Project 11 - Carrie's Inlaid Tile Table Runner - putting it together

THE STRIP SETS
This is quite straight forward sewing - as long as the strips are sewn in the correct order.  There are 4 different strip sets, all of them using combined grids.

The 4 completed strip sets

MEASURING

Harriet emphasises that it's essential to get the measurements for these strip sets precise.  Each time a strip is added, the set must be measured from the seam line to the outer edge.

The instructions have you do the strip sets with the most seams first, then cut the next 2 strip sets in a size to match exactly.  I was lucky in that I was able to cut my strips according to the correct measurements.

BENDY STRIPS

I've had trouble all the way through these projects with bendy strips.  They are cut to the correct size, sewn to the correct size but get out of whack in the pressing stage.  This has been really frustrating, but I think I may have found a solution.

I've been pressing to set the seams, starting at the right end and pressing straight down the strip to the left end.  This time, I noticed that there was some excess fabric at the foldline, and this was getting pushed down the strip, resulting in a bend at the end.

I tried pressing from the centre and out, distributing the extra fabric evenly along the strip.  The results are much less bendy strips.  Pressing the fold out of the fabric before sewing is even better.

The gingham fabric on the pressing table was a tip from a forum.  It would work better if I set it straight!

The first seams are fanned and pressed in the usual way, but when the outside strips are sewn on, the seams are pressed open, to reduce bulk. 

TRIMMING

After sewing and pressing each seam, the block must be measured and trimmed down if required.  It's a lot of extra work, but necessary to get nice, even flat blocks.  Most of my trimming came from the green fabric.  It's flimsier than the others and more stretchy when handled, so needed to be cut back to size.

From all those seams within all 36 blocks, this was all the trimming I needed to do.  I'm very happy with this result, as it shows my precision and pressing is improving. 

All the blocks are done and I should get this top assembled today.  Check back soon!