these can be used for lots of things! They make really great borders for panel quilts, or any quilt, and in that case, you just choose a width you are aiming for, and just keep it a little bigger than that, like 4-5 inches wide, and trim it to size later. But they also make great potholders, journal covers, or even a whole quilt background.
​     To improv piece, just start stitching fabrics together! They don't even have to be cut straight, as long as you sew straight. You can trim after. No accuracy in seam allowance required. Just don't sew two pieces of the same fabric together. After stitching a few, you can recut, like a chunk off of a strip set, and stitch that to another piece. 
improv quilting technique tutorial
    I started this batch to use on my 2020 exclusive Teresa Ascone panel, Shadow Patterns. I decided I was not happy with the chunk on the right, pieces were too big, and too similar, so I cut it up and I will stitch it back together a different way. 
shadow patterns quilting tutorial
piecing strips on quilt tutorial
Picture
     Here are a couple of other improv pieced quilts I have made. On the iris one, I decided the hot pink fabric was contrasting enough that I did choose more carefully where it landed, but otherwise it's pretty random! On the fireweed blossom quilt, even the dark green border and binding are pieced if you look closely!
         I hope you will try the beginners and enders trick, you will be hooked! In addition to saving so much thread, time, aggravation, and bobbin winding, you could end up with a project done in barely noticeable nooks and crannies of time! Maybe I'll do another post with more details on improv piecing, of course I have tricks for that too.
     Happy sewing! Beret

And remember, these panels and soooo much more are available here on our website 😊
​And also remember, every comment, share, pin, and like helps us a ton! 
Fireweed art quilt
Ascone fireweed panel quilt
Click here to see all of our kits, patterns, and panels 😊
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    Beret Nelson's On The Trail Creations Blog Page

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    Beret Nelson

    I am a homeschooling mom of three fun kids, who are now old enough that I have a little time to pursue my passion for sewing! After several years of making quilted cards and art quilts, I'm now designing kits and patterns.  Some of my designs have been in Keepsake Quilting and Art Quilting Studios magazine! I  teach classes online, and am starting to do more traveling and teaching. I also have many tutorials, including some on YouTube. I am blessed to live in Alaska where I am surrounded by the inspiration provided by the beauty of God's creation!
    To see all of my patterns, click here.
    To follow my blog, sign up below to receive e-mails, and/or "like" my facebook page, button below!

    Free card pattern and also an e-book, and a quilt planning checklist!
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    I am also an independent distributor for Plexus supplements, since I credit them with enabling me to be healthy enough to do all these fun things! They target blood sugar and gut health, which are at the root of so many modern health issues. E-mail me for more info, or check out my website! I am as passionate about getting people healthy as I am about getting people creating :-)

    beret@onthetrailcreations.com
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    https://plexusworldwide.com/beretnelson
      

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  • Home
  • Shop Online
    • Art For Sale
    • Collage Art Quilt Kits
    • Store - Wall Hangings/Table Runners Kit & Patterns >
      • Sandhill Sunset Wall Hanging
      • Moonshadows Wall Hanging
      • Moonlight Moose Table Runner
      • Serenity Wall Hanging
      • Summer Dragonfly Wall Hanging
      • Summer Dragonfly Table Runner
      • Moonlight Moose Wall Hanging
      • Autumn Leaves Wall Hanging
      • Autumn Leaves Table Runner
      • Night Owl Wall Hanging Quilt
    • Store - Quilted Greeting Card Kits/Patterns >
      • Acrylic Card Template
      • Trish Stuart Collection
      • Out On a Limb Card Kit
      • Wonder Lake Card Kit
      • Moonshadows Card
      • Raven Moon Card
      • Chickadee With Berries Card
      • Whale Tale Card
      • Moose and Willows Card Kit
      • Raven Card Kit
      • Wild Iris Card
      • Northwoods Nisse Card
      • Boreal Botanicals Card
      • Winter Trees Card
      • For the Birds Card Pattern
      • Wild Flower I Card Pattern
      • Wild Flower II Card Pattern
      • Wild Flower III Card Pattern
      • Wonky Heart Card Pattern
      • Whimsical Heart Card Pattern
      • Black-Capped Chickadee Card
      • Three Leaves Card Pattern
      • Let it Snow Card Pattern
      • Happy Birthday Card Pattern
      • Tundra Swan Card Pattern
      • Milepost Card Pattern
    • Store - Coffee Kuspuks/Quilt Panels >
      • Season of Hope Velvet Panel
      • Screen Prints
      • Coffee Kuspuk
      • Moonlight Moose Potholder Kit
      • Chickadee Menu Planner
      • Spring Flowers Coaster Pattern
      • Teresa Ascone Panels
      • Scrappy Baby Bib
    • Molly Molecule Book
  • Online Classes
    • Simple Secrets for Art Quilting
    • Framed Collage Quilt Class
  • Beret's Blog
  • 40 Ways
  • About Us
  • Tutorials
    • Grace quilt tutorial
    • Sewing Machine Needle Organizer Pincushion
    • Organza silk screen tutorial
    • Polymer Clay button tutorial
    • Birch Tree card tutorial
    • Coffee Shop greeting card
    • Free Motion Stitching Tutorials >
      • Free Motion Tutorial
      • 10 minute project tutorial
      • Valentine Coasters
      • Grape hyacinth postcard
      • Advanced free motion projects >
        • Sparkly 3D dragonfly wings
        • Inktense Frog quilt
        • Dream Big flower panel
    • Journal Cover - Book Tutorials >
      • Quilted Book Cover Tutorial
      • 1000 Gifts Journal Cover Tutorial
      • Quiet Book Tutorial
    • Tutorials for Our Kits >
      • Moonshadows Video Tutorials
      • Summer Dragonfly Video Tutorials
      • Serenity Video Tutorials
    • Video Tutorials - Screenprinting, Inktense, Quilted Card Binding
    • Pocket Prayer Quilt
  • Art Quilt Gallery
  • Quilted Cards Gallery
  • Quilt Shops
  • Contact Us
  • Sked Verks
    • Sked Verks Gallery
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  • Return Policy - FAQs