Today
I have the pleasure on introducing you to Debbie Maddy. I know many of
you are familiar with her and may even have taken some of her classes. She is the designer owner of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs and she is famous for making lovely quilts with half square triangles and
there are no diamonds or Y seams. She is going to give us a great tip today, so
please join me in welcoming - Debbie Maddy!
Hello,
My name is Debbie Maddy and I am the designer owner of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs pattern company. I also travel internationally teaching and giving lectures for quilt guilds and quilt shops. I am so happy to be here today as a guest blogger for Nan at Purrfect Spots Blog.
Since so many of my patterns are made using half square triangles, I am going to share my pressing hints for making perfect half square triangles.
I have seen half square triangles where when pressing the quilters have pulled on the top layer to “help” the iron and ended up with a distorted units. Another problem is being in a hurry and pressing quickly from the center not paying attention to the corners and ending up with little pleats. Once I have sewn the squares together on the diagonal and cut them apart I stack them with the darker fabric on the top. I pick up the first one and press it as sewn to set the seam.
My name is Debbie Maddy and I am the designer owner of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs pattern company. I also travel internationally teaching and giving lectures for quilt guilds and quilt shops. I am so happy to be here today as a guest blogger for Nan at Purrfect Spots Blog.
Since so many of my patterns are made using half square triangles, I am going to share my pressing hints for making perfect half square triangles.
I have seen half square triangles where when pressing the quilters have pulled on the top layer to “help” the iron and ended up with a distorted units. Another problem is being in a hurry and pressing quickly from the center not paying attention to the corners and ending up with little pleats. Once I have sewn the squares together on the diagonal and cut them apart I stack them with the darker fabric on the top. I pick up the first one and press it as sewn to set the seam.
I then lift the top layer being very careful not to pull or stretch the fabric. I am just holding the top layer out of the way of the iron. I take the tip of the iron and carefully press one corner of the seam. I leave the iron there long enough to press the small area flat. I then take the tip of the iron and press the other corner of the seam flat. I then let the weight of the iron press the entire seam to one side.
All of the time I am doing this I am not pulling, stretching or helping move the top fabric in any way. The iron is doing the work. If you follow these steps you will end up with a nice flat, smooth half square triangle unit.
Thank you Debbie for these tips. As a bonus, Debbie has been kind enough to send a video illustrating her ironing method.
Thank you Debbie for joining us today and sharing such good tips. I know many of us love half square triangles and this will help when we put them together.
There is another Guest Blogger this month, so stay tuned. I hope you have enjoyed meeting these wonderful quilters with their helpful hints. I will be introducing next month's Guest Bloggers in my newsletter so sign up. There will also be specials offered with every newsletter, so add your name to the list.
Until next time...
Nan
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