Hot Pepper Relish



 I have an "ahem" locally famous (among family and friends) hot pepper relish.  I've not made it since 2017--quite a hiatus.  I recently visited some friends and I was gifted a 12 pack of half pint jars with a lovely "I love your hot pepper relish, and I want to give you some jars not take full ones from you."

I, too, have missed this relish.. I put it on everything sandwiches and hot dogs as well as tuna, egg and potato salad.  This past weekend I bought 15 lbs of jalapenos and and some red onions.  We picked all the sweet and hot peppers ready in the garden, and I went to work.

Many years ago, I used to handcut the hot peppers into rings.  It is tedious--and I recall that I forgot to wear gloves.  The capsicum was embedded in the skin of my hands and burned.  Plus, my hands, back and legs were tired from standing and chopping for hours on end.

I later started grinding them in my Kitchen Aid grinder attachment.  A tedious and long process.  However, when I started processing my dogs' food and purchased a #22 Weston grinder, grinding peppers became a game changer.  I can ground 15 lbs of pepper in about 10 minutes!  Takes longer to set the grinder up than grind the peppers.

I simply chop off the tops.  For about 1/2 the peppers, I slice them in half lenghthwise and use an apple corer to slice out the wall and seeds holding it in line with the pepper and scooping from end to end.  It is the best tool for this.  I use one gloved hand to handle the cut pepper leaving my right and free to use the knife.

For the balance, I keep the seeds and the wall and that creates more heat.  I allow the peppers to drain so that they are not so soupy.  Below is the University of Georgia's Recipe which I follow.  You can get their guide by going here.  I also add juniper and allspice berries (just a few per batch).  I am a stickler for relationships of base to additives.  Measure your pepper/onion base and your vinegar (5% acidity, do not pick up cleaning vinegar which is lower) and sugar accurately.  

Some tips.

  • Wash your jars and all the stuff that you plan to use in hot soapy water. 
    • I wash my jars well, rinse and do a FINAL RINSE in a large pot with hot water and some vinegar. Vinegar removes soap residue.  It may be extra work, but I do it so I have hot peppers not Dawn peppers.
  • Keep your jars warm so they are not temperature shocked when you add your hot liquid. 
    • I use have a wide, low  round pan that I put water in on two burners (your range real estate will dictate what you can do).  I put my jars upside down.  I place my lids in stainless steel colander in the water.  I have two stainless steel jar funnels...one for wide mouth and one for narrower.  The cheap plastic are just that.  If you can get the stainless; they are inexpensive and last forever.  I use 
  • Use 2 jar handlers.  You really need two jar handlers if your jars are upside down in hot water and you have to grab them and turn them.  Small expense for having tools that will keep you from breaking jars and burning your fingers.
  • Start your water bath right away and use a lid.  You must have enough water to cover your jars the recommended amount.  I couldn't use my canning rack because I couldn't find the @!%$#^@#$%&& pot it went in.  I did have the diffuser that sits on the bottom.  You have to put your jars on something besides the bottom of your pan.
  • Fill your jars as noted in your recipe and ensure that you take a non metal object (plastic knife, chopstick) to release any air bubbles.
  • Do you have a digital snakey-probed thermomenter?  Use it. (And for heaven sake get one...they will ensure that you never overcook expensive meat).
    •  Put it in your water bath so that you can monitor when your water returns to 212...full boil v. a simmer boil, after you have added your jars which drop the temp. Processing times are based on full boil.  Your  you can begin your timer (and it has one)  once the temp reads 212 (yes I cheat a degree and will accept 211).  Note, too that these probes sometimes have to be calibrated.
    • Process timings:  make sure that you know your altitude.  There are 3 gradations of timing to account for <1000, 1000-2000 and >2000.  You want to be precise here as a matter of safety--and again....begin timing once it reaches full boil.
  • Do not overtighten jars going into your bath.  Once they cool, you will find they have loosened.  come people store without the ring band.  I leave it on, and finger tighten again.  Not too much or you will warp the lid and break the seal.   Make sure all your lids have sealed.
  • Put your jars on a surface that has a towel on it to prevent temperature shocks to your jar (and to absorb the water).

