QUILTsocial | Issue 07

Piece 3 in position
Foundation piecing complete with perfect points
Piece squared up
Removing the paper
Point turner on back of sandwiched piece
Photos by Jennifer Houlden
There should be a ¼" of fabric beyond
the sewing line. In order to make sure
placement is correct I held the fabric
and paper up to a light like Stella or a
window to ensure the fabric was in the
right place.
Sewing from the backside I used a bit
shorter stitch and followed the red line.
Even though the red line was drawn
on the front it was very easy to see and
follow from the backside with the paper
being so transparent. The shorter stitch
makes removal of the paper easier.
Finger pressing works very well for
foundation piecing and it means you
can stay sitting at the sewing machine
and not have to get up after each seam
is sewn. Definitely allows for more
efficient work flow.
After pressing the fabric, the excess fabric
needs to be trimmed off. Fold over the
foundation paper on the line next to be
sewn on the backside, place a ruler on
the fold at the ¼'' mark and use a rotary
cutter to trim off the excess fabric.
The piece is then ready for the next piece
to be sewn in place with a ¼'' seam
allowance already in place.
Place the next piece on the trimmed
piece with raw edges meeting.
Continue the process until the
foundation piecing is finished.
Square up the piece leaving a ¼" seam
allowance all the way around.
The final step is to remove the paper
from the back. I placed a straight edge
along the stitch line which made
removal of the paper a cinch.
I'm thrilled with this product, loved how
it sewed with no distortion, was easy
to remove and I'll definitely be using it
again for more foundation piecing in the
future. I do own 4 French presses so of
course each one will need it's own cozy.
The top of the coffee cozy is pieced
together with 2 bands of black – one
on either side of the perfectly pieced
triangles. For layering the top, batting
and backing I'm going to use the
envelope method. With this method
I don't have to put a binding on to
finish it. I'm also going to use 2 layers of
batting for extra insulation on those cool
spring and autumn mornings.
Once the layers are sewn together and
the layers are turned right side out the
corners will need to be poked out. I
used this handy dandy point turner and
the pointed end turned those points
perfectly.
Here's the piece quilted using Sulky
Blendables 30 wt cotton thread. I
switched to 90/14 Topstitch needle to
do the quilting as I was using a thicker
thread and going through 4 layers since
I used 2 layers of batting. I had a few
threads to pull through to the back with
my self-threading needles. I do love selfthreading
needles.
After trying to sew a buttonhole on my
machine which I have to say I have never
done because I never sew anything
that requires a buttonhole, I was rather
unsuccessful. So rather than try and figure
it out, I used velcro to secure the tab to the
body of the cozy and called it done.
Quilted coffee cozy
French Press Cozy
Q
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UILTsocial
| issue 7 43