Pinwheel Gone Awry is the first block I looked at in EQ8, and it is the one that wavered between choosing the rotary cutting option and the Foundation Paper Piecing option. I chose FPP, but now I wonder if I perhaps should have done the other.
I thought that I could pre-cut over-sized blocks to save fabric. I could then position them to stitch as usual in the Foundation Paper Piecing process. It didn’t really work well, and I don’t have the match I had hoped for on the corners. I think that this was mostly due to the thickness of seams and paper when sewing.
Successes:
- I am getting faster at the FPP process, with cutting station, sewing machine, and pressing station all in a “U” shape, minimizing movement.
Challenges:
- The thickness of intersecting seams and paper are causing my presser foot to slide, and making my seams inaccurate
- I struggled to position the triangles. Often I had to tear out to ensure that I had a seam allowance. I really shouldn’t have worried, since all the triangles are eventually within seams, so the quarter-inch isn’t crucial.
Next Steps:
- I am going to try one of the future blocks by rotary cutting oversized pieces, then sewing and cutting down to size. I think that it would have been much better for this block in particular.
Here’s the quilt, with five squares placed:
Terry Whitmell, PhD 