I have made 2 of them and Yes, his directions are very ambiguous. You have to trim back triangle strata at each addition and also square up the top after each addition. You need lots of rulers....I used 2 6.5x24" and a 20" square to help keep it in square.

Here is the first one I made

And here is the second one
I added braided borders to the top and bottom of this one so it would fit a queen size bed.

Awesome quilts! I can see how it would be a bear to square without a ton of rulers.

SharonG/FL

I AM LOOSING MY MIND
i cannot get this thing right. i have ripped it apart 4 times and tried something different each time.
i'm missing some basic technique i'm sure
each time i put on a boarder the whole thing starts to warp.
PLEASE HELP

I'm probably the last person on the forum who should be offering advice, but if you really are losing your mind....

Have you machine basted the edge of the triangle? Are you putting the border on the bottom against the feed dogs since it's the more stable piece?

Maybe you should tell them exactly what you are doing and what you have tried--the other people on here have much, much, much more experience that me, who has about none.

I'm another one who shouldn't 't be offering advice since I've only been at quilting six years. However, I do a lot of the scrappy and strip quilts and that translates into working with narrow pieces, and directional issues. Several important issues come to mind to keep distortion from blocks like this.

Proper pressing as you progress is so necessary. There is a vast difference between pressing and ironing and one has to remember that the fabric will stretch before the stitches do and if you apply any type of pulling or stretching to the fabric with an iron (or even through handling) one will end up with concave or convex cups of fabric. One notices this when making things like HSTs and opening it up how some are dead on square and some wonky. You can block pieces gently with your iron, much in the same way you block a sweater when you lay them out to dry. I try to come down on seams directly from above first, instead of across the fabric, easing in where they miss being plumb. You can almost push stretched fabric back in place if it's just a little out of line. Then yes.........most definitely true up each assembly and sub assembly as you sew before you add it to the next piece or section. Teeny, tiny errors are cumulative over a large quilt, so need to be corrected along the way. I'm not a 'starch it do death' fan when I make blocks......but some folks find it an effective way to keep fabric from stretching through handling.

Thank you ladies for your suggestions.
The last attempt I did put the boarder side down, saw that on Quilt In A Day tv show, stol didn't work.

Callipo thank you for the reminder. ... I am most definitely a full on ironer, not as presser.

guess I will be ripping again today
:-)

I'm so disappointed that their instructions make this such a hard piece. I've not had one yet where I couldn't just do it and ignore whatever they say. If everything is cut on the straight of grain and pieces cut running length of fabric instead of across from selvedge to selvedge, it shouldn't be stretchy. Ironing instead of pressing can also do it. I'm sorry you're having to go through this. Quilting is supposed to be fun and relaxing. When it's not, it's painful.

Next suggestion is to put it away and work on something easier. Go back to it in a few months. Struggling over and over sometimes just makes it worse and you have no sense of accomplishment.

I'll mention something else I think puts quilter's in a bind with long, narrow cuts of material, and it's not the quilter's fault. I have found so many fabrics in the last few years printed with patterns not 'true' to the grain. I'm a ripper, force of habit from being taught that way many, many years ago in sewing classes to true up cuts of fabric. I can't tell you how many times on plaid or striped material it's printed on wonky and when you true up a cut, the rip will tear across patterns. It also doesn't help that if you are buying yardage, the clerks will use scissors to cut your desired yardage and not necessarily check to see if it's a true cut. I've lost six inches or so and sometimes more when they they do this and that's nothing to sniff at when you are working with very expensive materials. This sort of stuff makes patterns where it's necessary to work with grains end up being bias cuts.

,,,,each time i put on a boarder the whole thing starts to warp......

You are working with bias when putting the border on this particular project. As has been mentioned.....starch, starch, starch. Another thing is to measure the center of the block you are putting the border on and that is the length of fabric that would be for 2 sides of the block, For the other 2 sides, measure again, including the border just attached. This will help keep your block square......measure measure measure when working with bias. Good luck!

SharonG/FL

Thanks toolgranny. I like your suggestion. Unfortunately this is a gift that needs to be done before june7.
I really want to get this right.
It is a memory quilt for my sister in law. Scraps from all her kids weddings that I also made.
This pattern is s so beautiful. So upsetting that they don't write them properly.
Do you think it is Fasset or the publisher?

If you stabilize your pieced bias edge with starch, let me recommend just using liquid Sta-Flo starch you get in a half gallon jug and dilute up yourself. It doesn't smell as nice as Faultless spray starch in a can, but it's much cheaper.

Suzintx can you post a picture of where you are having the problem?
Fassett's instructions are so vague. I would not have been able to make the quilts unless I had a good workshop instructor.
The triangle strata are going to be too big so after sewing them on you have to trim them so you have just a bit over 1/4" past the corner of the previous sashing this way you will maintain the nice points on the sashing. If you don't trim back the triangles the last triangles will not be big enough.
A picture might help me to see where you are having problems.
I didn't staystitch any of my triangle pieces but always stopped with sashing pieces if I was putting it away.
Hope this helps
Mary

I cut all of my pieces selvedge to selvedge. The way this quilt is constructed is to make strata from strips of fabric. You then cut triangles from the strata so you are working with bias edges. Some of the ladies in my workshop pressed all of their seams open but I just pressed mine all one direction.
Hope this helps

if i can ever figure out how to get my pics from my phone to my computer i will post a photo.

i am going to remove the last layer of boarder and wash it and the square up to that point (it was the 3rd boarder).
then i will try to get some Sta-Flo starch
i am going to press gently rather than iron like i normally do. i may even change this boarder if it continues to give me a hard time.
i am sure that i am not perfectly squared up, i never can get that right ..
this thing is getting so big, doesn't fit on the table anymore.
i am so determined
thank you ALL for your help and words of encouragement.
i will never get another Fasset book again. his knitting patterns are bad too

When I put the borders on I measured across the middle of the top and cut my border fabric to this measurement. I then found the center of the top and the center of the border strip and pinned. I then pinned the border strip to either end. Then I pinned well, working in any fullness that I had on the edge of the top. I sewed with the quilt top on the bottom against the feeddogs to help work in any fullness.

Not sure what kind of phone you have but mine has a micro SD card that the pictures are stored on so I just take it out of my phone and put it into my card reader then plug it into my computer.

I think they are beautiful quilts! TFS!

Best to you,
Sandra

Suz, to get your photos from your phone to your computer, click on the picture and one of the options or little icons you see should be a 'mail' function. Just mail it to your email address, then save the picture when you get it. Or mail it directly to a photobucket account, if you have one. From your computer or from Photobucket, you can post the picture here on GardenWeb.

Hope that helps,
Kate

My phone is not "Smart" so that is why I use the Micro SD card.

Maryv

No words of advice, but your persistence will achieve the results you are looking for...sounds like an awesome project...all the best...sending positive thought waves your way~~~~~~
Post a pic when you wrap this up!
V.

Here is mine. It was a bear to make because the rays are not cut on the bias. I had problems like the others who posted here, but it turned out okay.

Your quilt looks great. I like the way these look, but after reading the posts about the process, I don't think I'll be trying to make one anytime soon!

Nice job and thanks for sharing a picture.

I think these all look quite nice, but am sorry to hear how many of you had trouble putting it together.

If it were me, I'd write to Kaffe Fassett & his people & tell them how much trouble you had. I'm sure you folks spent money to buy the fabrics &/or kits & I would have expected it to have better instructions.

Perhaps if they hear how problematic it is, they'll correct/ amend/ improve their suggested instructions.

I'd be irritated & ripping my hair out.

Good for all of you who persisted & finished it in spite of bad instructions!