Hello! My name is Aimee Griffin, from overallquilter.com

And today’s video is on Chain Piecing. I’m going to show you how to do quick stitching of the pieces using the half-square triangles from last week’s video.

But first, a thank you to Elsie, Diane and Pebble for their donations this week.

We are going to be making a pinwheel clock, using our half-square triangles from last week’s video. To do a quick chain piecing of this, we are going to take one block, and flip it on top of the other. I have here two blocks, and I’m going to show you how to chain piece those. So let’s go to our sewing machine.

When you are chain piecing, you want to start with a little piece of fabric, and that’s called your started piece. And what this does, is prevents your fabric from going into the well of your sewing machine. So, it’s a good idea to always use the starter. I do not pin because it’s such a small distance. So, I’m just going to lay my two squares on top of each other, and start stitching on my starter, feeding the next piece right after. When you get to the end, use your stiletto to hold down any of the seams that might want to come up.  Take your next piece and feed it right in.  Between each unit, there’s about 1 to 2 stitches.  Pull that out so you can see.  From each unit, there’s about 1 to 2 stitches between each other.

And that is Chain Piecing.  That will make it go quick and easy for you.  I’ll see you next week.

Hello, my name is Aimee Griffin from overallquilter.com. In today’s video I’m going to show you how to make pillowcases with hidden seams. And what I mean by that, is that you will not have any flyaway hairs or threads on your seams, on the top or on the sides. We’ll do a French seam on the sides. In this way, you can do pillow cases and donate them to your local quilt shop for the one million pillow case challenge.

A special thanks this week to Yolande, Frances, Terry and Mary Beth for their donations.

Let’s go take a look at our pillow cases.  So fabric comes 42 – 45 inches in width. So that, that’s from selvage to selvage. So we’re going to keep that at 42. I always leave my selvages on too. I don’t worry about that until later on. I’ll square everything up in one shot later on.

My sleeve, this is the sleeve part which is the top part of the pillow case, is a quarter of a yard. So 9 inches wide, by 42 inches long. And I’m just going to lay that face up, on my Ironing Board.

Your next piece is the body of the quilt which is the large piece, of the pillow case, not the quilt. And that is three quarters of a yard. And so again, 27 inches by 42 inches. And I’m gonna lay that right on top of my sleeve, again with it faced up.

My last piece, which is the accent piece, is an- eighth of a yard, so 4 ½ inches by 42 inches. And I’m going to fold that into half and press it, the long width. So that my selvages again, are all nice and even on each of the fabrics. And I’m going to lay that with the raw edge, or the raw edge of the fabrics, all lined up on top.  And again, that lays on top of the body of the quilt.  So again it’s the sleeve, the body of the quilt, and then the accent piece.

Once you have them stacked, you’re going to take the body of the quilt, and fanfold it creating a tube. And once you do that, you want to make sure all your fabrics are lined up. Nice and raw edges. Once you have it fanned, then take the sleeve and bring it ip, and pin starting from the center out. Making sure that you catch all your pieces.  Now, I’m gonna pull it down, so I can see where I’m at.  And I’m gonna take it, and so I’m pinning my sleeve, the body of the quilt, the accent piece, and my sleeve again. So that’s one, two, three, four, five pieces.  Be careful not to grab what you fanned inside. You don’t want that fold, that fan fold to be caught in your seam once you start sewing.  When I pin, I like to pin from the inside out so that the head of the pin is close to me, and away from the raw edge. The reason I do this is because I sew with my pins on, so that my fabric all stays together.

I’m going to go ahead and pin this and sew it, and we’ll be right back.

So now that I’ve gone to my machine and sewed a quarter of an inch all the way down, I’m going to undo my tube.  So, just pull from the outer edge until all your pieces come right side out. So you have your sleeve, your accent piece, and your accent piece could really be any size you want it to be. Your sleeve, your accent piece, and the body of your quilt.

And so, now I’m  just going to give it a good press, and then I will square off my edges, my selvages, get rid if my selvages. And that’s gonna make my pillow case nice and straight. Once you do that, we’re gonna show you how to do some French seams. So, I’ll be right back.

