Tuckerize Your Quilting Blog Hop: Wing Clipper®


Welcome to Day 2 of the Tuckerize Your Quilting Blog Hop with several of Deb Tucker’s Certified Instructors, known simply as CI’s, hosted by Tammy Silvers of Tamarinis. I’m Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler, Class of 2017. If you are new to my rambles, then you will soon know how I’ve earned the title of Rambler! That said, settle in for lots of information and hopefully helpful hints you can use concerning the Wing Clipper I® and Wing Clipper II® and more!

Forget The Ducks, We Have Our Geese In a Row:

I dearly love Deb Tucker’s method of oversizing units a smidgen then trimming down to perfection. Her genius becomes very apparent when making flying geese! I know I struggled before I discovered the Wing Clippers®, I mean, seriously?!!? That sew on a corner then trim and flip method left me with wonky geese! Sigh! Or as I used to say, “my goose got hit by a truck!” Nope, despite the name, there are no wings clipped off with this method, my geese do line up in a row, in a column, or anywhere I need them in a block – always the precise size needed to play nicely with other units and blocks in my quilt. Plus, I love the added bonus of “four in one” – one large square plus four small squares, a little following the directions, and I end up with four, count them, four flying geese units! Four at a time makes for some smokin’ needle sewing that’s for sure!

I recently taught on a quilting cruise where my students fell in love with the Wing Clipper I ®, especially with a pattern that needed 288 flying geese units! I thought as an overview of the tool I would walk you through construction of my cruise memory quilt…

Using The Wing Clipper®

The written instructions with the tool(s) are exceptional, especially for those of us that like to quilt by illustration! It goes without saying how much more you can absorb when taking a class or watching a demo. If you aren’t aware, Deb has a YouTube Channel with multiple tutorials including the Wing Clipper®. (A little butterfly told us she’s in the editing stages of a recent filming with  the new Wedge Star tool!)

And thanks to the opportunity at the Certified Instructor training last month I was able to give it a whirl of recording a You Tube tutorial on the Wing Clipper® myself … not a pro like Deb but I hope you will find it useful to bookmark for future reference.

Where was I? Oh yes ~ I wanted to make a “souvenir” quilt using the official cruise t-shirt, adding a couple of my own logo shirts along with fabric panels from the places we went, and of course, leftover fabric from the quilt I taught on the cruise…

Here’s a quick photo rundown of construction.

For every four finished units start with one large square and four small squares. Using the tool’s instruction sheet I determined the size of geese I wanted to make – and I chose big honkers!

Following the instructions, Steps 1-4, position two of the small squares right sides together over the large square, making sure to leave that smidgen around the edge, there’s a reason for that! It’s part of Deb’s genius so just follow instructions and don’t try to reinvent the wheel! Grin. Using your Quilter’s Magic Wand® mark two lines on the diagonal as per the illustrations. Then chain piece stitching on the lines, I go down one side then turn the chain and sew down the second line.

Once completed use your rotary cutter and a long ruler to cut between the sewn lines. As my fellow CI, Connie, would tell you ~ never use the Quilter’s Magic Wand® as a guide to cut with! And always, always close that blade before setting down your rotary cutter!

Generally speaking, press toward the small triangles (as in the instructions), however I prefer to press open – both methods work.

Following Steps 5-8 in the tool’s enclosed instructions, layer a small square right sides together  over the pressed unit, again draw lines using the Quilter’s Magic Wand®, chain piece, cut apart and press  either toward the small triangle (as per instructions) or press open. Again, both methods work, quilter’s choice, open or not (grin). You now have four units awaiting their final trim!

Refer to the tool’s instructions, Steps 9 -13 for the placement of the Wing Clipper® tool on your unit. The instructions include both right- and left-hand trimming. Trim, rotate the unit, and trim again. Perfect! Thank you, Deb Tucker!

The genius is making the units slightly oversized and trimming to precision. Gotta love Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design tools

The Quilt Rambler’s Helpful Hints

Pressing Matters and Using a Stiletto

If you have been on retreat with me or in any of my workshops you will know that I rarely use pins but I sew instead using a stiletto to match my points. I feel that the pressing open of seams makes this even more precise as I can see those points that I need to match. Take a close look at the following photos for consideration in trying my methods. Give it a try. As I tell my students, you will discover one of two things, you like it or you don’t! But ya’never know until you try! Remember, we fired the quilt police years ago!

However, there is always an exception to any suggestion (grin). Here’s a helpful hint from one of The Quilt Rambler patterns concerning pressing flying geese units after joining:

Joining Batting Hint

This wasn’t planned, but since it happened, I thought I’d share my Calamity Jane tale as surely it has happened to others…

Ever run out of batting before you run out of quilt top? Trust me, this isn’t as bad as running out of quilt backing before quilt top but that’s a ramble for another time…

I actually piece batting scraps for a lot of my quilts, “piece” being used loosely as I join edges in this manner. I lay batting scraps to fill the desired area, overlapping the two layers. With a pair of scissors I cut a wavy line through both layers, then remove the excess. Bottom left photo in the image below is exaggerated to show the shape of the  cut once this excess from the overlap is removed. Line the cuts together and resume quilting.