How long does it last in a jar?  Convention is that it should be consumed in a year.  I've had it 2 years out without any diminished quality that I could find.  

 Because I'm anal about some things, I have a label maker.  I label my batch with the date made and what it is.

I don't can much.  Hot pepper relish is really the only thing that I make.  I don't can't tomatoes.  The ones that I get from the store are better quality than most canned versions to my taste.  I'd rather have Italian tomatoes than the ones from my garden!  Those belong on a BLT!

 I personally vouch for the recipe below.  It is the only one that I use.  Note, too, that you can get the best FREE publication from the National Center of Home Food Preparation here.  Also you can check with your local extension office...and many of the ag colleges (like UGA) have some great recipes.

Final note:  I have made this recipe adhering to the ratios including peaches, ground green tomatoes.  I have also just used a gardener's mix of hot/sweet peppers v. the ratios you see here.  Hot peppers and sweet peppers ratio does not matter...they both have the same PH profile and do not affect the sugar/vinegar amounts.  Even though tomatoes are acidic, I still use the same ratios for the non acidic peppers/onions.


Print Recipe

UGA Sweet hot Peppers - Master Recipe

Serves: 1

Ingredients

  • 5 cups ground peppers 3-4 lbs before grind
  • 5 cups ground jalapeno peppers 3-4 lbs before grind
  • 1.5 cups ground onion
  • 2.5 cups distilled white vinegar
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 tsp pickling salt
  • 4 tsp mustard seed

Directions

  1. Procedure:
  2. 1. Wash and rinse canning jars; keep hot until ready to fill. Prepare lids and ring bands
  3. according to manufacturer’s directions.
  4. 2. Rinse bell peppers well; trim to remove stems and seeds. Slice stem end from jalapeño
  5. peppers; grind remaining jalapeño peppers with seeds. Peel, rinse, and trim onions. Cut
  6. peppers and onions into large pieces. Coarsely grind peppers and onions (see Notes).
  7. 3. Measure 5 cups of the ground bell peppers with their juice, 5 cups of the ground
  8. jalapeño peppers with their juice, and 1½ cups of the ground onion, also including juice.
  9. Combine the measured peppers and onions with the remaining ingredients into a large
  10. stockpot. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil
  11. for 30 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching.
  12. 4. Fill the hot relish into prepared hot pint jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. If needed,
  13. remove air bubbles and adjust headspace to ½-inch. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened,
  14. clean paper towel. Adjust lids and bands.
  15. 5. At altitudes under 1,000 feet, process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. At
  16. altitudes of 1,000 feet and above, process according to recommendations in Table 1, on
  17. page 16.
  18. Notes: For recipe development, peppers and onions were ground using a stand mixer
  19. grinder attachment with the coarse blade.
  20. This is a fairly hot pepper relish. It would be good stirred into cooked greens or beans, or
  21. served with cream cheese on crackers. In order to adjust the hot pepper intensity of the
  22. finished product, the proportion of sweet to hot peppers may be adjusted according to taste
  23. and the variety of hot pepper provided that the total amount of measured ground pepper is
  24. not altered. In other words, with all other ingredients measured as specified in the recipe,
  25. there should be no more than 10 cups of ground peppers.


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Binding Your Quilt: Observations

 There are lots of videos about binding your quilt.  As with most "quilty" (and any other) hings, there are practices and best practices and preferences.  I'm still a "newbie".  I began my first quilt two years ago.  Oh, and I finished it...but it was an eye opening experience.  Though not so disastrous that I could not fix it and gift it, I realized that I had a long way to go.

Quilting is a manual skill.  Like any manual skill, one has to practice, and put in the work and time to build mastery.  I've come a long way in my skills.  And along the way I have learned that there are several different ways to accomplish the same thing--some ways are better than others.

