I hope you are all enjoying our Block of the Month so far.
I had some feedback from someone saying they had plenty of fabric to complete their first two blocks, so I hope that was the case for everybody. We have tried to give you enough fabric so you can choose how to place the fabrics in the appliqué. You can copy mine, or use the opportunity to really make the quilt unique. It also means, if you make a cutting error, you should have enough fabric to keep moving forward.
We have placed fabric in your kits that match the fabric in the actual quilt that I made. This is the quilt you would have either seen in person, or viewed from the photos. The fabric placement may be different in the actual quilt from the computer renderings that appear on the cover of the pattern. This gives you another option to follow, if you wish.
Here is my block number 3.
The pieced squares are pretty straight forward, just ensure you are using a ¼" seam allowance so everything fits together nicely. I like to chain piece my 3 ½" squares together, which makes it a little quicker. To do this, I have the blocks laid out next to my sewing machine, then I can just pick up the pairs and piece them. I feed them through one after the other and then press the seams to the darker fabric. I then chain piece the pairs to make the 4 patch squares.
The final seam of this block I like to press open. It helps to reduce the bulk in the centre of the block.
For the appliqué, I recommend unpicking the hems on the towelings. Then press so it is nice and flat. If the stripes are angled, you can tug the fabric on the diagonal corners to help press it into shape. I have personally cut all the towelling for these kits and have made a effort to cut to the stripe. Sometime they come off the roll quite crooked. If they are wonky, pressing with steam and tugging on the diagonal usually solves the problem and makes them straight.
Here is a link to my video on how to centre stripes when cutting toweling, you might find this useful.
When you cut the toweling 18 ½" wide, try to centre the thicker stripes so they are equal distance from the short ends. You can do this two ways:
Measure out 9 ¼" from the centre narrow stripe (parallel to the short ends) in both directions. Cut at this point.
Or, fold the toweling in half so the short ends meet. Make sure you fold so the thicker woven stripes match up. Then measure, from the fold 9 ¼" and cut at this point.
Then the toweling needs trimming to 6 ½" wide. Line up your ruler on the horizontal stripes so the edge is perpendicular. This way your stripes will be straight and parallel to the edges. Once again some tweaking, while pressing might be required.
Once your toweling background is cut, I recommend you over lock the edges so it doesn't fray while you appliqué. A zig zag stitch around the edge will be sufficient.
Some partial seams are required in this block. These are just seams that are not completed, to avoid having difficult corner seams later on. When you sew a partial seam, just finish with a back stitch to avoid it coming unravelled. The same goes for when you finish a seam ¼" from the corner, in preparation for a mitred corner on the borders. Always finish with a backstitch, because this seam is not oversewn and may come undone.
If you are finding that the toweling borders are fraying, then I recommend you overlock the edges with a wide zig zag.
Happy sewing everybody,
Jenelle