Piping Hot flowers!

I have been wanting to do Susan Cleveland's Piping Hot Curves since I first saw it on The Quilt Show - Episode #109. Susan has great tips and her insight into this technique is invaluable. I had a few issues that were all my doing! I ran out of cording because I had no plan when I bought it and I didn't have enough fabric for the border I wanted to make. I guess that is what happens when you are using up your pieces of hand dyed fabrics. 

Tip #1- when you live a long way from a quilt shop have a plan!

I started out drafting a pattern and decided on a flower split into 4 identical sections. Then I got busy picking fabrics and cuttting. Then onto the piping...

To start out with I do have a tip for making piping. My cording was really, really slippery. After I sewed my first length of piping I picked it up and no cord! I was more than a little surprised. It had slipped right out. I had to sew across each end of the piping to keep the cording in. After that it was really easy. I loved this technique. For flowing lines it would be a great alternate way to do machine applique. Once the piping is on you just sew your applique down. It takes care of all your seam allowances- it's wonderful.

Finally I was adding sashing and trying hard to come up with another option for finishing the borders. And as I happily sewed along I had a little oops! I was supposed to check that seam before I sewed...It just looks so wrong. I know no one would notice it when it is all quilted and to tell the truth I left it in just for that reason but....

                                                                                                                                                                            

This is what I usually do when sewing sashings that need to look lined up. I peek before sewing to make sure it is all lined up and pin on each side! Such an easy fix.

Sashing is great for this technique. You don't need to worry about pressing the bulk of the piping against your block. It happily goes towards the sashing. It looks great and no bulges!

 

Finally the flowers are done. For now it is going to get added to my UFO pile until I get more piping and figure out that border. I know that can be a dangerous place to put an unfinished quilt. It may never get out of that UFO pile but I'll take a chance.

Will I do this technique again? I hope so! It was so much fun and it was easy. And it would be great on not only curves but straight lines. The thin piping really adds a little extra zing!

Up next I am skipping to The Quilt Show - Episode #111 and will do a 'greeting card' and then I'll be heading to #112 for Threadplay with Libby Lehman.

Happy Stitching!