Overall Quilter » Aimee

Joining the Ends of a Binding

Aimee — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:55:25 +0000

Just back from our annual Quilting in the Woods Retreat. So many of the ladies had questions about binding and how to finish. “What is the formula?” one asked. So I decided to do a short video on how to join the ends of the binding.

The formula is simple, take the size of your binding and subtract 1/8″ (e.g. 2″ – 1/8″ = 1 7/8″) this is the measurement you use when overlapping the binding.

This is a free video available to both members and non-members. If you’re ready for more clear and easy to follow video tutorials, sign up for membership now and become a master quilter in the comfort of your home!

P.S. new dates for QITW for next year is Jan 10-13th 2013. Price is $325 (includes lodging, food and laughter!).

Adding Pizazz with Piping Hot Binding

Aimee — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 18:06:39 +0000

This week I got to play with Piping Hot Bindings. I wanted to add pizzazz to a panel, but I wanted to add the piping to the border instead of the binding. So here it is, how to stitch piping on borders. Have fun!

Click Here To Read The Transcript

Hello, my name is Aimee Griffin from overallquilter.com.

And today, I’m going to show you what to do with panels to jazz them up a little bit, by using the Piping Hot Binding Tool. But this time, we’re not going to put it on the binding. We are going to put it on between the inner border and the outer border to create almost a T, but give it a spark to those two places.

So with the panel, what I want to do is, cut a ½ inch from the frames of the block. And to do this, I’m just going to take my ruler and find my ½ inch measurement, and lay it right on that green frame. And as I do that, I’ll cut, and then I’ll bring my panel down, so that I can do the next part.
And this is great for all those panels that you might find when you go to quilt shows, and you’re just not sure what to do with them. Sometimes, it just takes a couple of borders and a little piping, to pizzazz the panel and make a great quick and easy gift for someone. So I’m going to do this all the way around, around the panel. You can cut that.

When I get to … sometimes the panels are not printed exactly straight. So sometimes you’ll have to do just a little fudging. But I think I can make that work; right here. And remember to just go around the whole panel.

And after this, I’m going to go ahead and get my borders cut out. I’m going to start with a 2 inch, and I’m going to; little piece of piping in between my second border and my outside border. I think I got that all worked out, 2 inches all the way around. Okay. So I’ll be right back. I’m going to cut my borders out.

So the idea is to just to put a couple of borders to make the panel just a little bit bigger than what it is. But just adding those two borders doesn’t really add anything to it. So, at my local quilt shop, I picked up this Piping Hot Binding, by Susan Cleveland.

And it’s basically adding a little bit of pizzazz to either your binding, or in this case, I’m going to be adding it right between those two borders, just to pop the red from my outside border. So to do that, you need to figure out how much piping you are going to need. So just measure your panel. And this is going to be about 42 ¾ (forty two and three quarters)’s long and, let’s see how wide it is. It is 23 inches wide.

So I cut 4 inner strips, inner border strips, 2 inches by the width of the fabric. I have my piping fabric which is an inch and a half 1 ½, and I have my outside border which is 4 ½ inches wide, again, by width of the fabric. And again, this is just strips that I am cutting, and I’m going to re-measure every time I add my borders, just like you normally would when adding borders to a quilt. What I want to show is, a trick on putting the binding on if you don’t have a piping foot, what I want to show you is, how to use your appliqué foot to get the same effect. So let’s go ahead and go on to our sewing machine.

So the trick here is, to try and get the seam as close to the edge so that we can make that piping on the edge of your fabric. So we’ve taken; and this is actually a 1 inch strip and I pressed it in half, and we now have our chording inside, and I have folded my fabric again wrong sides together. The chording is in there. And if you can zoom in on the foot, I am using an appliqué foot. And the neat thing about the appliqué foot is that it has this little red guide, and if you can use that to go along the edge of where the chording is, then your stitching will be right on the other side of the chording, and that’s gonna encase that chording.

