Iceblossom

Hey, quiltswithdogs, welcome to the thread. Mostly it's just post things we are doing. Raggiemom keeps track of the dates and opens up this thread for us to join in/share, just visit. No requirements but we (I know it's not just me) love photos.

As I was auditioning fabric for the background of the star blocks, I came across a shiny blue "thread weave" pattern that's mostly a bit of shine and not metallic. It's what I call a subtle fabric, hard to tell which is the right side. But with the recent Bonnie Hunter project I learned quite a lot about working with subtle fabrics when I had hand dyes that it turned out it did matter to me which side was up/down.

First thing, don't fold the fabric when you cut it. Stack it right side up in layers and then secure so you know which way is up. Don't be afraid to mark the back of the fabric! Just a tick in the corner can be enough to see.

In this case I made one of my tools because I'm going to do the blocks in the traditional set-in method -- at least I'm starting that way! I already use a "quilter's foot" as my machine default, it is designed so that both left right and back have quarter inch sides and the front is clearly marked. That helps a lot, but I've found that I do better by starting at my dot instead of sewing to it and I can have problems starting in the right spot, so I've marked the corner 1/4 seam allowances. Used to be able to just use a dot but with my vision issues this cut out works well. I just grabbed a piece of cardboard out of recycling and used my craft blade to cut the 3" square I needed, then trimmed out the corners. You can also leave your outer edges whole and use a hole punch.

Found out I miscut a couple of my "squares" were off by 1/4" so they are ready to go now. I needed 4 for each of the 6 blocks so when I had a set done, I safety pin through the top with the safety pin being the handle/up.

edit: The square order is: stacked upside down, one of the too big squares (pre trimming) with tool positioned, drawn lines/back side, and right side up.