Sewing With Nancy

Super-size it! That's something I rarely say at a restaurant, but often do when quilting. I start with a traditional quilt pattern and expand the size. This no-fat super technique adds drama to a quilt project, but also saves time on piecing. Over the past Sewing with Nancy seasons, I've recorded several episodes featuring super-sized quilts. I decided to include my favorite dramatic quilts in a 2-part series, bringing back the recorded segments from past shows. Early in my career, I made a Lone Star Wall Quilt as a wedding gift. I almost didn't give the gift away, as I was somewhat embarrassed that not all the seams met in the center. After all, I was Sewing with Nancy, what would people think! Fast forward and now I'm eager to show you the same quilt block, this time with a technique that's practically guaranteed to cause pride, not embarrassment. "Sewing Super-Sized Quilts," that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman is made possible by Baby Lock a complete line of sewing, quilting, and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting, and special effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios, fine sewing furniture, custom-built in America. Clover, making a difference in sewing, quilting, crafting, and needle arts for over 90 years. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. In a traditional Lone Star design there are three main pieces or shapes.

The diamond shape

there are eight shapes put together. Then a square in each corner. Then at the top of the diamond there's a quarter-square triangle or just a triangle shape. The problem occurs, or occurred for me when I made my first lone star, was right in this intersection. It's called a Y seam where one, two, three seams come together. You can see it's shaped like a Y. I say, W-H-Y, why seam it that way? Because oh, my goodness, I had problems. I'll show you why. Here is the traditional way of making a Lone Star quilt block. This is a rather large one. Here's the square, where I had eight diamonds. This intersection is the tricky part. To work on this, you're always instructed to mark 1/4" from the intersection seam. There's a little pink dot there. When I stitch together the diamonds I stop stitching 1/4" there's a 1/4" that is left unsewn so that when this piece is sewn to the Y intersection you have to align that little dot right in that intersection where you stopped stitching. Sew from the dot to the edge and then cumbersomely sew from the dot to the other edge. For those of you who are very precise you can get that smack on. But sometimes for me, it didn't happen so well. Often, the fabric stretches a little bit out of shape because there's a lot of bias edges. It's just not my favorite way of doing things. If you can do that, great. But if you'd like a little streamlined technique we're going to sew all straight seams. To do that, I'm cutting the square in half diagonally and doing the same thing with the triangle cut it in half diagonally. If you have a pattern at home, let me start with the triangle. Here's the shape of a triangle. You cut it in half. But then you need a seam allowance added. So the seam allowance is added to the edge where the cut was made. The other section, this is a little smaller pattern piece but you can see, here is the square that has been cut diagonally. Then, a seam allowance is added to the side. The diamond shape stays the same. You still have one, two, three pieces. But not in the same configuration. You can also use templates that have already been designed that way. I worked on those so we didn't have to really make these changes. Here are the templates. You can make a variety of sizes, four different sizes from them. Again, you can use anything that you have at home. Just make the adjustment. The template tells you how wide of a strip to cut for that particular piece. For each of these, you're going to do some tracing. I've started to do this where I would place the template on the cut fabric. The fabric has been starched heavily or sprayed. You'd trace along the edge, rotate this, trace. Just fill in the blanks so that you're filling all of the areas. Perhaps you can see the triangles that are in that area. For the diamonds, I have three fabrics stacked together. I'd use the diamond shape. Make sure you're doing this accurately. I'm doing this kind of quickly here. You'd trace the edges. If this were flat, I'd slide it over. Make sure it would be flat, and then trace the next section. With your rotary cutter, ruler, and mat you'll cut out each section. I'm ahead of the game here, where I've cut along each line. I'm going to stack them. As you can see, you stack them together. You're needing eight diamond shapes eight large triangles, eight small triangles. I have four in this stack right here, where I have the small, the diamond, and the large. Then you reverse the process with the remaining four. You have a mirror image, where you have the large piece the diamond, and the small triangle. Now we have mirror images of the groups. You may wonder how this is going to come together. I'll do it at the sewing machine right now. I've set my machine for a straight stitch and have 1/4" width of a presser foot on it. You'll see that in