After posting the newsletter about my panel-friendly, amphibian-filled quilt last week, I got a few comments and questions that made me think that maybe a few extra comments might be in order.
Panels are so tempting with fun images and illustrations ready to install into a quilt, but there are some challenges to consider. Today, I'll focus on some of the issues we all might encounter when incorporating panels into quilt projects.
In this case, I picked up the last panel from a quilt shop that was going out of business. Only one other fabric coordinate from the group was left on the shelf. I grabbed two yards--the creamy white print that appears in all the blocks. Didn't do any math, didn't have any plan, but two yards felt like the right amount to make something of those little panel pieces. The other fabric used for the block (the fish on blue) was something I had in my stash for a long time. I think it was part of an end-of-bolt sale at the local quilt shop.
Back to the panel. I didn't take a photo of the panel before I started cutting. With the quilt pieced, and quilted, only one block is left. Just enough for a label and to show you my method to prepare the panel pieces.
The first thing to note: each panel is unique and there is no uniform size of the motifs from one panel to the next.
The second thing to note: printed fabric is almost always distorted. Whether you prewash the panel or not. I usually pre-wash most of my fabrics, but usually do not pre-wash panels or precuts. You can steam and block the motifs back out of their wonkiness, or you can work with it, which is what I did with this one.
This panel had 21 (3x7 printed motif blocks) that measured *about* 5" with maybe about 1" of contrast fabric in between.
I could probably manage to center and cut each motif as large as 6" square. That would give me a small border of the cream-colored fabric around each motif. Unfortunately, the panel had a couple nicks off the corners, so a good 6" cut wasn't possible for all the motifs. I aimed for a 5-1/2" square trim (5" finished size). However, the priority was to make sure that my 1/4" seam would land in black fabric just inside the printed block edge. With the trim, even if the motif shape was distorted, it would *look* perfectly square with seams.
That's a bit of a confusing mouthful, but I think you can see the red dots I placed on the photo below, showing the 5" finished size at the corner and the 5-1/4" trimmed size. Wait! If you're paying attention, I bet you're thinking, "I thought you were trimming to 5-1/2!!" Hold that thought!
The block trimmed, below. You can see that the cream edges are not the same width on all sides, and that's okay. That'll all be within the seam allowance.
Once I knew the final size of the motif, I could draft out a quilt block on my computer (or on graph paper). The sizes shown are CUT sizes, not finished sizes. This became my template for cutting and sewing the blocks. I rotated the pattern and switched out the fish and cream pieces for alternating blocks.
However, the most important element of the block is that 1" border around the motif
Hold up! If that motif is 5-1/4" square, not 5-1/2" square, how is this ever going to work?
Instead of cutting the dark border around the motive 1" wide, I cut it 1-1/4" wide and a little longer than needed.
I stitched the side borders first, then pressed and trimmed the ends even with the top and bottom edges of the motif block.
Then added the longer than 1-1/4x6-1/2" strips to the top and bottom of the motif.
Now, everything is a little too big! Take a close look at the little red dots at the corners, marking the 6-1/2" trim. Just a little off the side and top and the unit now measures 6-1/2" square. The motif is centered before the trim, the wonky, distorted block looks great, and even if the border and motif measurements aren't exactly the same from one block to the next--and this is key--no one will know!
Just like that, with the motif with border measures 6-1/2" square, we can go back to the block draft pattern and fill in the rest of the piecing.
In this case, the motif was used to make a super-sized label for the back of the finished quilt.
For good measure, here's the finished quilt--quilted and bound.
As stated earlier, every panel is a little different. This cute hedgehog panel has sixteen motifs and lots of possibilities for trimming - do you include dusky borders, or maybe a little of the dark color in between.
Printed panels can be so tempting! But they can be intimidating and get stuck in a holding pattern in the fabric stash. The skinny pieced border correction can be a real life-saver to help get past the panel panic!
Happy Stitching!
Head Hummingbird
Hummingbird-Highway.com
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