As a prelude to A New Year of BOMs here is a brief guide to the
Basic Basics you need to enter the Darkside of P&Q.
Equipment:You will need a
Cutting mat, a Rotary Cutter and
a P&Q Ruler.Cutting Mats ...I recommend an
A2 ... 24" x 18" cutting mat.
You will be able to cut across the whole Width of Fabric on this mat.
It is also useful to have a smaller mat, an
18" x 12" is ideal, which you can turn on your table.
This avoids moving your blocks when cutting or squaring up.
Cutting mats can be expensive ... however
Hobbycraft do an extensive range of very competitively priced mats ... in the BOYS Section of their stores, the Model Making bit.
If you go to the Sewing Section, or GIRLS bit, you will be paying almost double the price for an identical mat with the one exception in that they have added the word
Trimits to the mat ... I kid you not!
If however you want a PINK cutting mat ... you are going to have to pay for the privilege !!!
Rotary cutters ...these can also be expensive ...
Hobbycraft also do Rotary Cutters (RC's) in their BOYS section at half the price of the ones in the girls!
These can be an excellent buy to find out if you can get on with an RC but generally with RC's and blades you get what you pay for ... Again if you want a PINK one you are going to have to pay for it!
Rulers ...You can get all sorts of Rulers ...
In my opinion I would say that
Omnigrid and
Omnigrip are amongst the best.
The OmniGrid rulers have yellow marking which show up on most fabrics but will need
sandpaper dots or another nonslip material attached to the underside ....
Whereas OmniGrip rulers have almost fluorescent Lime markings and the nonslip element is included in them .... Genius!
I would steer clear of any rulers with black, grey or red markings.
My first ruler was a 12 1/2" Sew Easy ruler with red markings and I simply couldn't see them against the fabric.
I wouldadvise that the two most important rulers to get are a
24" x 6" and a
12 1/2" squareThe first can be used to cut strips from your width of fabric (WOF)
and the latter is used for cutting and squaring up blocks
Then I would recommend a
12" x 6" ruler which is less unwieldy to use during piecing than the 24" x 6"
and lastly a
6 1/2" square ruler.
Additional needs maybe be a ....
1/4" presser foot .... Darksiders piece most of their blocks using a quarter inch seam and its useful to have a dedicated
1/4" presser foot to attach to your machine. This has a thin guide that runs along the edge of the material ensuring you sew a consistent 1/4" from the edge of the fabric.
You do not necessarily need one of these; you can place some tape on your machine bed 1/4" from the needle and guide your fabric edge along that or place a slightly raised stack of post it notes on the machine bed in the correct position and run the fabric alongside those as a guide ... As long as your seams are consistent you should be ok.
Pins can be useful ...
Most Darksiders use
flowerhead pins ...
These are longer and thinner than dressmaking pins and do need replacing at times as they are liable to bend and will melt if a hot iron goes over them. Personally I find them extremely useful as A) I can see the damn things on the table and the floor, and when on the floor the brightly coloured flowerhead stops them disappearing into the cracks of the parquet.
Fabric ...Generally Darksiders now use 100% cotton fabrics ... Of course any fabrics can be used but you have to bear in mind weight, the way they behave and whether they have an artificial element that would melt under the Hot irons that quilters use to press the blocks.
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As ever, with links to my Picasa albums ...
click on an individual pic and if there is no description to the right of your screen, click on the
i icon for info.
So these I think are the Basic Basics that you need to start your voyage into the Darkside ...
But this is only
MY opinion, things I have discovered on my journey since I've started out.
Everyone is different and everyone has their own preferences.
Whichever you choose ... ENJOY!