I have done this on multiple personal quilts that have been washed and well-loved without any issues of batting migration (pun intended). Quilt as desired.

 

Cruise Memories 2019 By The Quilt Rambler – still needs the binding (sigh)

Wing Clipper II® and Tuckerizing

What does it mean to “tuckerize” a quilt? Several things actually – from simply using the Tucker tools to make your quilt with a companion pattern designed for Studio 180 Design tools, or to reverse engineer a pattern you have purchased with instructions written in a conventional/non-tucker method, or to start from scratch and make your own design using Deb’s tools. Let me give you a brief example.

Recently I found this really cool grandma/grandchild panel of cute sayings so naturally I bought it (grin).Because I’ve been earning my master’s degree  lately in flying geese (or at least it feels like it) my thoughts turned to using these units to make a block with the preprinted fabric in the center to form a star.

I discovered that the cut size of the “words” were  typical 5” squares.  My next step was to pull out the instruction sheet that came with the Wing Clipper I® tool to check the chart for sizes of the large and small squares…hum…things didn’t quite match up with my 5” cut square – that’s when I was thankful I had the Wing Clipper II® in my toolbox!

I just realized that I neglected to tell you the difference between the two tools! I guess I got caught up in the ramble. Wing Clipper I® works with units that finish in whole or half inch increments while Wing Clipper II® works with units that finish in quarter or three quarter inch increments.

To continue my saga…. looking down the chart that came with the tool I found a unit size that would work perfectly with my stars. The cut size of 2 1/4″ x 4 1/2″ finish would match my 4 1/2″ finish of those 5″ blocks (cut size)!

Yep, Oma was on a roll. Oh! I almost forgot ~ you do know that you can download the instruction sheets in a letter size format perfect to slip into a page protector for a binder…Find them here. You’re welcome (grin). 

Reagan’s Throw Down Quilt – ya’know, a quilt you “throw down” so little ones can play on the floor or ground…

And this is why I think you need both Wing Clipper I® and Wing Clipper II® in your toolbox, cuz ya’ just never know what you might be creating!

But Wait, There’s More!

How about one more helpful hint before I list the schedule for this week’s Tuckerize Your Quilting Blog Hop….

Remember earlier I shared that I really rarely use pins? Well that includes applying binding. Okay, I confess that when I machine attach it to one side, I do use those little clips, but I’m talking about stitching down the final side, either by hand or machine…

Yep, I use Elmer’s ® School Glue.

It must be the washable type. Machine attach one side of the binding as usual then simply press the attached binding in place, reopen and run a thin line of school glue along the edge of the quilt that will be covered by the binding.

Next heat set it with your iron. No need to use an applique pressing sheet as any glue overage can be removed with water once the iron cools. Simply hand stitch or machine stitch as per your preference. The nice thing is it needles well and won’t gunk up either your hand needle or sewing machine needle. And true to the name ~ it’s washable! The first time the quilt is washed any adhesive will simply wash out!

By the way, I noticed the local stores putting out school supplies this past week making now a good time to stock up on Elmer’s® Washable School Glue for your notion box!

 Tuckerize Your Quilting  Blog Hop

It’s always a good time to learn more about the Tucker tools, pick up helpful hints, and meet new quilters along the way being inspired with the shared passion.

Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope you will consider subscribing to the blog posts as well as my brand-new newsletter. And don’t forget to find me on social media! All the links can be found at the footer on my website.

A rambler needs an audience! Let’s Talk Quilts!

Here’s the schedule!

Monday 7/15/19:   Tucker Trimmer I®, Tammy Silvers, Tamarinis 

Split Rects ® and left handed trimming, Tina Dillard, Quilting Affections

Tuesday 7/16/19: Wing Clipper ® and helpful hints, Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler (you are here!)

Wedge Star ® and the wonderful world of Minis, Sarah Furrer, Studio 180 Design

Wednesday 7/17/19: Gail Renna, Quilt Haven Threads

Marie McKay,  Ribbon Star Studio

Thursday 7/18/19: Deborah Chiarelli, Guest Blogging for Tina Dillard

Friday 7/19/19: Michelle Hiatt, Sew On the Go

Rosella Hanson, Guest Blogging for Tammy Silvers

Saturday 7/20/19: Bonny Peters, Cat Den Mountain Quilts

Lydia Zeigler, Guest Blogging for Karen Overton   (back here again!)

 

 

2 thoughts on “Tuckerize Your Quilting Blog Hop: Wing Clipper®

  1. Brenda @ Songbird Designs says:

    I’m definitely going to have to try out and learn to use some of these tools! Reagan is such a doll, and growing sooooo fast!!! Enjoy every moment!

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