My biggest hint on this is – do not watch your needle going up and down. Make sure that your eye is focused on that little red guide, so that you keep the edge right on the edge of that foot or the edge of that red line. Again, we’re not out here. We are right inside that foot. And again, I have also dropped my stitch to a 2.0, I like small stitches. And you’re going to go all the way to the end of the strip. And you’re going to do this three times. Your top and bottom, you’ll get out of one strip. Your sides, you will definitely need two full lengths, which is 45 inches. So we’re going to go ahead and do that all the way down till the end, and we’ll be right back.

So once you’ve sewn the chording into the fabric, it’s time to trim it. Now, the ruler has a ½ inch seam and a ¼ inch. So you want to make sure that you’re using the ¼, and we’re going to trim it down to a ¼. And this is very important, it’s just as equally important that your seam on your sewing machine be exactly a ¼ inch. Once you have trimmed all the way down, then you’re ready to pin your piping to your outside border. So let’s go to the ironing board and get that pinned.

So I’ve pinned this at both ends, and you can see that there’s my back, my piping, and my outside border. Now, I’ve already sewn my sides, and we’re getting ready to sew the top and bottom now. When you start sewing, make sure that all your raw edges are even, and you can feel where that piping is. So make sure that when you are stitching; and if you can get close with the camera, right here; here’s my piping and here’s my needle, right in here. So it’s going to catch it right on the edge, and again, that’s just a ¼ inch away.

Take your time stitching, keep your needle down and readjust yourself. And I’m always feeling for that quarter or for the piping rather, making sure that I do have a quarter, but most importantly, that I can feel that piping in there, so that when you turn it over. And I’m going to show you; when you turn that over, it’s going to be right on the edge, and you’re not going to see, or you’re not going to have anything but, just the piping on there. And that’s it! Just continue on until you’ve got all four sides completed.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this. This is just another Piping Hot Binding video, ‘Adding Pizzazz to your Panels.’

Patriotic Block of the Month – Block #5

Aimee — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:10:25 +0000

This is a members-only video. To learn more about becoming an Overall Quilter Member, click here for more details.

If you’re already a member, you can login to view the full video.

Block 5 is a review on a four patch and a flying geese unit. Remember to drop your stitch to a 2.0 for a flatter seam and when pressing, always set the seam first and then with a swooping motion press towards the dark. Refer to blocks 1 and 3, the only difference is you have different color placements.

Borders: You have six 6 1/2″ blocks to make. Instructions are written for just one block, make sure you cut enough for 6. This smaller block has a rectangle unit with triangles on each side. Pay attention to the placement of each color. It also has half square triangle units. By now you should be getting better at making these half square units.

For our members:

Program will be included in your membership.
Each month you’ll be able to download the block instructions.
Each block will have a video to follow along with the instructions.
Blocks will stay on the member’s site so you can start anytime you wish.

For non members:

The program is $3 per block.
Purchase your block each month via the online shop.
Blocks will be added monthly to the online shop.

Patriotic Block of the Month – Block #4

Aimee — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:09:00 +0000

This is a members-only video. To learn more about becoming an Overall Quilter Member, click here for more details.

If you’re already a member, you can login to view the full video.

Here it is – Block #4 of the Patriotic Block of the Month!

This block has 2 units – a half square triangle unit and a quarter square triangle unit. I like using my quick quarter and a small Hera Marker to mark my lines, this way I don’t have to figure out what marking color will show up on my fabric.

By the way, we have the Clover Hera Marker for sale in our online shop.

For our members:

Program will be included in your membership.
Each month you’ll be able to download the block instructions.
Each block will have a video to follow along with the instructions.
Blocks will stay on the member’s site so you can start anytime you wish.

For non members:

The program is $3 per block.
Purchase your block each month via the online shop.
Blocks will be added monthly to the online shop.

Top 5 Quilting Notions

Aimee — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 17:11:44 +0000

I love teaching beginning quilters how to use their tools!

This video shows the top 5 tools I feel you can’t be without when you’re quilting.

Tools make quilting easier. Just the other day I talked with a lady who uses her husband’s woodworking T for cutting her projects! She also had a nasty cut on her hand. She left the shop with a Creative Grid 6 1/2″x 24 1/2″ ruler and a smile on her face.

Sure, there are lots of name brands out there, some more expensive than others.