So, to make a French seam, you’re going to take your two pieces and with wrong sides together, go ahead and seam it, or sew it straight down, about a quarter of an inch. And then on the bottom as well, about a quarter of an inch. You’ll turn the pillow case inside out and the, you will stitch again 5/8^ths of an inch this time, and again, all the way down, and across. And then turn your pillow case and it will be done. So, I’m going to show you how to do that.

Take your pins, and it’s really important that you pin the intersection where your accent piece is, so that they line up. Once you sew, you’re, your seam is in.  And you may have to wiggle that a little bit, to get it nice and straight.  And don’t forget to backstitch or to tack at the beginning of your seam, because that’s a stress point. And so, since you’re gonna be putting the pillow case in and out, you’ll be able to tear that seam, so always make sure that you tack that. I like to do pillowcases for birthday parties. You an put the birthday gifts inside the pillowcase and pillowcases nowadays, as an inexpensive are less expensive than buying bags, and tissue, and birthday cards and all that good stuff. So I’ll make this to go with my beautiful quilt on my backdrop, when I did the intro.

So, I’m going to go to my sewing machine, and stitch a quarter of an inch down and across, and I’ll be right back.

So I have stitched it, and I have turned my pillow case inside out with the outside or with the inside faced out now, and  I’m going to go back to the sewing machine, and stitch going down the same length that I stitched before, out down this way and down the bottom of the pillow case. I do want to show you a trick I learnt a long time ago on the back tacking your seams.  So let’s follow me to the sewing machine.

I’ve changed my quilting foot from a ¼ inch foot to a regular foot so that I can catch a bigger seam.  And I’m going to line that up with either my 5/8^th or my ½ inch. I’ve got a pretty skinny ¼. So I’m going to go with the ½ inch seam guide here.  And I’m gonna start with the pillow case and, a little bit further so that I can go backwards first, and then go forward. This way it will tack it, but it won’t have such a big seam that the thread’s gonna look bad. So, I’m gonna go back, and then I’m gonna go forward. And keep that all the way until you come across, down and across. When you get to the bottom, stop about a ½ inch to 5/8 of an inch, you put your needle down and pivot, your fabric.  We only have to do the side and the bottom because we have a fold on this side. Once you have sewn side and bottom, cut your threads, turn your pillow case inside out again. Now I always try and grab the corners of my pillowcase, so that I have a nice little area there, a little point there. Do the same thing with the other side. If I can find it. And you now have a cute pillowcase to go with your quilt.

And there you go.

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

In today’s video, video number 13, is how to square up your blocks. A special thank you to Marsha for her donation this week. Let’s go on over and square them up.

So we’re going to square down the blocks. The first thing you need to determine is what your smallest block is. Once you have made all your blocks, lay one on top of each other, until you find the smallest block. And then, based on that smallest block, we’re going to trim them down so that they’re all exactly that same size. We’re going to get rid of those little extra pieces that you have there.

I always like to use a ruler that is larger than the block itself. This should have turned out to be a 12 1/2 in block. I’m going to trim them down to 12 inches, so I’m using a 12 1/2 in square (ruler).

What I want to do is determine where the center of my block is. Depending on the piecing, you may have a center, or you may have 3 sections. The 3 sections may not always be the same size. So, again, you need to determine a consistent lineup so that you’re going to do the same with the rest of your blocks.

So, what I’m going to do is take all of my blocks and lay them so that they’re all facing the same way. I’ve got my 2 blocks down here and my 2 blocks up here.

Then, I’m going to take my 12 1/2 in ruler and lay it right on top. Since I’m squaring this down to 12 inches, I need to figure out what I’m going to line up with one of my measurements. In this case, I’m going to line up my eight inch line with the seam between the orange and the purple, and the orange and the black. As long as you stay consistent, you’ll be able to trim the blocks down.

So I’ve taken my eight and it’s running down the seam between the orange and the purple. And there’s my eight inch, and it’s running again, and I’ve created a nice 90 degree angle right here. Now I’m only going to be able to trim two sides, my right and my top. And then I will turn my block to the other side and square up the other two sides.

