Do you know what bamboozle means? Or is that something I made up?

Anyway . . . I bought this pattern at a quilt show.

http://www.newleafpatterns.com/Patte...ll/firefly.gif

I'm hoping that link will let you see the large version of the picture. It is paper pieced, and I cannot for the life of me get the sun pieces to lie flat. I've done paper-pieced circles before (Statue of Liberty style). When I've done those, I've done a quarter of the circle and then sewn the four quarters together. This is like that, but the suns are sort of stretched out so that the finished quarter is rectangle shaped instead of square like the ones I've done before. I've tried all different ways of pinning it, and I simply cannot (after making five of these) get the suns to lie flat.

I'm ready to give up on it, and I hate that I've wasted my expensive batiks on it. I could quit and still have pieces big enough to use for something else. If I keep going, I feel as if I'm throwing good fabric after bad.

I guess I'm sort of venting, but I wonder if others have ever just given up on a pattern. Or do you fight with it to the bitter end? Or do you know some magic trick for me to get these suns to lie flat? They are so puckered that I doubt even the quilting can hide it. I've put so much work into the five I've made. I keep thinking if I can get just one to lie flat, then I'll take the others apart and do them again. But after five tries, I'm ready to give up.

I put it away once before and took a class. That was how I learned to do the Statue of Liberty style quarter-circle. I had no problems with that. But this is different. The sun is not a perfect quarter circle. It's stretched out somehow. There is one mark I'm supposed to match up, and I've done that. Still, I just can't make it work.

I've been quilting for two years, and I've made 23 quilts. I've never had one defeat me as this one has. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

That is a stunning pattern!!! :D:D:D

Maybe go to her website and see if there has been a correction to the pattern? I have seen many patterns "fixed" this way :wink:

Are you taking the paper off before sewing the parts together? Sometimes that helps me.

You don't have to finish it if you are no longer enjoying the process, however.......if you figure it all out, push yourself a bit and finish...very rewarding.

The pic isn't all that clear, but have you considered appliqueing the centres of the suns? You could cut out thin card exactly the shape required, put it on your fabric, trim to about 1/4 inch larger all round (or a little larger), and then iron the excess over the card. To get it to lay flat, you might have to run a small gathering stitch through the seam allowance first. Allow it to cool, then remove the card. Turn the patch over, and applique onto your block.

That might work. I'm doing okay with the "rays" of the suns. It's just when I put the solid quarter circle together with them that causes me grief. There are two sets of four suns, mirror images of one another. I could use the same template for both by turning it over to the other side. Even if I have to top-stitch over it, I think it would bette than what I'm doing now. And since they're already cut for a quarter-inch seam, I could use the same pattern for the template that I used to cut the suns in the first place. I'll give it a try on the next block and see how it goes. Thanks for a good idea.

I'll check the website. She owns a quilt shop in Sisters, Oregon, and if I recall this correctly, she started the Sisters quilt show that happens on the 2nd Saturday in July each year. It's one of the largest in the country. I might just take my blocks along and show them to her and see what she has to say about it. I have another of her patterns with the circular paper-pieced Statute of Liberty style blocks. It's a gorgeous quilt--I think it was raffled at the show one year. I'm hesitant to give it a try unless I can get this one right. I suppose I can always make a sample block and see how it goes.

I really hope you can work this problem out, it'll make a gorgeous quilt when finished.

Those are some tight curves.

Are you leaving the last 1/4 inch of the seams of the rays unstitched? That might help a little bit.

Are you setting the arcs in like a sleeve?

This is a link to another thread that has a link to a Sharon Schamber tutorial that might help.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-38506-1.htm

Did you know that she preshrinks freezer paper before using it?

Do you mean the last 1/4-inch of the rays? I'm stitching them to the end of the marked line on the pattern, then I'm running a basting stitch in the curve to hold all the pieces stable. It kind of flops around if I don't. Is that a problem?