a few minutes. Just a basic seaming technique that I'll be showing you. Now, I'm going to review the shaping of the templates. You have a small triangle, a large diamond and a large triangle. On the templates, it happens to be printed "A", "B" and "C" so you know how to line these up. On your other templates you'll have to kind of organize them in this fashion. You'll have four that you're going to be stitching in this configuration. Piece "A" is placed on piece "B". You match the points, which I have here. At the end, there's a little 1/4" seam allowance that extends beyond the typical extension that's found on most quilt patterns. You may want to do a little pinning. If you've starched or sprayed your fabric pieces it will go so much easier. Then just stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance aligning those edges. Even though we're sewing with straight stitching it's still important for accuracy because you have eight diamonds that have to meet in the middle. That's almost why I never gave that wedding gift away that I made many years ago. After doing the stitching, then we'll do some pressing. We're going to press this seam away from the diamond shape. Take some time to press. You might want to check it. Just top press from the right side to make sure there isn't a tuck in the fabric. Then you're going to add the remaining triangle the larger triangle, to the section and we'll have one-eighth of the Lone Star completed. This was block or triangle "C". It's placed on the unit that you have here. We'll sew the straight seam. You're going to be making eight in this configuration as the template says, "A", "B" and "C". The next thing I'll show you are the remaining four. Did I say eight before? You're going to make four in this direction. Then you're going to make four in the opposite direction. Now, I'm stitching this together. The edges are meeting. Just sew with about a 2.0 mm or 2.5 mm stitch length. As I get at the end, you'll see that there's that 1/4" that's extended on the template. That's right where the seam ends. It's amazing how that works. Then, you're going to do some more pressing. This time, I'm going to press the seam away from the center. It seems to work better that way. I'll just press the seam. Use plenty of steam. Again, do some top pressing, to make sure there isn't a tuck which I did press one right in there. Now we have one-eighth of this block complete. Then a little magic happens. Here are the seams. "A", "B", and "C" have been sewn together. Four of them in this direction. Then we'll make four in the opposite direction mirror image. You leave the diamond in the same shape but you move one onto the other side so it's "C", "B", and "A". Now, piece "C" goes onto piece "B" and a seam is stitched. "A" goes onto "B", and a seam is stitched. I'm going to show you how this comes together. This is the magic where I broke all the rules of this Lone Star quilt. Unless you're going to be entering your quilt in a big contest I highly recommend it, because it's so much faster than the traditional way of doing things. Here's the first piece that I stitched, the second piece that I just kind of walked you through. You meet right sides together and "A-ha!" you stitch the long seam. No Y seams, how about that? When you're done with that you're going to press that seam open. I recommend pressing it open. I have four smaller samples to share with you that you'd place together to make a block. Let me just flip these around a bit to make the configuration look good. I think you get the idea how this block goes together without any Y seams. The title of this quilt design is Sew Grand Dresden. I looked back over past Sewing with Nancy titles and realized that I never used the word "grand" before! With meanings such as majestic and impressive, it sounds a bit boastful. Yet grand appropriately describes the large 38" Dresden plate appliqud in the center and four 16" Dresden plates that frame the center of the motif. The Dresden appliqu can be stitched in approximately the same amount of time as smaller blocks. Typically, Dresden Plate quilt blocks which are appliqud onto fabric, are 12" or 9" but the center of this wall quilt is 36" a really big statement obviously the name, of the grand appliqus that we're going to be working with today. There are 20 wedges around the center. The center block, or the center circle, is about 8" finished size. The center is comparable to the bigness or the grandness of the wedges. We've chosen five fabrics and cut four wedges of each fabric to create this. In the corners, we have 16" blocks or 16" Dresden plates with a 6" circle instead of the 8" again, to make it proportionate. My staff and I made this quilt several years ago and then taught a class on it. One of the students made this quilt in totally different colors. You can just see a different look. Shelly Kahler is the designer of this with beautiful blues and purples. Same style. I just like to show the same quilt pattern, which is available in the book that accompanies the program, in different color combinations. Again, it makes a great impact. When working with the big pieces of the Grand Dresden you can work with templates. You can elongate templates. I've used this designing