Sharon Schamber has perhaps the best video on binding.  I'm not here to give binding lessons, but rather some binding observations:

  • Binding Strips:  
    • Size:  Many say 2.5" others say 2.25".  If you do not have a border (that is sewn at 1/4" on your blocks thus preserving the points) using 2.5" will cause you to lose your points.
      • Kimberly Jolly puts a little more of the batting into her binding by cutting about 1/4 inch beyond the quilt top.
    • Application:  Many say attach to front an hand sew to back.  No question that method provides the neatest finish.  Some do same and stitch in the ditch on the front hoping to catch to back.  Others attach to the back and bring to the front and bind the edge down. I use this method.  I like to know that it is stitched securely, and I'm never going to hand bind.
    • The real skill is having the binding be even all the way around.  I'm still working on that.
    • Sewing the binding strips together:  Get a Folded Corner Ruler. Krista Moser has a great demonstration that solidifies the concept that I'm outlining here.   It is compact and helps with initial joins by removing the unused bulk.  Stack your strips right sides up and cut.  The Folded Corner ruler is designed to have the 1/4 inch seam allowance run through your diagonal (e.g. it is the stitch line).  You can use your other rulers, just ensure the 1/4 line is running through the corner.  Because the folded corner ruler is smaller than regular rulers, it really helps with the final join.  Putting strips perpendicular and futzing about with alignment interferes with your enjoyment, productivity, and outcomes.
    • Final Join:  I recommend that you practice this on a test piece.  Once you get it, this method will always stick in your mind. You don't want to make a mistake and have no more binding or have to re-piece something in.
💣💣💣 I'm embarrassed to say how the final join was nearly impossible for me to see in my head. jI was new.  I watched videos where every instructor was showing a different way from a different angle, and I'm going HuH?
 
If you follow these 3 steps, you will never have another final-failed join issues, and your joins will be professional looking.  ( I will inserted some pictures below at some point). The folded pocket join is not a good look in my view.  It takes no more work or fuss to do it the right way.
      • Leave enough tail on the beginning and end to have a 10 inch overlap to give you some breathing room.  
        • Ensure that both ends are squared off (e.g. no miter).  That will help you when you measure the overlap.
      • Do not be afraid to cut your strips.  The length of of your cut is simple
        • It is ESSENTIAL that one end of your binding overlaps the other end by the opened width of your binding strip.  If you have a 2.5" strip the overlap (over a straight cut end of the other side) is 2.5".  Accordingly a 2.25" strip has an overlap of 2.25".  Yes, it is that easy.
          • Tip:  Cut a wee bit on the inside, so that your cut is a wee bit shorter.  That means that the join will be a little shorter than the exact measure and your biding will lie flatter as it will have a WEE bit more tension.  
          • Emphasis on "WEE".  IF your binding is longer, you may end up with flaccid binding and a tuck/pucker (these sound like bad health conditions).  You want it smooth and taught.  Wee taught. Not real taught. 
          • 💡💡 If you have trouble cooking with scant, and pinch and such, your wee bit should less than 1/4". Because you are using the folded corner, your seam line should be exactly 1/4".  
      • Use your folded corner tool to miter the cut ends JUST AS YOU WOULD when you are connecting your binding strips. However, it can be disorienting at this point.  Here are some tips to stay oriented correctly for the spatially/directionally challenged (me!)
        • Quilt should be closest to you, and binding edge furthest away from you. 
          • orienting this way ensures that left and right mean only ONE thing.
        • Open up the left and the right binding strips  that you have expertly measured and cut.  Iron them out to remove the binding crease. Ironing helps you get a perfect miter.
        • For the right side, make the binding do a hard right turn.  If you grab it with your right hand, you would turn your hand to the right (clockwise). Lay it flat. The cut end of that strip needs to be right side up and facing right.  There should be a goosenecked bend in it. If you twist it here (wrong way, wrong side), you will be very sorry!
        •  The left strip is easy.  It has no turns, and is sitting there face up and pointing right.
        • Stack the left strip, right side up on top of the right strip (hard right turned, and right side up).  Line your ends perfectly because you have perfectly measured and wee bit trimmed further.
        • Cut your miter with your Folded Corner Ruler. The miter should be going from bottom right to top left. If it is going any other way...tears will follow.
        • Join your strips by putting the right strip on top of the left strip (right sides together) and sewing just as you would when joining binding strips.  
          • Make sure that you don't have anything twisted. (I have experience with this caution!). If you grab the right end and flip it directly over (rotate your wrist to the left and lay it right side atop the left). You might want to use a basting stitch  or glue baste until you perfect your muscle and eye memory on this technique.
        • Re-press the crease in your binding and make sure that it lies flat and taught (not tight) on your quilt.
          • if not, you will get a pleat in your binding.
        • Complete your stitching.
        • ADMIRE YOUR BEAUTIFUL FINISH!!!
 I promise you that once you do this a couple of times, the ending will be demystified, your joins will be beautiful. I am a binding snob.  I pay NO mind to the folded edge finish.  All the time that you've spent on your quilting...learning all of the intricacies of each step and you are going to fold the edge over.  NOPE!

