Tag: #FPP

Dear Jane: BR11 – Tartan and G-13 – Molly’s Muffins

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

I am trying to catch up, after a couple of weeks away from the sewing machine. G-13 is one of the blocks from the Dear Jane Stitch Along on Facebook, and BR-11 looked like another fun FPP.

Successes:

  • Tartan came together well, despite having seven FPP blocks to join together.
  • I was able to get a more consistent curve on the applique in G-13, using freezer paper and glue.
  • I appliqued each half-circle before piecing, so I was able to use the machine to secure the straight edges.

Challenges:

  • I think I should have printed on the lighter, newsprint paper. With so many parts, there were a lot of thick seams to sew in Tartan, and some lost their accuracy.
  • I didn’t place the applique well in Molly’s Muffins, so the curves don’t intersect at the corners accurately.
  • When I began to wash out the washable glue used in the applique, it turned purple again, and I thought I had ruined the pieces. However, use of Dawn and warm water removed all the purple!

Here’s the quilt to date:

Dear Jane: I-13 – Sweet Harmony

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies annual Convention taking up much of my time. We had a beautiful quilt competition, with fourteen machine-quilted quilts, and seven quilted by hand. So I had my “quilt” fix, without doing any sewing.

This block was chosen to balance out the green fabric I had used in two other blocks. And it was a return to FPP, since I am enjoying the results best. Today’s photo was not taken exactly “square”, but I can assure you that the block is fairly accurate in dimension and proportion.

Successes:

  • Again, the FPP process worked well. 
  • I was able to get fairly accurate 3/8″ sections, which would have been impossible with traditional piecing.

Challenges:

  • I tried using Carol Doak’s Foundation Paper, and found it more difficult to remove from the tiny seams than theordinary copy paper that I had been using.
  • It is still difficult to keep these tiny blocks square, but I believe much of that will be remedied with the addition of the one-inch sashing, and a good application of the iron!
  • I had been following the plan from the Facebook group: Dear Jane Stitch Along, but am now behind by four blocks. Look for them in future posts!
  • And to top things off, our power supply on our Starlink died last week, so I have been without internet and home network. So I haven’t been able to access my printer to print out my next blocks. I did have one in reserve, and will begin on it shortly. And hopefully the power supply will arrive soon. “We don’t know what we’ve got, ’til it’s gone!”

Here’s the progress of the quilt thus far:

Dear Jane: LS-6 – Susie Q

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

This one took some time. I first thought I needed matching thread, so waited to get to a fabric store to buy some royal blue. Then I decided the my light gray Invisifil would look better, so then I could proceed with the applique.

Successes:

  • The Foundation Paper Piecing worked well, except at the top, where I didn’t leave enought fabric for the seam allowance.
  • I have added a strip of white, that I will remove when I apply the actual sashing at the end. It will keep the edges from deteriorating, and will maintain the size where the edges are on bias.
  • The Invisifil thread is beautiful for the needle-turn applique. I am feeling a little guilty that it’s not “cotton”, but the results are good.

Challenges:

  • I decided to try the fusible interfacing plus glue technique for the one piece of applique. It was much better than the last technique I used (interfacing layered, then turned inside out). Next try will be freezer paper and starch…..

Here’s the quilt’s progress:

Dear Jane: C-1 – Trooper Green’s Badge AND L-3 – Reflections Abound

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

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.

Quilt Progress:

Dear Jane: K-12 – Doris’ Dilemma

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

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″

Here’s the quilt so far:

Dear Jane: TR-10 – Precious Gems

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

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:

Dear Jane: RS – 12 – Linda’s Church in the Valley

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

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.

Here’s the quilt with eight blocks so far:

Dear Jane: BR3 – Attic Window

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

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:

Dear Jane: A-1 – Pinwheel Gone Awry

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

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:

Dear Jane: G-6 – Papa’s Star

~ Terry Whitmell ~ Leave a comment

So much fun completing this block! It’s the third week of the Dear Jane Stitch Along group on Facebook, and there is so much variety in the blocks posted by the members. Very inspiring!

This is a perfect block for FPP. But I recognize that I am possibly breaking copyright by posting images of the pages from EQ8, so you won’t see any from this point forward. Here’s a gallery of some of the process:

 

FPP generates a lot of paper bits, and small scraps of fabric. My vacuum cleaner is going to get a workout!

You can see where I use two pins in the same location. One pin stabs through the intersections of both pieces. The second pin then secures it. I find if I stab, then secure with the same pin, it shifts. So this process gets a better match. I also find that my Magic Pins (Fine) work well for the stabbing process. But I need the Extra Fine size to slide easily and lay flat for sewing.

Successes:

  • This is as precise as I think I could get with those tiny quarter-inch triangles
  • I was able to use fine tweezers to get most of the paper out. And then I used “The World’s Kindest Nail Brush” from Lee Valley to remove the last bits.
  • My investment in the EQ8 software has already paid off with these four blocks completed. I believe I will be returning to this add-on to make larger versions of this block for other quilts.

Challenges:

  • I am using regular printer paper, so sometimes I stretch the seams as I remove this thicker paper. (I need to find my stack of Carol Doak’s Foundation paper to print the next blocks….. or order more!)
  • With the tiny pieces, there are a huge number of seam allowances on the back, necessitating some careful grading and trimming
  • Also due to the thickness, it is challenging to keep the presser foot in line. I had to re-sew a couple of seams where the line was off.
  • I chose my strongest “yellow” for this block, but wish I had selected one with even more contrast, to show off that tiny Ohio Star.

Here’s what the quilt looks like now, with G-6 added: