Star Struck F-7

What a beautiful little star!  Four main sections, 21 fabric pieces. The seams nest beautifully when sewing the sections together.  In order not to lose the outermost points, you must take care to sew scant seams when connecting the logs.

These are so pretty in their sherbet colors. I'm missing a smidge on the uppermost left corner of the pink square, but not to worry--there's plenty for a seam later. I think I cut this piece scantily because I was running out of this color. I finally decided I had to buy another entire set of Kaffe Fassett shot cotton collection, because it would be a minor disaster if I ran out of fabric.

Next up is Ben's Bow tie H-10.

Rising Sun E-5

Ever since I saw Doreen demonstrate this block in class I've been eagerly anticipating making this block.  It fascinates me with its rays radiating from the center circle.  This is my 51st block, the 4th from January's blocks, and I decided to see if I could make it in the hour or so I had before heading off to the February class.

Doreen did a great job of providing cutting instructions, taking care to note that half the rays are longer than the other half.  She is so good at saving fabric when she gives cutting directions.

Although there are 17 pieces to this block, there are only two sections and one easy applique, so I hope it will sew up quickly.

Here is the difference between an unpressed seam and a pressed seam. In the unpressed seam there is a substantial curve of fabric that can be seen at the two ends of the seam--at least 1/8 inch of fabric billows out from the seam.  If this is left unpressed, it will definitely affect the accuracy and how the pieced section finishes up.

Here is the pressed seam.  Notice that you can see almost right down to the stitches in the seam.  This is now an accurate seam and will not distort the layout of the pieced section.  I used the wooden pressing stick edge to open up the seam.

Here are the two sections, mirror images of each other, not trimmed in any way.  I'll trim only the straight edge that joins the two sections.  The way Doreen set up the order of sewing ensures all the seams will flow in the same direction when the two sections are sewn together.  I chose not to sew the seams down to the center point, because 7 seams meeting at the center would be very bulky.  This area will be covered by the appliqued circle anyway.

I use two pins to line up the circle and seam intersections.

I use the Dear Jane square ruler to trim the outer edges.  This ruler is the companion to the triangle ruler and is a MUST when making this quilt!  I focus on the 4 points where the outer edge seams come together to line it up.

After years of avoiding and dreading anything involving applique, I now love it!  I consistently use one of the several applique techniques Doreen taught us.  It is totally reliable, avoiding all frustration, and uses wash-away fusible and basting glue.  One other tool that makes it so easy are these tweezers that came with my Bernina 830 machine.  The tips are angled just right to grab the tiny fabric pieces to pull over the fusible, then I use the flat edges to coax the folds into a smooth edge. 

Here is the block ready for hand sewing the applique piece.  What a terrific block--so wonderfully graphic--very symmetrical.

Here is the white quilt version.  It occurred to me that it would be prudent to trim the block after appliqueing the center circle in order to avoid fraying.  Also note that two of the tips are right at the edge of the fabric, testament to the necessity to line up the fabric pieces very carefully and test before sewing!

Completed blocks.

My next post will be about block C-13, the 'Lakota Sioux' block.  This block looks complicated!

Tennessee Valley triangle block (RS1)

I've finished all the blocks for October through December for my Dear Jane quilt class except one, which I'm working on today.

It's a triangle block called Tennessee Valley.  It's located on the right side, 1st position (RS1).  I've completed the block for the black background quilt.  It looks like this:

This block is sewn using foundation paper piecing, a technique I learned in this class.  This is a terrific technique, but it does have its own set of skills to master in order to get perfect blocks.  This block has 3 sections.  The challenge with this block is to get the stripes to match at the center seam, where two sections are joined.  Notice in the picture below that the order for sewing the background and the colored fabric alternates for each section; one begins with 1 at the bottom and the other begins with 1 at the top.  This results in seams that lie in opposing directions on the back, which allows you to "nest" the seams together when sewing the two sections together, which I'll show in a subsequent post.

I've indicated on the pattern the sewing order and notated the identifying block number in each place where the colored fabric is sewn.  The patterns here don't include the seam allowances for each foundation piece.  I add this when I cut out the pattern from the foundation paper after they're printed.

For me, it's best if I arrange the cut pieces according to the paper pattern, otherwise it's so easy to pick up the wrong piece if they are just stacked up according to size.  Here, I'm working on the bottom section of the block.  You can see I added the quarter inch seam allowances around the section when I cut it out.

For fabric 1, line it up on the back of the foundation paper with the area marked RS1 1.  I use my light pad.  I try to have at least one fabric edge on a quarter inch seam allowance. In this case, the top edge is lined up with the seam that goes with the upper section of the block. Next, put a tiny dab of basting glue to hold the fabric to the back of the foundation piece.

Next, trim fabric 1 for seam 1/2 (the seam between fabric 1 and fabric 2).  On the top of the foundation piece, line up the edge of a stiff card to seam 1/2.

Then fold the foundation paper over the card.

Line up the add-a-seam ruler with the edge of the card/foundation paper.  There is fabric 1 ready to be trimmed.

Rotary cut the fabric along the ruler.

Remove the ruler and the card; turn the foundation piece over to the 1st piece of fabric.  There is the cut seam, ready for fabric 2.

Line the edge of fabric #2 along the seam line.

It looks so big for the tiny area to be covered, but with angles, it gets really tricky!  It's very easy to miss covering the entire area to be covered, and mistakes happen in the corners and future seam allowances. This is why foundation piecing is not quite as fool proof as one might think.  I learned the hard way to test the placement of the new piece by folding the fabric over a quarter of an inch and check to see that everything will be covered.  Reposition if needed and retest.
Flip it over so the printed side of the paper is up and hold tightly to the two pieces of fabric to avoid shifting. Sew the seam using a small stitch length (I use 1.5 stitch length).  I also loosen the foot tension when sewing foundation paper blocks because it helps to avoid shifting the paper/fabric sandwich.  Sew on the line, with the needle piercing the printed line exactly in the middle of the line.

I try to use a starter piece of fabric (the pink fabric with the jumble of threads) when possible to avoid problems with wonky and weak beginning stitches.  In this case I started by sewing through the seam allowance that will attach this section to the top striped section.  Notice that I stopped sewing on the seam line for #8.  This ensures an unsewn paper edge when I have to trim fabric pieces 1 thru 7 before sewing piece 8.  Clip off the starter fabric and turn it all over so the foundation paper is on the bottom.

Press using a wooden iron.  This is the perfect tool for ensuring a clean, straight edge. Use the flat angled part to push fabric #2 away from the joining seam.  You want this seam to be perfectly smooth and flat, with no fold. Use a dab of basting glue to hold fabric 2 to the foundation paper.  This keeps the fabric from popping up and being unruly when sewing subsequent seams.  My camera battery died, so I am not posting the picture I wanted to post of a flat, straight seam.  The below pic is of an un-ironed seam.

Follow this entire procedure (you won't have to use the light box again) for fabric #3 (seam 1/3) and continue till the entire section is sewn together. Remember to trim only when preparing to sew a new seam.  In other words, don't be tempted to trim future seams, for example, the seam that will connect the two sections. And be sure not to trim outside edges until the entire block is sewn together and ironed flat.  In the next post I'll show how to sew two sections together.