Stitching to the other side.  Once you have made your first pass on attaching the binding to whichever side of the quilt you want to start with, you need to stitch it down.  Here are some considerations:

  • If you are hand stitching, you will never have an edge that does not get sewn down.  God Bless You.  I believe this is the BEST finish, but I'm NEVER going to do it.
  • If you are machine stitching:
    • Binding attached to front, stitched to back through stitch in the ditch on the front
      • For this to be successful, the back edge must cover the original stitch line.  You can use binder clips, glue, or fusible web to secure that coverage.  Any wobble in your stitching will cause a missed edge.  I've not seen any finishes that I would find acceptable (and I'm not that picky).
    • My preferred method: Binding attached to the back, brought forward to the front.  I feel this method offers the greatest accuracy.  I use a mirrored ladder stitch with matching thread to the binding or use the seamguide foot sole plate on my walking foot. If the stitched line lines up well with the edge, your back will look fine. Again, if you cannot see it, you cannot manage it. Make sure that you use discrete bobbin thread for the back of your quilt.
 
💡Tip--If you have a centerline guide sole for your walking foot, use it!  It is a great guide--not only for perfect edge stitching on your binding but also for stitch in the ditch on your quilt top.You may have one for your sewing machine.  I don't have an even feed system, so I need my walking foot. With an even feed, I don't think it matters and regular machine foot may work.  I have also seen some use a lapseam foot.

While I no longer fear binding, I still have more work to do to perfect my technique to have perfect, even binding and stitching front and back.


Here are some Pics

 After you have overlappped your binding, cut it a wee bit short, and have two 90 degree cuts (square ends), you are ready to miter. 

Below is the right hand side of the binding.   It is opened up, and I pressed the crease out of it.


Here is the hard right turn.  This is the position that it must be in when you miter.  Remember your quilt is closest to you.  Your binding is away from you.

Now lay your opened up left strip, right side up, on top of the right hand side.  Here they are stacked up on my cutting board.  I put a pin in it to hold it for the camera.
 

Okay, now I'm going to show you how to do a mitered cut.  Don't worry.  It will be perfect so long as you measured correctly, and you have oriented your pieces.  I've shown you how to do that. I normally use my folded corner ruler, but I wanted to show you how you can use a triangle ruler.

Notice the following.  The purpose of mitering is to have the seam allowance accounted for.  Accordingly, the 1/4" line must be going through the corner.  YOu will have a 1/4" jog above the bottom, and a 1/4" jog at the top (see the dashed yellow line and the side of the ruler.

Now let's glue baste our seam.  I've put some glue drops on the left mitered binding end.

Now grab the right end, and rotate COUNTERCLOCKWISE which will land the mitered side, right sides together perfectly aligned with the left side above.  Heat set with your iron.  You could also pin, but I don't like pins, and this way is more secure. The joined edges are below (glued).

 


 

Sew a perfect 1/4"

I attach to the back and fold over to the front.  I do a perfect(ish) edge stitch with the help of my edgestitch sole plate for my walking foot shown here.Take your time...one stitch at a time as if you were hand sewing but making perfect hand speed stitches with your machine.



You will NEVER  have to tuck and sew again. 

About the seam treatment.  My preference is to sew to one side.  It does not make it bulky and stays strong. (I do with all binder joins).

