Ok everyone...I spent the day working on putting my center together...got as far as getting all the blocks put together in rows & 2 rows put together. So here goes on hoping to make it alittle easier for others to put together & getting good results.
But, first, I have used the gluesticks for a few years; have never had any problems with my machines or needles. Janome 9000, Viking Designer I, Janome 6600P, & have occassionally used when using my Babylock Evolution serger.
Ok, back to today.
to Jenniky's hint about pining the 2 sandwiches together before taking to the machine--kept everything tidy & squared! Pinned the front, then the back & sewed the 1/4" (all in 1 step) for the whole quilt. Then I pressed front up, turned to the back (left that down & everything matched nicely & layed really flat) Here I quickly hand basted the back together (see pic #1), then pressed the back sashing up & glue stick to keep down (no pins), then SITD from the front (I used invisible thread on top, matching thread to sashing color in back & lengthen my stitch to 3.5 to make up for all the thickness.)...turned out perfect! (pic #2) So happy I took the couple extra steps (basting & glue stick); went quickly & was very accurate! Same for putting the rows together. No pins used when sewing the back sashing down--SITD from the front was perfect for the back. And NO frogging at all!!
I was very surprised--stayed very relaxed during it all & am enjoying the process! I'm sure it was because I patiently followed all the steps I had taken to ensure I stayed accurate--no hurrying or short-cutting. Hope everyone else has as easy a time as I did. I must say it's alot easier than I first thought it would be!
Also, I love the accufeed & ditch accufeed foot on my 6600!
I am taking a day off from sewing tomorrow...you know, life...will get back to it on Tues. to finish & will post pics then. Keep going everyone, you can do it!
BTW, I think I forgot to say in my first posting, that only 1 of these blocks is my orphan block (the sewing machine)...the other 5 are blocks I rescued from an estate sale a couple years ago...I often rescue other quilters orphaned pieces I occassionally run into...I just picked out the orphan I had that matched best for the coloring the others had. Also, the backing fabric is from a different estate sale, as is the batting (don't know the kind of batting; flat like W&N, but white & looks to have some polyester in it but didn't melt when I pressed), & the cream on white for other 6 blocks & sashings is from my stash. No outside shopping or expense on this quilt!