template with both circles and long wedges. Or, for the smaller sections, you can use this. This is a see-through template that makes up to 8", or a 16-1/2" block. So, you have some choices to work with. There are many more options out there. For the fabric, for the large plate I simply found on the Dresden itself, the designing tool, that I can use an 8-1/2" circle, which is right here. I put my tape measure there. Then measure up to the 36" block. It says on the tape measure to cut a strip that's 14-1/2". If I was going to be working with a smaller strip, the 6-1/2" circle with a 16" block, I would be cutting, right here, I would be cutting 5-1/4" strips. You'll see that next. You're going to measure on the design tool what size of fabric. You're going to be working in strips of fabric and doing some tracing and cutting. You may have seen me do this before. It's not a new technique. But if you haven't, it's worth knowing about. You place the tool on the fabric starting at a folded edge, and then trace the edges with a fine marker. Oops, I better trace one more edge before I do a rotation! Trace, and then rotate. Maybe at home, you can draw a little straighter than I am. Here we go. You keep on doing this by the length of the strip of fabric. This is cut 5-1/4", as I measured earlier. You just trace and trace. Then, you could stack several layers of fabric maybe up to four underneath this area. Then cut along the edges to create the wedges. So you're going to cut and cut. You get the idea of what's happening, now. After doing the cutting fold the fabric in half, each wedge in half and across the top, you're going to stitch... chainstitch just with a 1/4" seam allowance. Like little hot dogs, you chain them all together. You're going to have 20 of these, one for each wedge. You clip them apart, do some finger pressing and press this seam open. I've pressed the seam open already, how about that? It works a little bit better. So you could press it open and then turn it right side out. With a tool, make sure you get a nice, sharp point. On an index card, I marked a 45 line because I can line that up with the seam of the fabric to get it just in place. Then press. You'd press, not on your template, which I almost did but just on the fabric. Then, after you've pressed all 20 of these I'll show you at the sewing machine how to assemble the Dresden plate. Whether you're making a grand Dresden block or a smaller one, the assembly is all the same. You're going to be pressing 20 wedges for each circle and then sew them into pairs. Meet right sides together. I like to start stitching at the fold because if I stitch a little off I know it will always match where I start. Set your machine for a 1/4" seam allowance. I have it set for a center stitch. There's a 1/4" mark on the plate of my machine. Get it lined up right at the fold and stitch. Just guide down the guide. Then meet your next pair have it handy at the sewing machine. Match it up right at that fold area and continue to chainstitch it together just the same way that you saw the chain of the wedges when I stitched across the top. So, you're going to be creating ten pairs. Then simply press the seams open. You can do that easily at your ironing board. I like pressing seams open in this instance rather than to one side because it distributes the bulk more evenly. The pairs are sewn together so you'd have four sections. You might want to get a different color combination. There we go. Then, if you wanted to add one more to this section you'd have enough for a fan. We're really not doing fans today but you could make a fourth of a block to create a fan. Or, if you put four quadrants together you've got it, you'd have a circle. To place this on the fabric, what I like to do is cut the background of the fabric and then press it into four sections. Fold it in half fold it in half again, and press. You can see the press marks. What they help you do is align this plate at the quadrant marks. Pin it down. You can simply topstitch this into place. We like using clear monofilament thread in the needle and matching thread to the fabric in the bobbin. On my machine, I'm going to set it for kind of a quilting, a blind hem stitch. It's a straight stitch on the side and then it just catches the fabric. I'm going to lengthen it just a touch. I don't have monofilament thread in here because you wouldn't be able to see it. I'm just going to show you that you stitch along the side and then it bites over and catches the fabric. Stitches the side and bites. You don't have to really worry about topstitching straight because you have this particular stitch. You just stitch around. It takes a little time to appliqu it down. It's kind of a fun process. It will take a little bit longer than what I'm showing you now. I'll show you a close up of that stitch. It just catches the fabric. It looks like you've put it on by hand but you put it on by machine. Now to finish the block. To finish this big or small appliqu we're going to start with the center of the block. You can use a plate to trace the pattern or a template that is in three sizes. The fabric is cut in a square, not a circle. You could just use a scrap of fabric making certain that it's larger than the image that