 




One Block Wonder III | Spin the Seam and Chain Piecing Strategies

Spin the Seam

 In general, I do not press any seams open.  Because of am a serial glue baster, shunning pins whenever possible, pressing seams open is just not possible.  I like to glue baste because it increases my accuracy, and it stabilizes bias edges.  I know that some believe that seams pressed open weakens them, I have no evidential matter for that.  Given that quilts have so much quilting, I would believe that it is reasonable to assume that pressed open seams will not receive undue strain from use. Further, experienced proponents of open seams have tons of experience and attest that these seams do not fail.

But because of my glue basting proclivities, such is not an option for me.  I wanted to show you what the back of my OBW quilt block looked like



It is nice and neat, and it lays perfectly flat.  

Cutting and Chain Piecing Strategies:

As I noted in a this post when you spin your seams, you must spin in the same direction.  To achieve consistency, the seam must be spun relative to the center.  Edyta Sitar spins ("pushes") her eight pointed stars to the left (with center point facing you).  I've used that method and have had no problems with things lying flat.

A word about triangle rulers:  It's worth noting that some 60 degree triangle rulers have flat tops and some have pointy tops.  Make sure that you match your pattern to the ruler.  I have both a Clearview 10" 60 degree and a Creative Grids 60 degree diamond ruler.  The Clearview has pointy top and the CG has a flat top.  As a matter of math, if you are cutting strips and using a pointy tipped, your strip set will be 1/4" wider than a strip set using a flat tip which as the 1/4" tip clipped away.

💡  I (strongly) recommend that you achieve a flat tip for your triangles so that you always have a north star that tells you where the tip of your piece is. You can achieve this through your ruler or by using a trimmer.  I have a Marti Michell 60 degree trimmer...it does an excellent job trimming your points as well as it has a hole so that you can mark the 1/4" inside for Y seams.  I simply took my pointed stack and put the trimmer on it and cut all 6 at the same time.

Using a helper ruler when cutting.  I'm not a big fan of spinning fabric--particularly any fabric that takes 1/2 a lifetime to line up such as the one block wonders.  I use a helper ruler that butts up against the triangle ruler to make the left hand cut.  (Butt the helper ruler on the left, and then push the master ruler to the right and make the cut.) 

Mark the Centers: If you are using a flat tipped ruler, you always know which is the straight of grain edge and which is the center because it is flat!  If you are using a pointy tipped ruler, well, each point looks the same as the other.  Until you you pull and meet resistance on the long end do you find the bias.  I use a fine pointed Sharpie/Pima pen to put a small has mark on the centers...more later. (I've since got my Marti Michell 60 degree point trimmer...it is great.)

Pieces of 6: As you cut, put a small clip on the straight of grain side or toward the left or right edge close to the top (center point). This will ensure that you have the right orientation and avoid bias on your outside edges.You will develop muscle and eye memory using this guide.  Do not underestimate the power of either in your productivity as well as avoiding the unpleasantness of ripping out seams.

Chain Piecing: There are lots of pieces to sew together.  I'll share with you how I accomplished this task.  At first, I laid out each block.  I later nixed that step as my process matured.I was able to work very fast and accurately using this method.

