Fabric for the Grand Convergence Experiment

Shopping day arrived, and Stephanie and I met at our local quilt shop, that happens to have a ton of fabric.

Since the teal fabric in her "ugly" quilt is a batik, she decided that the fabric to converge should also be batiks.

Looking through the selection of batiks, she came up with 3 fabrics that she liked.

Each one was chosen for a different reason. The purple and fuscia mostly because those are two of her favorite colors, and the yellow because it will add some light contrast.

Because we weren't exactly sure how this quilt will go together, we decided to get 1 1/2 yards of each fabric.

Each of the squares is approximately 18 inches square. It will take 1/2 yard just to cut the two 18 inch squares. And, since we don't know what we will do for borders, we decided to get enough extra to have some flexibility. Plus, Stephanie said "I like those fabrics, and wouldn't mind adding them to my stash."

Next it was time to cut the squares.

Since this took no creativity at all, she allowed me to cut the plain squares of fabric.

First, I folded the new batik so I would be able to cut an 18 inch square from it.

Next, I laid the ugly quilt square on top of the layers of fabric.

And, finally, I cut around the outside of the ugly quilt square.

We now had 2 beautiful batik squares of each color to match with our ugly quilt squares.

And, we're ready to do the fancy cutting - but I'm leaving that up to Stephanie. After all, it's her quilt.

Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
TheQuiltingCoach

The Grand Convergence Experiment - Cutting the Quilt Top

Determine how you want to take your quilt apart. In my case, I wanted to have 9 blocks in each section.

The first thing to do is look at how the blocks were sewn together into the quilt top. Look for the seams of rows or columns.

In this case, the quilt was sewn together in rows. Since I wanted squares, I knew that I would need to work around some of the seams.

The sections were to be 3 rows by 3 columns. So the first thing to do was to remove a section 3 rows wide, which is fairly simple.

Step 1

Press your seam allowance so that the right sides of the quilt top are facing together and the seam allowance is clear of the quilt top.

Next, take a seam ripper or a pair of sharp scissors and cut every third stitch. This doesn't need to be an exact science. The idea is to cut enough stitches so that the seam will come apart easily. I have found that cutting every third to fifth stitch accomplishes that.

Step 2

Once the stitches have been cut, turn the quilt top over so that the continuous thread is facing you.

Loosen one end of the thread and gently pull it. Because the threads on the other side of the quilt top are cut, it should be relatively easy to pull this thread out.

Gently pulling the thread, will unstitch the seam.



Step 3

Now, you have a row 3 blocks high, and it needs to be split into sections 3 blocks wide. Because this quilt was sewn completely in rows, taking the "column" seams apart is a little trickier.

In the picture below, the seam running from top to bottom is the seam joining the two rows.




You need to cut the stitches on both sides of that seam just enough to be able to cut apart the seam that runs from left to right.

Once that is done, the entire section can be removed.


The picture above shows the stitches that were cut that held the row together.

Now the seams running left to right can be cut, and the entire section will come apart. Remove the stitches and extra threads as you did in the previous steps.

Step 4

Since the stitches were cut that held the rows together, the very ends of those seams will be unsewn, and will need to be stitched back together. To do this, I place the sewn part of the quilt top in my sewing machine, making a solid starting point.

Simply stitch to the end of the section. There is no need to backstitch either at the beginning or at the end. These seams will be stitched over when the quilt top is put back together.

Step 5

Now just press the seam allowances you just sewed, just as you would on your quilt top. And you are done!

Continue to take apart the sections of your quilt using the same techniques.

Happy Quilting!


Penny is the author of 8 books for beginner quilters and a self-taught quilter of more than 25 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create a beautiful quilt.

www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

This quilt project is inspired by Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts book. If you would like to order a copy, visit:
http://www.how-to-quilt.com/ricky.shtml

The Grand Convergence Experiment Begins

It's always good to start at the beginning....

Although, it looks like this project is beginning in the middle.

We have a quilt top that is quite complete - although it doesn't have borders.

It has 7 blocks across and 11 blocks high. The blocks alternate a simple 9 patch with a solid block.

Stephanie decided that we should split the quilt into smaller units and converge each of the units with fabric. Possibly converging the units using two different fabrics.

And she decided that the quilt should be divided into a kind of 9 patch unit. As you can see in the picture, each unit will be 3 blocks wide and 3 blocks high.

And so, the first project will be to cut the units out of the quilt top. We will end up with spare parts, of course. Based on how I see this needs to be taken apart, it looks like we will be able to re-sew the "spare parts" together into additional block units.

Time will tell....and we will report our progress.

Happy Quilting!

Penny
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters

www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect

The Grand Convergence Experiment

A Grand Experiment with an Ugly Quilt ?

Quilting daughter, Stephanie, is home. And with her came this quilt top.

Like all quilters, Stephanie has tops that have not been finished for various reasons.

This one was supposed to be a reverse Irish Chain quilt, and she declared that it has two problems.

First, it doesn't look like an Irish Chain at all. And second, it's boring. She says it needs some spark.

It hung on the design wall for several days, just waiting for some inspiration. And sure enough, the inspiration came.

Stephanie was glancing through Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts book, and got an idea - a great idea for a Grand Experiment.

She asked - "How about if we cut up this quilt and make a convergence quilt with it?"

Sounded like a great plan to me. So, we decided to do it.

Because Ricky has agreed to be interviewed in our October Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation, Stephanie thought it would be a good idea to share this project with quilters so they will have something to talk about with Ricky....or some questions to ask.

So, here is the plan.

We will post progress of the Grand Convergence Experiment right here on this blog.

In addition, detailed step-by-step instructions will be posted in the member's area of TheQuiltingCoach.com

If you are interested in following Ricky's specific instructions, and see his convergence quilts, you may want to invest in his book, Ricky Tims' Convergence Quilts.

In the meantime, Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren