The other night Cat was telling me a sad tale of a friend of hers in London who signed up for a bee with 18 people, and dutifully made everyone else's blocks, but when it came to her turn she got blocks from 3 other people. That is just tragic, but I'm assuming not uncommon? Anyways, Cat mentioned that she was collecting blocks from nice people to send over to her, and since she wanted stars and I was finishing up my blocks for the AMQG raffle quilt I made one. While the AMQG blocks are a small 9.5", this one is a nice generous 12.5" and SO much more fun to make for that reason! Took awhile though, those little stars are fiddly! The block comes from the Modern Blocks book. I had an awful time getting the final few seams to sit straight and even now I can see a few wobbles and mismatched seams.
I finally figured out why my point blocks are sometimes wider at the base than at the points - it's the bias stretching out in some fabrics. Phew. I was really beginning to worry about my seam allowances! I managed to keep a handle on it on the whole, though I can see one spot where it's not great. Any suggestions on how to avoid this?
What lovely colours - it's a beautiful block! I have made a few of these stars now in different guises - so far not too much trouble with mis-matched seams. But I always pin at the seams and if there is a bit of fullness in one piece of fabric I pin more and ease the fullness in. Then I attack any problem areas with a hot iron and I always press my seams open. Haha, that little description makes me sound a bit fierce with my fabric I think - I operate in the Tim Gunn school of thought 'make it work'!
ReplyDeleteYes, I suspect pins are probably the way to go. I hardly use them anymore, but I think perhaps I have gone too far into no-pin territory and need to find my way back to a happy medium! I also blame my machine a bit as it doesn't sew the most accurate 1/4" seams, they tend to be a ever so slightly wobbly around an average of 1/4", which doesn't help. Poor thing, it's old and basic and not really designed for accurate piecing for quilts! The good thing is that for stars it's not actually all that obvious when a side block doesn't quite match up because it merges into the adjacent one. It still annoys me that it has happened though!
ReplyDeleteVery stinky that people did not follow through and make her blocks. The stars are awesome though!
ReplyDeleteIt's a gorgeous block Jacqui! Great minds think alike as I did the same one, in similar colours! I pin a little bit but still get wobbles... blah, it still looks fine!
ReplyDeleteStar blocks are my favourite, and I'm am loving these wonky stars, all that colour looks so fresh against the white.... poor girl, I'm sure though she will be stoked to recieve this block :)
ReplyDeleteGreat minds naturally, though I think of the rest of that saying too ;). Perhaps she can put them at opposite ends of the quilt! I was just looking at it and thinking I wouldn't mind one of my own!
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Hard to offer construction advice without knowing exactly how you go about making them. Do you trim the background fabric away? If you didn't, it would help stabilise the bias edges - although at the same time, does add a bit of bulk. What about making the point units slightly bigger than required, then trim them down to the correct size after they are pressed. Then you'd just need to be carefull not to stretch them as you sew. I always construct nine patches as a four patch, with a two patch on the side, then the final line of 3 along the bottom - at least that way all the intersections are easy to line up, and there is only one seam that has three things to match up - works better for me! PS I love your block and one day I fully intend to sew one of these...
ReplyDeleteThank you for making this beautiful block for me! I LOVE it! and I can't see any imperfections.. it's perfect on the front and the way the seams lie flat and are pressed on the back is astonishing. You couldn't have done better. Thank you so much !!
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