A form of exercise, it’s not. Quilting or light sewing burns about 65 calories per half an hour. I thought getting up from my machine to walk over to the design wall, cutting table, or ironing board would count for a lot more. So, I’ve set up my sewing station for maximum efficiency, rather than a work out. Maybe the twisting from the sewing machine to the ironing board will give me an extra calorie or two.
Anyway, Now that the triangles are cut, it’s time to make some rectangles. This is a twin-size quilt with five rectangles across and twelve down.
I use a 1/4” foot which makes it easy to keep the seams all even. Before I started sewing, I laid the four rectangles out just like they would appear after sewing. Chain piecing helps the task go a little smoother.
It’s important to iron each seam as you sew it. That helps with the bulk. With the cotton interfacing some of the seams can get pretty thick--especially with denim and the infant sleepers.
And paying attention to ironing those seams open not only makes them look nice, they’ll be a lot easier to sew together. Even as a beginning quilter, your quilts will look more professional if you take the time to iron your seams. Of course, with a lot of the sports jerseys I am not able to iron the front of the shirts because of the vinyl. I used a pressing cloth on the back so I wouldn’t melt the shirt or get my iron dirty. Not fun to clean off.
Here are the sixty rectangles.
I’m not sure how I will arrange them. Right now, they’re all sorted by color. That would put all the baby items, which are mostly pastel blue, in one section. Maybe not a good look.