You don't cut the corners off and reuse them, you take one of the 4-1/2" squares, draw a diagonal line (for instance: from upper left corner to lower right corner) from one corner to the oposite diagonal corner. Repeat for ALL 4-1/2" squares...I use a regular, cheapo mechanical pencil for this. Mark lightly. If it's too dark of a fabric, get a white colored pencil, or fabric marker.
Next, lay one of the 4-1/2" squares onto the corner of the 8-1/2" square, matching the edges exactly.
Sew exactly on the drawn line. You can then cut off the extra on the corner, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. Repeat for the other corners.
HINT: Instead of just tossing the cut off parts of the corners, I first do a 2nd line of stitching 1/2" from the first (toward the corner edge)...then cut the edge piece off, leaving 1/4" seam allowance...you get an automatic half square triangle you can use elsewhere.
Originally Posted by
TaraW
Hi Ladies!
I am trying my first "snowball" pattern quilt. I'm using the first photo/website link below for my design/inspiration. The problem is--when I cut all the corners off the squares, then re-sew mis-matched corners back on to the octagon to re-make the "square"...the corners are too small creating a mess of a square that's all not fit to quilt with.
Am I supposed to now TRIM the "square" down, making it square again? What am I doing wrong? I'm thinking there's no real way to make this work without trimming it waaaaaaay down after re-sewing on the corners. Hummm.....
Snowball quilt image
Snowball Quilt instructions i'm TRYING to follow
Image of my messed up attempt at this (feel free to laugh hysterically...)
thanks for the help!!
My background: This is only the 2nd quilt I've ever made. The first was just a very simple square pattern/BASIC quilt I made for my baby nephew. This snowball one is meant for my mom! I've never sewed before in my whole life before this so take it easy on me! My only experience is going to the local Beverly's on craft nights to learn how to thread my machine and learn very basic quilting skills.
Here is a photo of the 1st quilt I completed for my nephew!
Julian's Quilt Image