The weather here has motivated me to stay indoors all week so I’m continuing on writing projects and the piecing for my table runner. This week I’m being more systematic about how I’m doing this. This is a time consuming pattern and if I keep doing it one block at a time, it could summer before I finish. I’m working on eight blocks at a time. Now that I have a better idea of what I’m doing I can do more batching of processes. First I cut all the strips needed for each block and laid those out next to my sewing machine:
Each stack is all the strips for one block. Then I stitch one strip to the block in a long chain:
This really speeds up the sewing because I can get one strip on all eight blocks in five minutes. After this the seems are pressed open and stacked ready for a new strip:
After four strips are added, the blocks are trimmed to size using the curvy template and four more strips are added.
Doing it this way saves a lot of time by reducing the amount of moving between sewing machine and cutting table. The was I was doing it before was taking about an hour to do a block. This batch process reduces that to about four hours for eight blocks, or about a forth of the time.
I’m hoping to start assembling the blocks into the main runner section this week.
Well, it’s just about tea time here, so if you need me, I’ll be in the pantry looking for cookies.
Andrew's View of the Week 
It is looking beautiful! 🙂
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Thank you!
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Mmm, cookies! That seems like a suitable reward for all the brain-effort involved in creating those blocks. 🙂
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You have to have cookies to do this kind of work.
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Seeing this on the “back end,” I have a better appreciation for some of the handmade quilts that I own. Thanks for showing us. It is a labor of love for sure!!
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A lot of work goes into a quilt. A typical bed sized quilt can easily be 40 or 50 hours of work, plus fabric costs. So if you’ve been given a handmade quilt, you’ve been give a valuable gift.
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Thank you, yes, my grandmother made one and I have it. So, I realize it’s precious.
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It is!
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And…P.S., if you found any cookies, please send them my way. I haven’t baked one cookie yet for Christmas and probably won’t, but will eat them if they come to me. 😉
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I’ll mail you a dozen … 😉
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Can you make it two? I have a cookie hungry husband here. 😉
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Sure … 😉
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Oh, you engineer types, you always figure stuff out in the best way!
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In my early career, I was a manufacturing test engineer. My job was to figure out how to make receptive processes faster and more reliable. Luckily I still remember some of that. 😉
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That was really interesting. Never forget that what are reckoned to be the best suits in the world, made in Savile Row, are all sewn by men:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savile_Row_tailoring
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Men sew more than they are given credit for and over the 20 years, I’ve seen a growing number of men doing quilting.
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That sounds complicated!
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For the record – it is.
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The mechanics here make my brain hurt. But those colors and their different prints are true eye candy. Yum!
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I do love the colors, and yes, I strained my brain figuring out the system.
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Aha! There is such a thing as a chain stitch, but I decided that’s not what you meant. Just so you enjoy the process, no matter how long it takes.
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Yes, but in the case of quilting it’s about stitched many little pieces without cutting the thread from the machine. It makes putting these blocks together much faster.
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I do that even with hand stitching. I guess I call it a production line or something.
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yes, it’s a production line.
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