so I'm doing up alternates of the BOM I'm participating in at LQS and this month's block is a flower basket and therefore a bunch of HST so I figure perfect for chain piecing! I've got everything all cut out for my 8 alternate blocks and I've got my seam lines marked and away I go.

Come to find out sewing 40 HST's makes the foot pedal of the ol' Genie quite hot ;-)

And then there is the cutting in half while holding the straight edge down with the left hand. Quite fatiguing.

And now DH says it is time to go to bed and I'm not half done with pressing the seams.

Oh well, at least this way I'm guaranteed not to have a sore back or legs from standing at the ironing board for all 80 at once ;-)

I just made 72 of them and then realized that they werent supposed to be HST. Had to unpick the whole bunch and re sew them short sides together to make triangles! Frustrating. I might add though that there are easier ways to do HST than drawing lines, cutting, etc. And I should know, I just made and unmade 72 of them! LOL

Laalaaquilter,
"to press, or not to press. That is the question."
At least our creative work has a longer shelf life than our ,also, important work that gets feed to the dog/cat under the table/ the clean, unwerinkled clothes that is worn for 1 hour & thrown on the floor/ the mopped floors that our best pal the dogs/cats track up for the second time that day. : )
P.S. Love your quotation.

:thumbup: Been there!

I never chain piece. A) it bores me, and I quilt for fun! B) if I screw up, that's a nightmare to redo.

I work two blocks at a time, always.

I am finding out that I hate HSTs lol...they dont do well with me lol

and did you ever chain piece a hundred or so of those , only to find out you had no bobbin thread?

I HATE it when that happens!

Been there done that. I'm actually getting good at hearing or feeling the difference when my bobbin thread runs out. I can usually catch it in less than 12 inches now. It is a very subtle sound that I never noticed in many many years of sewing.
Sue

Have you heard of triangulations software? It prints any and all sizes of hst, you print them on paper - I use doodle pads from the dollar store, according to the size of the hst you can do a bunch at the same time. I'm doing 2" & I did 18 I think. They are perfect and don't need squaring - I did at first, but really don't need to.
Judi