World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of January 17, 2005:
Our question this week comes from Katie:
What do you think is the best way to do set-in-seams - like in the LeMoyne Star quilt ?
Kate :
That makes sense now. Thanks so much. I'll have to make sure I practice.
Sheila :
A little practice and you will have great set in pieces. Use a good 1/4" guage and a good marking pencil to mark each patch 1/4" from the corners and the block into which these will be set the same. Pin at these points and along the seam line, sew only up to these marks and take one backstitch. Practice a few times and you will find this is a matter of patience. Set in squares will look better than triangles!!
Marion :
I was trying to find on-line instructions, but couldn't after 3 pages of googling. Here goes:You know those squares on the corners of the block? Cut them into triangles, with the future seam line going into the corner of the block. Sew the triangles onto the diamonds, then sew the diamond/triangle combination together. Bethany Reynolds does this in her Stack and Whack books, but I can only find "Stack and Whackier" right now.
Some fabrics will let you do this, most likely batiks. Other patterns will look funny. Make a practice block and see if you like it.
Kate :
umm.... how would it work with triangles??
Marion :
I have two answers.
1. mark the quarter inch from the end and only sew to them. I have a handy template with a hole. This works most of the time for me.2. instead of cutting squares for the set-in seam, cut triangles and avoid the issue altogether. Sometimes the fabric will let you, sometimes it won't.
World Wide Quilting Page * Question of the Week