Sew Very Smooth Blog
I Finally Finished My Main March BOM
by Steve Tippets on 04/20/18This month has been tough to get going on my focal block for the month. I'm not sure why that is. I think part of it has to do with me being nervous about screwing it up.
This is the largest project I've ever worked on and I'm wanting to do really well on it. Overall I'm really proud of what I've done, but with the first two blocks I still have some small flaws that really bother me, but I don't know how to fix them. As a separate block they're fine, but I know once I connect them all together I'm going to have a hard time. There isn't a 1/4" seam allowance around every point and the blocks aren't the same size. I could trim them down but I'll be cutting the tips off of the points before I even sew them together.
These little nagging details are what kept me from moving forward with the third square, but I finally made myself do it.
Again, overall I'm very proud of it, but there are things that bother me.
The center of the block is a highlight for me. I worked really hard on making sure things lined up properly and that the points were near perfect. The issue I'm having is with the outside rows.
There is some bunching and one of the seams starts to angle away from the main block which isn't right. I'm not sure how that happened since I used my Ideal Seam Guide and I glue basted everything.
I think the bunching is partly from over starching. I may have gone a little overboard because some of the pieces weren't laying flat.
I can't let this bother me, though I know it will for awhile anyway.
I just have to remind myself that the flaws can be hidden by a good quilting job. I don't know if I'm talented enough yet to hide them, but I can certainly try.
I did manage to take some pictures of the process, but only a few. I was very focused on getting this block done and spaced taking the pictures.
These are four of the snowball blocks right before I cut the tips off. These went much smoother than the last snowballs I made so I'm excited about that.
Laying out the center rows before I glue basted them. I'm seriously proud of how the center turned out. They were small pieces so they weren't easy to handle, but they turned out exactly the way they were supposed to.
I still have to do the small Ohio Star block and finish applique stitching the one from last week. I hope I can finish them without adding to the imperfections that are hanging over my head already.
How do you deal with your imperfections?
A New Way To Applique
by Steve Tippets on 04/13/18I loved this week, but it also caused me a bit of frustration.
My project was one of the three blocks for the BOM club. It was the one I was the most nervous about because it utilizes applique which I'm not very good at, but it was also the one I was the most excited about because I wanted to watch the tutorial video and learn a better way to do it.
The technique used for this particular block is turned under applique. You use a foundation fabric for paper piecing and then glue the edges of each piece down and around the edges. It makes for a cleaner finish with your applique pieces.
This is the pre-cut pieces, before they were glued down around the edges.
These are the finished ones. They look so clean and pretty.
The preparation stage was really fun, but the actual applique part has been a bit of a struggle. I've been using the invisible thread, though at this point I can't remember its technical name. I know some people have problems with this particular thread and now I know why.
I was able to feed it through the machine well enough the first time, but it snapped after a few minutes. I have yet to be able to get it fed through the machine again. I'm trying not to be frustrated because that never helps, but it's hard not to be.
This is what I've accomplished so far. You can sort of see the stitches down the grey leaf that's on the left.
If I can't get the machine threaded after a few more attempts I may give up and just hand stitch it. If I were to do that it might cause me to unpick all of the stitching I've already done so that they actually match, but there is a small chance I can mimic the look of the machine stitches. I suppose I won't know for sure until I try. I'm hoping I'll have a finished block by next week, but we'll see.
Do any of you lovely quilters have any advice for using the invisible thread? I could really use some tips.
My First Valentine's Day Stocking Is Done!
by Steve Tippets on 04/06/18I had such a hard time trying to decide what project to work on this week, but I finally settled on my Valentine's Day stockings. I had been anxious to find out if my design would turn out the way I hoped it would. They are very time consuming and I have to do six in all so I'll break them up and just do one a month or every other month.
My Ideal Seam guide was the perfect tool for this project. I ended up sewing squares into rows and then sewing the rows together and because I had used the guide each square lined up perfectly with the ones on either side of it.
The ultimate goal was to have these turn out like a rag quilt. It was a pain snipping all the seams, but the end product was exactly as I had envisioned!
The picture on the left is the finished stocking before it was washed and the one on the right is after it was washed. I love how the ragged seams look!
The inside of all of the stockings will be blue, regardless of whether they're for the girls or the boys.
I still need to put the hook on it, but I'm going to put all the hooks on them at the same time so it will be a few months until it's done. I'm excited to see how the rest look with their own patterned fabrics.
This week I also had the privilege of fixing my nephew's favorite pair of shorts. They were in town for Easter and my sister had brought these shorts hoping that I could figure out a way to fix it. She didn't expect me to be able to, but I managed to concoct a solution that worked. Needless to say I am his favorite Aunt right now, and he has eight so that is saying something.
The material behind the button had completely ripped away.
To fix it I sewed a square piece of material to the back and then sewed the ripped fabric to the square. I then sewed the button back on by hand. It's not the prettiest fix in the world, but when his shorts are buttoned up you can't really even see the fix.
It has been so fun pushing myself and seeing what I can do. I love following a pattern, but there is definitely a great sense of accomplishment to finish something I designed myself. I cant' wait to start working on the Easter project I have in mind. That will be my own design as well. So exciting!
