Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Pressing On with Mrs. Bannister's Stars


Four blocks done. The first one took a whole afternoon, but the following day I had 3 more done in about 4 hours. The more I hurried, the less focused I was, and the more mistakes I made. On the other hand, I figured out some tricks.

One time saver was using chain-piecing whenever I could. I will tell you that Mary Huey's method for chain-piecing Y-seams works wonders in zipping through repetivite pieces. She has a dvd showing how to consistantly piece Y-seams accurately. Love it!



There was a point on every block when I looked at it, and asked myself if the fabrics were 'working'. It was usually at this point, before I had the lighter backgrounds attached.




See how much more unified the block appears with a background fabric?



The direction the seams are pressed is important. I either moved clockwise or out from the center. Just to remind us all,
PRESS. Lift up. Press down. Don't iron. This block is a good example of what will stretch with all the bias seams. And remember that spray starch is your friend. Use it.




This is the first time I've ever gotten the little star in the center of my pressed back, and I was just tickled about it. Ta-dah!





This yellow dot did not look like a deep yellow when I chose it, but the other colors helped to deepen it. 



Here's a little trick that sometimes helps me get a truer color
with my photos. Include other colors nearby, and crop your photo with an editing program after you take it. It's surprising how much better the actual color is vs. using an all white background.



Now I have to make a decision whether to arrange these
blocks into a pillow, or if they might be better in a quilt. I'm thinking more toward a small quilt after all that effort. I feel like the blocks would benefit from a border or some additional piecing. Back to the stash stack I go!




I do hope you're finding time to stitch today, but if you haven't seen your stash in a while then block off some time for YOU this weekend. We're better at dealing with the crap stuff that comes at us when we've met some of our own needs. Creating makes me feel like I've filled my cup, and some of that love does run over. I'm just a nicer person to be around, and thankful to have it in my life.

Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.

If you're on Instagram and want some afternoon company while you stitch, post your pictures and tag me @pinkdoxies. I love to have people out there to trade ideas with!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Great points! Definitely quilt!!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Your new website format is really hard for me to navigate, Julie. I don't know if others are struggling with it as much as I am; for reference I use Google Chrome as a browser. When I use a link for your side I have to click to a different post and back a few times to get the full post (and comment form) to show up.

Sandra Walker said...

Love that teensy start in the centre, and gotta say I just love the clockwise pressed seams! It isn't often we show the backs of our blocks, so kudos to you, and also for writing about Y seams and doing them too! As for the navigation, I just click on Classic in the top left corner and tada! I see everything you write. I am on a Mac, and using Firefox. What you said about making time to stitch is so true; my blood pressure which is normally low, definitely rises when I'm feeling a "OMG-I-HAVEN'T-SEWED-TODAY-I-WANT-TO-PUNCH-SOMEONE!!! On the other hand, that could be the menopausal rage rising...LOL. Okay now I am actually feeling that aforementioned feeling right now, so I'm going to my cutting table and starting to cut some serious fabric!

Margo Yang said...

Great looking blocks! You have an amazing sewing skill.

Barb Neiwert said...

Oooohhhh, I am thoroughly impressed with your little star on the backside - awesome indeed! Wish I could do that. All the blocks are great - a pillow sound like a good home for them.

Ruth said...

I think these would look fantastic in a cushion hand quilted!