you're going to trace. I have fabric, plus a secret ingredient to make this work so well is fusible interfacing. The smooth side of the fusible interfacing is next to the right side of the fabric. I'll put the template on and trace in the die-cut areas around the curves. After you trace this and pin the two layers together set your machine for a short stitch length. Here you can see that I'm sewing around this curve. The short stitch length allows me to make the curve smooth. It just goes a lot easier, like driving in the mountains, you go slow. So for circles, you do the same thing. Then to do some trimming we can notch and trim at the same time. Use a pinking shears or a pinking blade in your rotary cutter the 45 mm rotary cutter. I've started to do this. Give yourself a 1/4" seam allowance. Trim around the edges. It's kind of fun to do. Now, you need to do some additional trimming on the inside which I've already done. Trim and leave one inch so that you have a hole like a donut hole. Now, to make that smooth seam, we have the pinked edge. We have the short stitch length. We turn this, so we have the right side out. Then you kind of work around the edges a little bit. You might want to use a creaser or a tool just to help smooth the edge. You see I have my ironing board handy to my right, your left. Then you're going to some pressing. You may have to do a little rolling of the seams. Take a little time to do the press. But you will get a smooth shape without doing a lot of work. You can see what I've just pressed. This circle has been totally pressed. If you'd like to center it on your square fold it in half, fold it in half again kind of pinch those marks. Then mark those pinches right at the area and appliqu it down. The centers can also be a design feature. We have three examples to show you of a grand style a big appliqu, with a small center. That same design now has a medium center. Then, for more impact, a large center. This quilt that my staff and I made used the centers not only in the plate area, the Dresden plate, but also in the corners of the blocks. 8-1/2", 6-1/2" and 4-1/2" circles were used to carry out the theme. I like the play of the design and carrying the fabric used in the wedges throughout the quilt. It's a great way of working with a Dresden plate. Once you know how to make a super-size Dresden block, there are some other options you can create. If you had some leftover fabric, which we did after making the Christmas wall hanging, we made a tree skirt. Using the largest, the 40" length which would make a 40" diameter of the Dresden's plate, to make a tree skirt, but we left out two wedges. Instead of making 20, we have 18 wedges. The back of the fabric is now not a quilting fabric, but felt. And it's been hand stitched, which probably takes the most time, around the edge, or you could use clear thread and, of course, topstitch. The middle section, the circle, is not put in place because you need the opening for the trunk. And it's finished with-- you could use purchased bias tape, or make your own bias tape just to finish the edges. I'd like to give you a few hints on how to do this because once you know a technique, it's always pays to apply it to a new idea. So here are our 18 wedges that have been sewn together. And I've pressed under 1/4" on the two remaining edges where it isn't closed together. So just press under those edges, and then, measure the size of the circle, which we've already done, as you can see. But you can use a yardstick-compass. Place the point in the center. And then, measure to about 1/4" from the inset of the wedge. And create a big circle. Trace it on a piece of tissue paper. Apply it to the back. Cut out the opening, put a little bias tape, and you have another option for decorating for the holidays. So, I hope you'll give that a try. It's kind of fun to put together. Next time on Sewing with Nancy, look for the second episode of "The Best of Sewing with Nancy Super-Sized Quilts." If you'd like to re-watch this episode or many seasons of programming, I encourage you to go to NancyZieman.com. And then you can watch at your convenience, or join the sewing and quilting conversation on my blog, or, of course, on Facebook or Pinterest, other social media platforms. It's always fun to hear from you, to see what you've been sewing, to see what you'd like to sew or quilt. And that's where I'd like the conversation to continue. Thanks for joining me. Bye for now. Nancy has designed templates and written a book for the projects referenced in this program and more. The complete set of all four of "Nancy's Super-Sized Quilting" templates and DVDs is $99, plus shipping and handling. The book is included free with purchase. To order this set, call 800-336-8373 or visit our Web site at sewingwithnancy.com/3005 Order Item No. SWNSSQ Super-Sized Quilts templates and DVD set. Credit Card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's Web site at NancyZieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman has been brought to you by Baby Lock; Madeira Threads; Koala Studios; Clover; Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Riley Blake Designs. Sewing with Nancy is a co-production of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.