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How do I put a hexagon tree skirt on my Millie?


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As a newby, I have gotten through a few challenges, but now I think I had better tap into the wisdom of all of your experience that is evident in this chat room. I've been asked to quilt an 84" Hexagon Christmas tree skirt (It must be for those redwood trees they grow in northern Calif!!). It's made up of diamond shaped log cabin blocks (I hope you know what I'm talking about) and it has a zig-zag open seam that will be used to put around the base of the tree. Would I float the top flat edge and pin the angles down as I quilt it, and then also pin the opening when I get to it? Any ideas would be appreciated.

I'm going to have2 of these skirts (both from the same class at the lqs) to do so would like to get the first one done the right way so that I don't learn too many lessons the hard way !! Thanks for any tips.

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I quilted a round quilt once, just not as big as that....I can't imagine the tree that would be on top of that skirt!!!

I mounted a square backing as you would normally do and put the batting on it. Then I floated the round quilt and carefully basted the edges as I went along, being careful to maintain the shape of the quilt. I think I may have even used a bit of basting spray. I hope this helps...curious to see if there are any other methods.

I also did this with a sweatshirt that I opened up flat at the seams and McTavished...worked out pretty good!!

Have fun :P I think the hardest part will be keeping the shape true, since it is so big!

Sandra

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The only odd shape I have had is a double wedding ring with the scalloped edges. All I did was to float the quilt. My backing had straight edges so attaching that to the leaders was easy.

Do you have a square or rectangluar backing? If so, just attach the backing and float the top. If not, I would stitch extra muslin on to square out the backing...then continue with floating the top.

Hope that helps.

Cheryl Mathre

Stone Creek Quilting

Sandy Hook, VA

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You & the gals are all correct about floating, & pinning & spraying, what ever it takes to hold that "puppy" down while you are quilting.;)

I would love to see a picture of that Mamouthed sized tree skirt, WOW!:P

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Thanks for all the input. Always good to see if your brain is truely plugged in correctly before you begin something like this and that I have a clear direction. I've got the back and batting on the machine and I'm going to start quilting it this afternoon. I have a hard time posting pictures here but will put pictures on webshots when I'm done. Thanks again.

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Patty I had a friend bring me two very samll wall hanging and I floated them like you descirbe. Then I did a few moe the same way. As long as you take care with the shape and securing the edges as you go you should be just fine.

I bought a sweat shirt to do McTavishing (saw it in her book). I would love to hear a little more about how that was done as the shiney fabric that will be the outside will be on the back.

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Dear Pat,

How about making the hexagon a sqare, by adding 'false' pieces to make the sandwich better to handle. I had a hexagon quilt once, and made extra pieces on the top, so I could mount up the normal square size backing and batting to machine. After quilting I just cut the hexagon out of all three layers, which are quilted together, and binded the lot.

The hole in the middle - for the tree - was cut too, after quilting, so it just was a different piece to quilt, but if worked out fine for me!

Sylvia Kaptein

Sylka-Mode

www.sylkamode.com

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Well, I'm almost finished with the skirt. I did it as I thought I should, by floating the skirt on the square backing and batting. I thought of adding the pieces to square the shape up, but I really wanted to try and quilt this without adding to the skirt. I still have one more pass to make to complete it. It has been slow going just making sure that I keep the shape. I should be done with it tomorrow morning and will try and post a picture. My customer only wanted a stipple on it so that part has been easy. I would have loved to try some free motion quilting on it. Oh well, my next one is going to be the same. How do you convince a person to invest a bit more money so that they truely have something that is unique? Now, I'm just whining..I must be tired.

JJsMom - I'm not real experienced in this floating business, but this is how I think you do it and the way that I did this skirt. You attach your backing to the front roller and the take up roller. Then you lay your batting on the backing, pin the top edge so that it doesn't shift, then stitch about 1/4 " down from the leader all the way across the top. Then you do the same with the top and stitch it about 1/4" down from the top of the batting all the way across. The you can attach the bottom edge of the top to the 2nd roller if you want to or just let it lay between the 2 front rollers keeping it as straight as possible. I did the latter on this skirt as this is where the split is that will eventually go around the tree. I hope that isn't too confusing. It sure saves on time loading the quilt onto the machine. I'm sure there are others here that can answer that question better than I can.

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