  • Grab your Pieces of 6. Before you remove the clip, mark the top piece with a hash mark on the center point.
  • Work with 3 pairs.  You will be working with 3 pairs of fabric.  The first 2 pairs you will be sewing together.  The 3rd pair you will be splitting up and sewing the right side (center facing you) of Pair 1 and Pair 2.
    • Match the first pair (top two pieces, right sides together with the marked center point on top). Lay down with center down.
    • Make a mark on the 3rd piece (start of 2nd pair)to mark the center point.  Match it right sides together with piece 4. Lay down with center down. (you can overlap stack).
    • Mark the center point on piece 5 and leave it paired with its mate.  Each of these pieces will be sewn to Pair 1 and Pair 2 later.  
      • Place the 3rd pair aside in an order that makes sense to you.  As long as the pairs are together, you can overlap them if you are short on space. I put these in a tray.
  • Match the seams of the center line.  Secure.  Sew.  You can pin.  I glue baste each  seam and overlap stack them.  I then zip them through the sewing machine.   
    • As you chain piece, your order of Pair 1 and Pair 2  Block 1 is preserved.  The next Pair 1 and Pair 2 is for Block 2.  See how fast this goes?  You are chain piecing so ALL of the pairs stay nicely together.
  • Attaching Piece 5 to Pair 1 and Piece 6 to Pair 2:  Once you have sewn the pairs together. 
    • Place them on your ironing surface.   Set the seam.  With the center facing you, (you have one piece on each pair marked, so you know which it is!), push the seam to the left.  (You could also push to the right, but you must maintain the same directional push!).  You could also choose to press open...but I'm advocating pushing and spinning.
    • Find Pair 3 from your set asides.  They should be in the same order as your Pairs 1 & 2.   Because I push left, I am adding my pieces to the right side (center toward me) as I have the dog ear to perfectly match. I mark the center point for the piece added (you should only have to do  this for 1 as you've marked the other.) Again, I'm glue basting.
    • Sew 3rd triangle and create half block... The beauty of glue basting is that nothing is going to budge, and there are no pins to stick to other pieces or you.
  • Press your Halves.  Once you have sewn this final pair to Pair 1 and Pair 1, you now have 2 halves.  
    • Set seam on your halves and then push to the direction (or open) you have chosen.
  • Joining your halves.  
    • Line up the center seams the same way that you would do so on pinwheels or other complex blocks.  I push the seam aside to find the V join on the back of the top piece and put a pin through it.  I then push the pin through the bottom half  (RST) seam convergence.  I then push straight into my ironing surface (I have a 1/2" wool mat that I have upholstered with linen cloth..so I can easily pin to it).  It makes a nice pivot to line up the outer edges. I then put glue on either side of the join to the end.  
    • Remove the the pin and press block together.  You should have a perfect join and you can stack these aside for final sewing.
  • Final center join.  
    • Sew your blocks together.   
    • Set Seam
    • Turn over and spin the seam
      • Unpick the 2-3 stitches on your last join. (Often just a twist will work)
      • Twist the seam.
      • Spin the final seams in the direction you have chosen for your halves. It should look like the picture above.
      • Press. I like to spritz with starch, cover with pressing mat and do a final press.

Slap it up on your design wall.  Here are all of my beautiful blocks on my design wall.


Each are so wonderfully unique.  Yes, I'm about 10 years behind what was a trend.  These blocks were cut from 3.75"  If you were to look carefully at some blocks, you will see that there are some minor deviations in the matching/cutting. None that any would notice.


One Block Wonder Part II: Rethink

 Though I have some wonderful blocks, I think that my fabric has too much background.  I feel like I have better single blocks.  As you can see from the first pic below I'm having some trouble figuring out a layout. 


Here's a single block below:



I "squared" the  block off.  I used my Clearview 60 degree ruler to cut 1/2 triangles (with needed seam width).  I must confess, that I initially tried to put a square cut on a diagonal!  DUH! DOH! These are hexagons which have a 60 degree angle, not 45! If anything, quilting is geometry.  Had I made an octagon, it would have been fine.  The Clearview 60 has more markings than other 60 degree rulers.  I was easily able to get just what I needed, which brings me to my public service announcement.

Rulers are only as good as the acrylic they are made from and the markings that they have.  I have two June Taylor rulers.  Their quality is sub par.  I will not buy anything else branded under that name. The acrylic is noticeably thinner and softer than other rulers.  I have a Binding Buddy ruler and the Equilateral Triangle Ruler.  I bought the latter to get a smaller than 10" ruler than my Clearview. It has  shading that is so dark it is hard to see the markings against darker fabric.  I bought it because it was cheaper.  Yes I could  use it, but it was a struggle to see.  Further it is thinner than other acrylic.  My Binding Buddy ruler's acrylic is so soft it splintered against

When you are starting out, you just don't know.  Without experience I have found that I have deficient markings on some rulers and too many markings on others.  Finding the Goldilocks ruler is hit or miss.  Being able to cut companion angles (e.g. set in half triangles) with requisite seam allowances is very helpful.  If you have triangle markers without a center line and 1/4" lines on either side, it is not so helpful.  