Ask yourself these questions:

How easy is it to read your ruler?
Does your ruler move on you?
Is it time to change your ruler?

Click Here To Read The Transcript

To see how the tools are used check out our cutting video. Oh … and don’t forget to change your blade!

For these and other tools visit your local quilt shop.

We are now 3 months into our Patriotic Block of the Month!

If you’re new to quilting, the Block of the Month is a great way to get tips and tricks without the stress of making a large quilt. It’s one block per month, and you can do it at your own speed. Join us now!

Video 35: Patriotic Block of the Month – Block #3

Aimee — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:47:33 +0000

This is a members-only video. To learn more about becoming an Overall Quilter Member, click here for more details.

If you’re already a member, you can login to view the full video.

Block #3 has 2 sub units. Sub units are the parts of the block that make the blocks. Sometimes I repeat one unit to make the entire block. This time the block has two units that repeat four times each, plus a center square.

My center square is fabric with the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ written on it. You can use any special fabrics you might have or use your background fabric.

For this block I used the following tools:

Clover Hera Marker – a chalk-less tool – I use it to mark my diagonal lines on the wrong side of the fabric squares.
Creative Grids 3 1/2″ Square Ruler – my preferred ruler to square up my sub units.

You can find these in our online shop.

For our members:

Program will be included in your membership.
Each month you’ll be able to download the block instructions.
Each block will have a video to follow along with the instructions.
Blocks will stay on the member’s site so you can start anytime you wish.

For non members:

The program is $3 per block.
Purchase your block each month via the online shop.
Blocks will be added monthly to the online shop.

Video 34: Patriotic Block of the Month – Block #2

Aimee — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:25:02 +0000

Here it is … Block #2 of our Patriotic Quilt!

For this block I used the following tools:

Creative Grids Rulers. I like using the creative grids and normally use the 4″ x 12″ rectangle ruler and either a 3½” square or 4½” square.
Clover glass head pins
Clover Hera marker
Aurifil 50 weight thread

With this block you will have 4 extra quarter square triangle units. They will be used in block #9.

See you in July for Block #3!

For our members:

Program will be included in your membership.
Each month you’ll be able to download the block instructions.
Each block will have a video to follow along with the instructions.
Blocks will stay on the member’s site so you can start anytime you wish.

For non members:

The program is $3 per block.
Purchase your block each month via the online shop.
Blocks will be added monthly to the online shop.

This is a members-only video. To learn more about becoming an Overall Quilter Member, click here for more details.

If you’re already a member, you can login to view the full video.

Video 33: Patriotic Block of the Month – Block #1

Aimee — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:41:39 +0000

We’re happy to introduce our first Block of the Month Series: The Patriotic BOM!

For our members:

Program will be included in your membership.
Each month you’ll be able to download the block instructions.
Each block will have a video to follow along with the instructions.
Blocks will stay on the member’s site so you can start anytime you wish.

For non members:

The program is $3 per block.
Purchase your block each month via the online shop.
Blocks will be added monthly to the online shop.

This is a members-only video. To learn more about becoming an Overall Quilter Member, click here for more details.

If you’re already a member, you can login to view the full video.

Video 32: Bits of Batting

Aimee — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:31:44 +0000

Bits of Batting everywhere!

Do you have left over bits and pieces of batting sitting around the room? Did you know that batting can be pieced? With the price of cotton going up I find myself looking at these pieces differently. Where before I threw them away, now the larger pieces get set aside to be pieced for smaller projects. This batting video shows you how to piece batting together.

This is a members-only video. To learn more about becoming an Overall Quilter Member, click here for more details.

If you’re already a member, you can login to view the full video.

Video 31: Qtools™ Cutting Edge

Aimee — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Having trouble maintaining a ¼” seam? Is your cutting consistent? Try the Qtools™ Cutting Edge purple or orange vinyl strips. Both can be used either on the bed of your sewing machine to help stay straight and have a consistent seam, or adhere them to the bottom of any smooth acrylic ruler to make rotary cutting easier and more accurate.

This video gives you a quick look at how you can use them.

Item is available in our online shop.

Click Here To Read The Transcript