Back to Foundation Paper Piecing for a hit of success! While Trooper Green’s Badge would have worked fine with rotary cut pieces, Reflections Abound would have been a challenge to cut and piece, with such narrow pieces.
Successes:
Crisp corners and points.
By pre-cutting according to the rotary cutting instructions, I am being very frugal with my fabric.
Challenges:
My only challenge I anticipate is that I might find myself left with the most difficult blocks at the end, with the fabrics that I dislike, and so my motivation might suffer.
This block took me several days to complete. It is the first block that is entirely hand-pieced. I could not figure out another way to manage the curves, in such short runs, so handwork was the solution. I inadvertently mirrored many of the pieces, and had to cut out more fabric than anticipated to complete the block.
Successes:
The block ended up larger than needed, so I was able to trim down slightly.
It is done!
Challenges:
All the template pieces had be traced on to the back of the fabric. Since the white fabric has no obvious “good side”, it was difficult to keep them all organized, with correct side up.
While the centre wedges were easy to fit, the “cyclone” round has asymmetrical pieces, that were easy to rotate incorrectly.
I used Invisifil thread that was difficult to see. And it was slippery, so required a longer tail to keep it in the needle. This allowed knots and twists to develop. And, since it was very fine and smooth, it had no “tooth” in the fabric, so I had to use a back stitch rather than a simple running stitch to ensure that the stitches remained tight.
I missed most of the details of the videos I was watching, since I had to concentrate closely, with reading glasses, to do the sewing.
I’m actually working on a hand-pieced block that is testing my spatial abilities. So I decided to set it aside, and choose a simpler block that I could Foundation Paper Piece.
Successes:
This is ONE piece of paper, with triangles added to a central strip. VERY ease to piece.
I was able to use the rotary cutting instructions to cut the fabric, then the paper to do the actual sewing.
Challenges:
Despite pre-cutting, I seem to be a little short on the border. I will have to be careful when I add sashing to ensure that my blocks finish consistently at 4.5″
This is Week 6 of the Dear Jane Stitch Along, and this group is continuing to work from the centre of the quilt top out. I was looking for a colour that would work next to the red and yellow, that I hadn’t used before. This purple may be a little light in tone, but I think it will work well as I add more blocks scattered throughout the layout.
Successes:
I did actually successfully make the petals in the middle, using light interfacing, sewing the shape, then cutting a slit and turning it inside out.
The Invisifil thread works beautifully to attach the applique.
Challenges:
I thought I could snowball the corners, but didn’t do the math correctly, and then actually cut off one of my triangles. So I then cut according to the rotary cutting instructions, and was able to sew the triangles on to the centre diamonds.
The sew and turn technique for applique is very difficult to do with these tiny pieces. The curved sides worked beautifully, but the sharp end points were lost.
So, for the next applique block, I think I will try cutting the template pieces out of fusible interfacing, and apply them to the back of the fabric. Then I will try using fabric glue to fold down the sides.
And even though they would have been “fiddly”, I think that the four corner blocks would have been much more precise had I chosen to do Foundation Paper Piecing.
This is a block that makes you thing “Haven’t I seen this before?” Yes, I have. But I have never made it this small.
Challenges:
The stretchy bias edges of the triangles made this a real challenge to match points.
Successes:
I noticed that I had cut a piece that had those tiny holes from the selvage. But I was able to deconstruct the piece, cut a new triangle, and set it in before I put together the full block.
I like the “log cabin” setting of the four borders: one 4″ strip, two 4.5″ strips, and then one 5″ strip. Had I been thinking ahead, I could have just cut one long strip, and trimmed each as I sewed.
I can certainly see the ‘gems” in this border block. They sit well on point, on the white background.
Successes:
I played the puzzle game well, figuring out the order in which to connect the many pieces of this FPP block. Several were only one piece, but fit together in a similar manner to hand piecing using templates.
I finally received my Add-a-quarter-plus ruler. It is 6″ long, and has a tapered edge that is perfect for folding back the paper each time.
The light board has really helped placing small pieces.
I love the joyous colour, on this snow day!