There is a but...too many lines can be distracting when you are just cutting triangles...it makes it harder to see the simple line. If you are doing lots of cutting, it is worth having the perfect ruler...because a bad cut (or a series of disastrously bad cuts) will cost you material and time.

I plan to square my blocks off  and put sashing in between.  I think that will showcase some of the really fun blocks.  I'll post my progress.



One Block Wonder: Make the Cut!

 I think that the hardest part of the OBW is cutting the fabric.  There are many great videos on this process, but my trepidation ran deep for actually getting my cuts made.  I spent much time afraid of making a mistake.

It gave me confidence that I had auditioned my fabric using the One Block Wonder Designer Helper.  I knew that would end up with wonderful blocks.  I think that the key is not to over think it.  I finally took the leap and made the cut.

I want to share some tips that some may find useful beyond finding your repeats in your fabric.  (I tore my fabric straight down the middle lengthwise so that I had a strip about 22" in length (North/South) with the width (East West) the repeat (plus some)

  • Matching your repeats across 6 layers. Lots of great information out there.  I did a little MacGyver trick.  I threaded a largish needle with dental floss.  I made hanging loops on each end of the fabric near the selvedge (and through a fabric feature) so that I could put my thumbs through and shake my fabric straight.  The weight of the fabric ensured that the weight pushed downward on the loop in one place.  (Gravity is a wonderful thing).  I then made tack points throughout by double using two strands of dental floss knotted on one end (I made about 3 knots on top of each so it would not pull through).  With the knotted end on the top, I pushed the needle through the fabric feature I planned to match on each of the 6 layers.  I pulled the floss through until the knot sat on top of the first layer.  I then cut and knotted flat to the back of the 6th piece.  It worked beautifully.  Each tack was snug and secure and did not move a hair.  The beauty of floss v. pins is that you can cut through them (and you don't stick yourself).  I should note that I starched my fabric on both sides very liberally.
  • Cutting. I used the standard 3.75" strip width.  I did not overthink that.  If you don't have a 60 degree ruler, I think it makes sense to get one.  Sure you can use your 60 degree line on your regular ruler but you are doing twice as much ruler movement for each cut.  Therefore, your productivity and accuracy will suffer relative to the ease of having the right ruler for the job. This ruler is one that you will use for many things. (I had a large Clearview 10", I opted to get a smaller ruler for $12.)  I used my Martelli 60mm rotary cutter with a fresh blade.  It sailed through the cutting. 
  • Marking straight of grain. When you cut your triangles, there will be one straight edge (top/bottom of strip) and 2 biased edges.  If you want to keep your straight of grain edge on the outside (and I wanted to), when you cut your triangles, place a fabric clip on the top right edge of the point (and the bottom is straight of grain) or at the straight of grain edge (so the top is your middle).   (Yes, you can tug and find straight of grain, but do you really one to stretch it?).  I have a terrible time with triangles; and I'm not a confident sewer of them without aides.
  • Sewing:  I laid out each of my hexagon pieces in a full pie with the slices in the middle. I laid out about 5 at a time. I picked up two pairs from each pie and sewed them together.  I do not plan to open my seams but spin them.  If you spin your seams, you need to spin them all in the same direction on each piece.  Otherwise, adjoining pieces will not lay in opposite direction.  I pressed and pushed all of my seams to the left with the center in front of me. I DID NOT sew the centers together.  If you do, you cannot do straight line row sewing. On my practice blocks I noted that I had one with seams going one way and another the other...no way they were going to fit nicely.  I find that spinned seams lie flat.  I'm too lazy to press seams open when I feel I get a good result with spinned seams.  My blocks lay very flat.
  • Thread:  I used Wonderfil Decobo 80wt cottonized thread.  With all the seams, a light weight thread with the same strength as a 50 wt keeps bulk down.

This techniques is lots of fun.  I'm glad that I got over the hurdle of getting my fabric prepared, made practice blocks, got the spin correct and mostly got my pieces in the right order.  I did have to unpick two triangles.  I stack the halves together.  I'm working my way through.