So once I’m happy with the lineup, I’going to cut there and cut there. Now remember, we’ve done it to the right and the top. But we still have to do it to the left and to the bottom. So I’m going to pick up my ruler, and I’m just going to turn my block halfway. So I have a perfect cut on my left side and my bottom side. Now I’m going to lay my ruler back on the block and I’m going to line up this time my 12 with my side and my 12 with my bottom. And you have a perfect 12 inch square.

Now again, I’m going to lay that to the side and then I’m going to take my next block and do exactly the same thing. Make sure that you’re always reading your ruler the same way. If I were to turn my ruler this way, I’d be on my half inches. So I want to always make sure that I start with my full inches on my ruler.

I’m going to line my 8 inch with my seam on my left here, and the 8 inch with my left seam. I’m always lining up the same. Stay consistent. Stay with that same lineup. Even if you’re off a little bit, you’ll still catch … even if it’s just a little piece … it’ll stay consistent with the rest of your blocks.

Again, we’re going to turn this half. And now I’m going to line it up with my 12 inch. And again, I have a nice 12 inch (block). And if I lay that on top of each other … those are perfect.

It’s really important that you find a ruler that you can read. I tend to like the Creative Grids. For me, they’re easy to read and they also have the sandpaper dots on the back. Or the grips. If your ruler does not have grips, make sure you add either fabric grips or InvisiGrips on there so that when you are squaring your piece down, your ruler does not slide. Keep it nice and … keep it in place.

And that’s it. You should be able to square down any block. The only thing that you have to be careful with is working with a Nine Patch. Because if you cut down the outside of a Nine Patch, your center will not be the same. So there are certain blocks that you have to be careful with.

But for the most part, when you have blocks that have larger pieces that are not exactly even, you can square those blocks down.

And that’s it! Have fun squaring down your blocks.

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

Welcome to video 5: How to Join Strips for Borders and Bindings.

Today we’ll be using:

• The Olfa Mat
• Clover Silk Pins
• Fons & Porter Marking Pencil
• A Small Ruler, and
• Your Strips

So we are going to join our strips together for borders, or for doing your bindings. And what I’m gonna do is, start by taking my first strip and laying it on my mat, lining it up with my grid. So this strip is laid horizontally.

My next strip is going to lie on top of it, but vertically. And again, I’m going to follow my grid lines on my mat. This way I know that I’m nice and straight horizontally, as well as vertically. I also overlap top and bottom, or top and side, where my selvages are. And the reason I do that is, it is much easier to see your corners, if you have a little bit of your overlap. Once you have one horizontal and one vertical, draw a diagonal line from the top corner, top left corner, to the bottom right corner. And then add two pins, one on each side of the line just to keep your strips together. Now, if you have multiple strips then take your strip, flip it over, and now this strip becomes your horizontal, and your new strip becomes your vertical. Again, overlap it, leaving your selvages, so that you can clearly see corner to corner. Draw your line, and pins on both sides of the line. Now the trick to having a perfect joint, is to make sure that you draw a straight line from that corner to that corner, but also to stitch right on top of that line, from corner to corner. And we’ll go to the Sewing Machine so we can show you how to do that.

So now, we are going to stitch right on top of the drawn line. I’m gonna start with a little piece, my starter, and I’m going to stitch right on top of that line. I’ve changed my foot to an open-toe foot, to an appliqué foot because it’s easier for me to see my stitching line. And once you’ve done your stitching, you should have a perfect joint. And what I’m looking at is to make sure that my piece is nice and straight. Once I have a nice and straight piece, then I can go ahead and cut my quarter. And I just do it with my scissors. By just an approximate quarter. And we’ll take it to the Ironing Board, and we’ll press that seam open. Once that seam is pressed open, you’ll have a nice joint. And you do that with all your strips.

Hello. My name is Aimee Griffin from overallquilter.com.

Welcome to video number 4, Squaring Up Your Quilt. So you’re done with your quilt top, you’ve gotten it quilted, and you’re ready to put your binding on.

