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Happy Summer, everyone! ( I know, it is not really officially summer YET, but our youngest son is done school and on summer vacation so it feels like summer to me!)
I am looking forward to NO set schedule and LOTS of sewing this summer...we will see how that works out....you know, something about the best laid plans and all that :D. So far, so good, though!
As I mentioned last time, I am sewing along with the Fat Quarter Shop and Lori Holt on the Quilted Scarecrow quilt! The plan is to make just a few blocks each month, and then by next May we will have this wonderful quilt top!
My kit arrived and it was so much fun to open the box and drool over all the goodies inside! Even though everything was already pretty organized, I wanted to organize for me, so I folded the fabrics and stacked all the same sizes together, and pinned notes with sizes on each stack. I also bought one of those clear plastic bins to keep my finished blocks in. Wouldn't want to misplace any of the blocks and find out I can't sew my top together next Spring!
The sewalong starts this Sunday, June 9th, so I got to work cutting my fabrics and making my first set of blocks. This time around we are making 4 leaf blocks, but there are many more to come!
Here are mine:
As I was working on these blocks I wrote myself some notes, which I thought I would share, because they might be helpful hints to those of you sewing along!
- If using the kit, pay attention to which fabrics you are supposed to be sewing with! There are several that are called by the same name ( different SKUs, but same name!)
- as you are sewing your units, measure each one and trim if necessary to stay on size.
- when stitching squares onto corners to make triangles, flip and press first BEFORE trimming. The fabric underneath is a great guide!
- using a leader ( or scrap piece of fabric) before you sew will greatly reduce the chances of your corners being pulled down into the throat plate. Also, using a single hole needle plate is a good idea, if you have one.
- and lastly, pay careful attention to which colors you should be using to construct your blocks. I already messed up and used red in 2 different leaves, when that should have just been used in one leaf...so I decided to make all my leaves extra scrappy. :P.