Challenges:
I wish that EQ8 did a layout for FPP that showed which edge of each piece joined to the next. The only clue is the orientation of the letters on the printed paper. So there was a lot of trial-and-error to ensure I sewed the correct seams.
I’m now inspired to read the background on these blocks, but The Dear Jane book is VERY expensive on Amazon. The only reasonably-priced second-hand copy is sitting in India, and they won’t ship to Canada.
Brenda Manges Papadakis, the author, has copies on her website: http://dearjane.com/shop/, but they won’t ship to Canada either. So I’ve contacted a “snowbird” friend, and asked if she will order it for me,. She could then bring it home in the spring! Fingers crossed!
Here’s what the quilt now looks like with a dozen blocks:
I pressed the star seams “open”, so that I had a clean corner into which I could set the white triangles and squares.
I made a conversion chart for all the measurements from 1/16″ to 15/16″, so that I could estimate the cutting size when using my rotary cutter and ruler.
I pressed the all the perimeter triangles and squares towards the “dark” star, so there is only a tiny bit at the end of the point where the orange might shadow through the white.
Challenges:
The star points are all on the bias, so they have a tendency to stretch. When first pieced together, they made a “cup”, and required pressing to lay flat.
There are many seams coming together in the middle, but with all seams pressed open, it helped even out the thickness
This is a very strong colour, sitting to the right of the centre block. I will have to plan to balance this out as I construct the other blocks near the centre.
Here’s what the quilt looks like so far:
This traditional block features Y-seams, the bane of many quilters. I watched a few YouTube videos, but they didn’t really add anything that I hadn’t already tried.
So I’m on a roll with border blocks, FPP and the colour red. I suppose I will want to make a few of the solid triangles as well. I don’t want to exhaust my supply of this red print before I set aside some to help with balance. These solid triangles will sit between these lovely border blocks around the perimeter.
Successes:
Again, I love the precision of the Foundation Paper Piecing
I am using a lot of tiny scraps, and keeping my background consistent
Challenges:
I don’t know how to predict how much fabric I might use. So I’m researching, and may consider pre-cutting oversized blocks prior to doing the FPP. There are great videos by Canary Quilts, that helped me get started with EQ8 and the Dear Jane quilt. She measures each area, and pre-cuts, so I might give that a go next time.
Just to shake things up, I was inspired to begin one of the border blocks. These triangle blocks will alternate with solid blocks, to create a border around the entire quilt. The solid triangle blocks will have a shallow semi-circle on the outer edge, creating the signature “ice cream cone” look.
This design lent itself to Foundation Paper Piecing, so I printed the pattern, and started in this morning. I guess I wasn’t awake yet, because the first five or six seams each had to be ripped out and redone. I didn’t tear any of the paper, thankfully, so I was able to cleanly resew each seam. I’m not yet in the rhythm of placing the first piece good-side-down, and all the rest good-side-up. Of perhaps it’s the fascinating audiobook I’m listening to that has me distracted!
My latest purchase is an “add-a-quarter” ruler, and this one is 12″ long. Unlike the 6″ “add-a-quarter-plus” ruler, which I have misplaced, this one is full thickness and much heavier. It’s great for cutting the quarter-inch seam allowance, but useless to fold back the paper. I’m finding my metal ruler works well for this, though I dislike having to change tools. I have a replacement 6″ ruler on order, and look forward to its arrival.
Successes:
I love the precision of the FPP technique
I am getting better at fabric placement, so my waste is getting to be less
My tiny tweezers (or forceps) that I purchased from Lee Valley are perfect for removing the tiny bits of paper. At $7.50 CAD for a set of three, they are an inexpensive addition to my toolkit.
I am going to completely use up a colour, before moving on to the next. So expect at least two more red and white blocks
Challenges:
I need a mnemonic or a song to remind me that the first piece of fabric faces down, and the next and following pieces ALL need to be “pretty side up”
The tiny stitches that make paper removal so much easier, make seam-ripping much more difficult.
Here’s the new look of the quilt, with one border triangle added:
Terry Whitmell, PhD 