The first thing you want to do is, make sure that have nice, straight edges. Sometimes, when you’re quilting, or with your quilting, your borders tend to get a little bit distorted depending on how much quilting you’ve e put on them. So today’s video, I’m going to show you how to take your Square Ruler, and your Long Ruler, and get a nice, straight-edge cut, so that your binding will sit nice and straight.

But before that, I want to show you some patterns that we’ve been working on before a Fling collection, and here they are. Here’s six of twelve current Floral Fling patterns available on overallquilter.com. Just click on the online shop link. My favorite is the Monarch. These are all raw edge appliqué patterns, great for lots of thread play opportunities.

Today’s tools are:

• The Olfa Mat, Rotary cutting mat.
• A 10 ½ inch Square
• A 6 ½ by 24 inch Long Ruler, and
• A 60 mm Rotary Cutter. I like the 60 mm when I’m squaring up because I’m going through multiple layers. Remember, you are going through your top, your batting, as well as your backing. So, having the 60 mm gives me a better grip on my, on my cutting.

So we’re ready to cut our quilt down or trim our quilt down, so that we can add our binding. But we’ve got to make sure first that we are even, all the way through. That our border is even all the way through.  If you’ve started with the 6 ½ inch border, once you’ve taken that seam in, you’re now down to 6 and a ¼. The more quilting you have, the more chances of your border being distorted. So, I’m gonna take my Square Ruler and I’m going to position it so that I can square down to 6 inches all the way around, making sure that my borders all are consistent. Take your 12 ½ or your 10 ½ inch Ruler, Square Ruler, and line up the 6 inch line with the outside border and inner border seam. I’m gonna make sure that, that is nicely lined up. And if you need to wiggle your quilt a little bit, it’s okay. You wanna make sure that you’re nice and straight. My 6-inch line is nice and straight on that seam, and my 6-inch line is nice and straight on this seam. Now I can take my Rotary Cutter, and cut all the way out. And I always start on the corners because I want to use my Square on the corners. So I’m gonna do one corner, and then  I’m going to continue using my 6 ½ inch Ruler, and I’m just going to turn my quilt, and this is a fairly large quilt, so I want to put it on my table. And the other thing you don’t want to do, is have your quilt dragging on the floor because it does pull on you. You want to make sure that you have the entire quilt on the table, which is sometimes kind of hard if you don’t have a big enough space. That’s why I like the large mats. So, I’m gonna take my 6 ½ inch Ruler, I’m gonna find my 6-inch measurement and once again, line that 6-inch line with the seam that’s between my outside border, and my inside border. That last seam that you have there. Now I’m nice and straight, all the way through. Now, if you’ve seen my first video, the cutting video, you’ll know that when I cut a long piece, I cut half way, re-position my hand and the cut the rest of the way. And I’m going to do that again when I’m cutting my borders. Once again, ensure that you have a nice straight line. Start, go half way, Rotary Cutter down, re-position your hand, and cut all the way. And now, we’re going to go ahead and move our quilt down again, and as you see, we are doing it in sections because this is a large quilt. So, I’m going to move my quilt, re-position my quilt, making sure once again that my 6-inch line is sitting right on that seam. And I’m going to cut halfway to my Ruler, re-position my hand, and cut all the way through. Now, as I get closer to the corner, we’ve got one more. One more long Ruler, and then we’ll use our Square Ruler again. And I’ll show you how to do that again, one more time. Take my Long Ruler, find my 6-inch line. Now, not all borders are not 6 ½ inches. So if you’ve got 8 ½ inch border, you’ll need a larger Ruler. You’ll need an 8 ½ inch Ruler. I’m going to go ahead and start, go halfway, re-position my hands, and continue through. Now I’ve gotten to the corner. So I’m going to take my Square Ruler, and once again, I’m going to position that 6-inch on the corner there. Now, my Ruler is not big enough. So before I do that, I’m going to take my Long Ruler one more time, and get that, get that cut just a little bit so that I can use my Square Ruler. Once again, I’m going to find my 6-inch line, here’s my 6-inch line. I’m going to line that up with my corner seam, and I’m going to cut, and then I’m going to cut on top one more time.

And you have a nice 90 degree angle. And you want to do that all the way through, catching or cutting all corners, and all along edges.

And you’ll be ready for your binding.