Gads, I can't believe it's been nearly a year since I've written a blog post. Clearly, I like quilting a lot more than writing!
I've been working on a quilt that has oodles of flying geese. Normally, I avoid those when I can since I always seem to have trouble keeping my points sharp, but I got the kit on sale, and I'm not one to pass up a good deal. So, here we are.
I got this wild idea to take a cue from garment sewing and try clapping my seams to see if I could get better points.
If you're not familiar with clapping, it's simply taking a piece of dry, untreated wood, and applying it to the seam as soon as you remove the iron. It's not necessary to smack the seam, but just press the wood over the hot seam for a second or two.
You can buy clappers, but you can also make one from a piece of clean, dry, untreated wood. Just be sure it's sanded so it's smooth and without any splinters that can snag your fabric. This one my husband made for me with a piece of scrap wood he had in the garage. Works great!
In the picture below, the goose on the left has not been clapped, where the one on the right was clapped. The seam lays a bit flatter on the clapped seam. I'm not sure how this works, but it does.
But did I get better points by clapping my seams? Yes, I do believe I did. I think by the seams laying flatter, I was able to sew a little more accurately at the points. When I look at my blocks, I don't see nearly as many cut off points as I usually do. This may turn out to be one of my better quilts. ;-)
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