Patchwork and quilting can sometimes seem rule-driven but relaxation is a healthy aim. Here is some further advice on this subject...
Help! With a simple type of quilting, does it matter if some of the hemmed edges aren’t secured by lines of quilting?
Try this... Whether it matters or not depends on the intended purpose of the work (or if you are a picky control-freak like me!). If a hem isn’t secured, comes loose and unravels during repeated use and laundering then it could be a problem. If it bothers you, there are a few things you could do, as follows.
■ Try to place a quilted line near to a seam edge, as shown by the white
stitches in Fig 6.
■ You could use echo quilting to follow the seam on a fabric patch, as I did
for the cushion on page 47, and shown by the yellow stitches in Fig 6.
■ If the quilting stitches end up quite a way away from the edge of a
seam, you could shorten or lengthen the stitches so a stitch falls over
the edge of a seam, thus securing it (see the orange stitches in Fig 6)
■ If the project is one that will be laundered frequently and there are
loose seams in a few places, these can be secured by some small slip
stitches in a sewing thread to match the fabric.
Having said all that, try not to over-think this type of improv work, just
go with the flow and enjoy it.
Help! I started making a cushion using a Boro technique but it’s looking rather bitty, with patches getting smaller and smaller. Also, I’m not sure how much the background should show. Do you have any advice on these issues?
Try this... With regards to the bitty look, it may be that you had too many base patches on the background, so try removing some of these to give fewer raw edges to cover. It also helps to move some of the base patches as you work on the design, so a subsequent hemmed patch can cover two (2) raw edges, rather than just one (1). If the background fabric is interesting, aim to deliberately use it as a feature in the final design. If you’re not sure whether changing the design will work, take photos on a mobile phone to remind you of a previous stage in case you want to revert to that version.
Fig 6Securing seam edges
