Quiltingboard Forums - View Single Post - THE FWS PONY CLUB Quilt-Along Wk 10 Country Lanes & Cowboy's Star Discussion Page

03-07-2012, 07:29 AM

#10

QuiltE

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Join Date: Apr 2011

Location: Ontario, Canada

Posts: 17,705

PPing the Cowboy's Star ... here's the description I left for Termi over on the photo page. Guess I should have left it here, but I went there first!

I made the star points first, joining the 4 pieces for each together. Then to each star point, added the outer most background piece to each side. That's where I joined the wrong side of one background piece to the star and oddly enough it did not fit! Soooooo rrrrrrippppp it!!!!!! These are the pieces that make the four corners of the square.

Then added one of the 5-sided pieces to each of the star points. So now you have 4 pieces. Then joined 2 of each together. Then joined those last 2 to make one. Clear as mud in the Country Lane??

As I worked, I kept all the pieces laid out in the right order, to make sure they were in the right places.

I'm really liking those mini-layout pictures to be sure I get the right pieces in the right place, particularly when you have a complicated block that it's not so obvious.

Taking off paper ... I leave the paper on thru to the end. Well, not quite! .... If I join two sections together, I remove the paper from the seam, and "just" the seam (the fold back part), as when you add another seam over that, it becomes almost impossible to get it out later. Then if I join another seam, take off the seam papers and so on. Otherwise, everything stays on until the block is totally finished.

I press after every piece is added, then trim the seamlines, then press back in place. So once done, there isn't a lot of hard pressing, but press again, I do. Remove the papers ...and yup you figured it out, press again! Add some starch or sizing and all is sitting nice and tight and flat!

The starch or sizing ... there's a nother plus to it ... you have very few threads that fray off afterwards. For my FWS, the sashing/cornerstones were not starched, and I'm noticing that they are now fraying and the blocks are not. And guess what? I hate having to go thru and pick off loose threads once I have a quilt top done.

JeanieG ... oh poor you! I finally feel like I'm coming out of the woods, but I still don't feel safely out. Let that California sunshine, shake it out for you!

To relieve congestion, here's what I do ... put a couple spoons of Vicks Vapo-Rub in a coffee mug. Add boiling water, and stir to dissolve. Then put your nose over it and breathe it in. Also, breathe it in thru your mouth, to help the throat. BTW I leave the spoon in, so I don't accidentally take a sip!! Once you're finished sniffing, put it into the frig with spoon in. Next time, bring it out of frig, lift out spoon with the hardened Vicks so you can pour out the water. Boil kettle again, and repeat!

QNSue ... Looks like a fun day is ahead for you! ENJOY!!!

JanRN ... Hope the above answers your questions. The paper staying on, really helps keep it all in place and not let the fabrics stretch.

More about paper ... as I typed to JanRN, I thought of something more. Some of you may remember, that I "sew" the papers to the fabric. This step is really helpful for the Cowboy's Star, as all your background pieces are single pieces per section. So I use a long machine stitch to hold the paper to the fabric, and leave it on just the same as if it was one section with several seams. It stabilizes it all, and avoids the piece stretching as you work with it. More Clear as Mud in the Country Lane?

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