NIFTY FIFTY QUILTERS ACROSS AMERICA
YARDAGE INFORMATION AND QUALITY CHECK POINTS FOR YOUR 50 STATE BLOCKS
All NF participants need to read this page and agree to the quality check points before they begin sewing their blocks.
1. Fabrics are pre-washed and pressed.
2. Points and seams match up.
3. Block size is 12 1/2" unfinished-the hostess will be measuring!!
4. Seam allowance of 1/4" all around without invading block pattern
5. Seams are straight - whether machine or hand pieced
6. Seams on the back are pressed in one direction and lay flat unless hand pieced.
7. Applique stitching is hidden, unless intended to be visible (i.e. button
hole stitch or machine applique). No use of fabric paints and no raw edges allowed.
9. Fabrics coordinate in color and design
10. When signing your blocks avoiding writing on WOW (white on white) fabric because part of your signature will eventually wash out.
12. Make sure machine is in good working
order11. You had FUN doing it!!!!!!!!
The great thing about our NF exchanges is the quality of the blocks and fabric. I am asking all hostesses to be very strict in looking over their sample blocks. They will be rejecting any sample block that has any of the following:
1) If the block does not have at least one designer fabric.
2) If the points do not meet.
3) If the block is 1/4 inch either too small or too large from the unfinished size.
4) If the signed name is either too large (should be no larger than 1/4 inch letters) or if the signature is in the 1/4 inch seam allowance.
5. If seams are not straight - whether machine or hand pieced.
6. If seams on the back are not pressed in one direction and lay flat unless hand pieced.
7. If applique stitching is not hidden, unless intended to be visible (i.e. button hole stitch or machine applique). No use of fabric paints and no raw edges allowed.
9. If fabrics do not coordinate in color and design. And this is at the discretion of the hostesses.
VERY IMPORTANT....PLEASE READ:
We want the results of these exchanges to be known as top quality quilts. In order for this to happen the hostesses may reject any blocks that do not follow our guidelines. Please does not feel offended if your sample block is returned. It only means that the hostess is doing her job so that everyone will receive all top quality NF blocks from each participant. Please take her suggestions as positive feedback and correct any problems with your blocks. These are very unique quilts and we want everything to coordinate and measure up correctly. It will be well worth your effort. We have posted sewing tips below. If any participant has any questions about these quality check points then please feel free to contact Teresa at trequilts@yahoo.com
SEWING AND YARDAGE TIPS: In order for your blocks to be exactly 12 1/2" unfinished (for a 12" finished block), you must cut and sew accurately. Almost all quilt pattern books have basic instructions in the beginning of the books, so if you're having trouble getting a block to size, why not go back and review the basics?
CUTTING: Make sure that you square up your fabric and do a "clean cut" before Cutting your strips. Also make sure that you place the ruler on the right cuttingline and when you start to cut, don't remove your hand from the ruler, but rather "walk" your hand up the ruler until the cut is finished. There are a few "How To" books on the market that just address how to rotary cut.
SEWING 1/4" SEAMS: Your seam should actually be a "scant" quarter of an inch, or just inside the 1/4" mark you are using. Before you begin sewing you must check your 1/4" seam allowance because not all machine presser foots mark a true ¼”. Please do so by doing a practice ¼” seam on your sewing machine. Remove your sample and measure it away from the sewing machine. If it is not a true ¼” then adjust it so it is a perfect ¼” and mark this line with several pieces of masking tape along the right side of your machine. Always follow this new guideline.
YARDAGE
To figure up your yardage for each of your fabrics take the size square you need to cut and figure out how many you can cut from the width of your fabric. For example if your fabric is 42" in width and if you need to cut 4.5 inch squares you divide 4.5 into 42. I round up my inches to make it easier so I would divide 5" into 42. This will give you 8 squares per row. 5"x8=40". Now that you know you can get 8 squares out of a row then you take the amount of total squares you will need to cut and divide 8 into that amount. So let's say you need 50--- 4.5" squares then you will need to divide 8 into 50 to find out how many rows you will need --- 8x7= 56. This tells you that you will need at least 7 rows. Once you get the amount of rows you will need then you take your size block again and multiply it by the rows to find you yardage. 4.5" x 7=31" The result is you will need to buy 31 inches of fabric. I always round up so I would purchase one yard. This will give me an extra 5" in fabric and it is always a good idea to always purchase enough extra fabric to be able to cut one extra row in case of mistakes.
Copyright 1999 Teresa Drummond ALL RIGHTS RESERVED