Bows messing with your flow

Hello!  Is a bow messin' with your flow?  As in did you sew some strips together and get a bow?
Whelp there is a fix for this!
To get straight seams on long straight stitch lines with joining seams, you need to do a couple of things.
  1. Alternate your direction of sewing.  This means for each strip flip it and start opposite the one you just sewed.
  2. Alternate your salvage edges in the same manner as your seams!  Yep, that is the trick.  If you have already sewn with alternation of  your direction of stitches, and still get the bow, alternate your salvage edge!
Why do we do this?  There are a few reasons.  One is that you need to have the stitching to have even tension on both sides, and two the selvages can be crossing on grain.  The grain wants to follow its natural line of weave, so if you flip it is going the opposite direction and therefore pulls the lines outward to the edges to keep a straighter line!
Asking how I know?
Well Yeah, I learned the hard way!
I am working on a very large cozy quilt design with the stripology ruler at the moment, and yep noticed I was doing the same things that I am telling you about, getting the bow when flipping direction.  SEW I tried the the selvage thing and it worked.  I read it somewhere a long time ago.
For the beginners out there, the easiest quilt block to make outside of a nine patch is the strip block you can create a great deal of fun designs from it, depending on color way and direction used.
[gallery ids="953,954,955" type="rectangular"]
Each one of these blocks were made by attaching strips of fabric together then cutting them and reattaching them in a design you like.  Just google strip quilt blocks or quilts and millions will show up.
But, if the strips are bowed they do NOT cut even!  Nor will they sew together in long strips evenly either if they are bowed, YES you can fudge them into place, but who wants to fight with them, when you can remedy this before you begin making your blocks.
Sew some tips here:
  1. Make sure your strips are straight when you begin, yes they can be cut with an elbow in them before you sew that in yourself, so check them.  It happens even with the most expensive jelly rolls.
  2. Be sure your strips are the same width from top to bottom, I had two yesterday that were off by 1/2 inch, that is due to them not ensuring the fabric is even when placing into the die cutters!  I know this too by doing it myself with my Sizzix pro quilters edition cutter system.  YEP had a lot that were given away to a friend who uses short strips.
  3. Be sure you are alternating the direction you sew each strip no matter how many you put together!
  4. Alternate your selvage edges.  (This means the white portion on the ends).  They are different sizes as well, and if you alternate them you are getting the grains to go to the outsides of the strips rather than all in one direction or the other.  The grain is how the weave is ran when producing the fabric griege (gray base before color is added).
  5. Good tension on your machine that is consistent through out the stitching of all your strips.
  6. Use the SAME machine for all your strips!  Not doing so can change the tension, the bow degree and sew many other things.
Okay, so those are the basics of getting the bow out of your flow.  Let the race begin!  Ah Ha!  yep Jenny Doan Jelly Roll Race is a great way to practice the technique of strip quilting blocks and a quick quilt to put together in a pinch!  Try one!  you will love it.
Til next time Remember - A quilt left unfinished is waiting to love, and finished is better than perfect!  Keep creating perfectly imperfect, as it will be loved no matter what is perceived as an imperfection.  No one knows unless you tell them!
T

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