 

Stack and Whack | One Block Wonder

 Though reminiscent of pancake eating, I have recently become enamored in interest (not done one yet) of the "stack and whack" a/k/a "One Block Wonder" method of quilt making.  Essentially, you take one piece of fabric, find a repeat, cut it in strips and then subcut it, and then resew pieces.

There are plenty of places to learn about this technique if you have not heard of it prior.  To help you visualize what your fabric might yield, there are 2 tools:

  1. One Bock Wonder Design Helper allows you to upload a photo of your fabric and then can provide you with where the subcuts will be and what the hexagons will be.  MOREOVER, you can double click on the hexagons to get a single one rotate (3 rotations to each block as each wedge is 3 sides).  Or, you can get them all to rotate at once.  It is free; fast; fantastic.
  2. Marti Michell Magic Mirror.  It is less than $14 on Amazon, and well worth giving you a quick view at your sewing space.  It is 2 non glass mirrored acrylic that are attached (smoothly/professionally) with duct tape that serves as the hinge.  You could make it yourself but not without a lot of fuss and muss.

As I became captivated with the design concept, I was wondering what fabric I could use.  I recently purchased some fabric on sale at Hancock's.  It occurred to me that it would do quite well.  Here is the fabric:

 



 And here is the refashioning of it using hexagons at 3.75 inches:



I plan to utilize this method.  On your design board you can move around your stuff...but even this rendition 



Really intriguing (addicting even!) techniques.  I'm satisfied that I can make something pretty cool with this fabric so I will embark on making a quilt in this fashion.  No need to futz about with matching colors.  An this method is a great way to get rid of ugly fabric.  (I love this fabric, and I don't consider it ugly!)


The other great thing about the Design Helper, you can click on the hexies and move them about.

 


Getting Things Done

 Getting Things Done or GTD by David Allen is one of the most workable and inspirational methods of organizing one's life.  I am not naturally organized.  The GTD method is the one thing that I have been able to follow--albeit intermittently.

No, this isn't a post about GTD, but rather a passing tangent to open up about my manic push to complete my "Sparkle Magic Shine" Quilt tops and thinking about the GTD way for quilts. (And I love Karen's Just Get it Done Quilts).

Below is an example of the quilt top.


The border is from Wilmington prints.  I bought 10 of them (or so) from Paducah.  I transformed the panel into a quilt top using diamond windows from fabric that I had about.  The Diamond Windows are from the Daisy Baby Quilt Pattern from Piper Girls.  You can see that quilt here.  

I made these quilt tops in 2019.  I serged the edges which works great to keep them from unraveling. They were all folded up; and within the last couple of weeks I have been finishing them.  I working on my last one.

My quilting finish became less elaborate on these last few.  I simply took a long ruler and some chalk and made a diamond grid following the side diamonds. The chalk washes away perfectly, but it makes a strong line to follow.  My walking foot has a sole plate that has an edge marker at the center.  It is great for following lines as well as following the edge of the binding for finishing the quilt.

My diamonds were made from 2.5" strips.  You can see my modified methodology for making this charming block here.  I found this block to be easier to execute using this method; easier= faster, more accurate.  No room for lazy, wobbling 1/4" seams or sloppy ironing.  But you can use up scrap 2.5" strips.  I think that on their own they make a charming border for a panel.

The other quilt top I finished was this one.

 


I made this with several fat quarters of Anna Maria Horner's fabric that came in the Free Spirit Mystery Bundle (offered at a ridiculously low price on Amazon...but not always in stock).   I was inspired by a quilt made by Susan Gray featured by Karen of Just Get it Done Quilts on one of her You Tube Videos on how to make a scrappy quilt.  I used a dark grey fabric backing for the back and the binding.   It turned out so beautiful, and it was a lovely way to showcase these beautiful desaturated colors.  To fill in, I used other complementary fabrics.  

The quilt is a throw size, and frankly I don't see myself making bed sized quilts. . . rather, I prefer making "more intimate" sizes.  I have a domestic machine with a regular sized bed--throw size is just fine.