Cutting some itty bitty 4 Patch Posies -
Using my 1-1/2" square die (1" finished) -
And another set of scraps - ;))
Using the die to cut squares out of the corner sections -
You can see the dots in the lower right corners are not EXACTLY the same cut -
But they go together well enough -
I liked this one the best -
But lost a lot in the seam allowances -
So I tried it again -
This time - a MUCH better cut -
Once again losing a bunch in the seam allowance -
But it was a MUCH closer match -
And the whole thing is only 2-1/2" square -
So we're talking itty bitty - LOL - ;))
So I thought - THIS time I need to take photos of HOW I did it -
I started with pin point matches in two places on all four scraps -
Pulled the pins all the way through and turned the set upside down -
MATCHING them with my fingers as I put them down on the ironing mat -
Then- with a "temporary" fabric glue stick - I put a small dab of glue on the first scrap on the bottom - on the back side of the fabric because it was upside down - and AWAY from where the die blades would be - finger pressed the second scrap down on top of the glue - making sure it was still lined up properly - then put a small dab of glue on the second scrap - finger pressed the third scrap down on top of the glue - and added another dab of glue on the third scrap - finger pressed the fourth/top scrap down -
When all four layers were glued together - and I was sure they were still lined up with the pin - I pinned the fabric together - taking the smallest bite of the fabric and smoothing it out -
Then went to the other end of the scrap and did the "glue-thing" on that side -
Starting with the bottom scrap -
After all four layers were temporarily glued together -
Out of range of the die blades -
And out of range of the actual SQUARES that will be cut -
I removed the pins and carefully transferred the stack to the die -
And ran it through the die cutter -
Pretty darn close -
Decided on this layout -
Spun the seam on the back -
And the center is a pretty close match -
AND there is NO glue on the SQUARES themselves - just the die cut-off scraps -
Even IF there was glue on the SQUARES - it's water soluble - so it's not a problem -
So I tried it again - and again - and again -
Getting better each time I tried it -
So I made two itty bitty blocks -
That finish at 4" square -
And put them on the design wall -
Then I finished the quarter plate sections on the rest of the Dresden Plates -
So all they need now is the final layout and the "centers" fused and appliqued down -
It took me a while and some trial and error to perfect my "technique" -
But I made 8 sets of 4 - to make 2 more 4" (finished) blocks -
Each time I made one - it got a little easier -
And a little more "lined up" -
And it was fun! -
I'm not sure if it will work as well on a larger scale -
But I can chase that Squirrel on Sunday - LOL - ;))
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
Left over from cutting the blue OBW blocks -
Lead to an experiment in cutting some itty-bitty ones -
Using my 1-1/2" square die (1" finished) -
#1 -
#2 -
#3 -
#4 - Was my choice -
But I didn't realize how much would get eaten up by the seam allowance -
Surprise! - LOL -
I played with a couple more sets of scraps that I'll show you later -
And then I played with some Dresden Plates -
Slowly but surely -
Everything will get sewn together - LOL - ;))
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
So I played with some more layouts -
#1 was yesterday's photo -
#2 - today -
#3 -
#4 -
#5 -
I only played with the center QST -
And I only moved a couple at a time -
So they don't really look all that different -
And I could probably play with them -
Until the cows come home - LOL - ;))
Tomorrow I might take them all down -
And put them back up randomly -
See what that looks like - LOL - ;))
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
For some more mindless sewing -
And they sure are pretty -
The more I play with them - the more I like them - ;))
Then I played with the MATH and the One-Block-Wonder (OBW) blocks -
The QST finish at 4" and the 4-Patch Posies finish at 6" -
And if my MATH is correct -
And I'm pretty sure it is - LOL -
3 QST will finish at 12" - the same as 2 4-Patch Posies -
6 QST will finish at 24" - the same as 4 4-Patch Posies -
So - with what I have so far -
This layout should work -
QST - 3 x 6 = 12" x 24" - in the middle -
With 4 4-Patch Posies on each side and across the bottom - 6" x 24" -
There are not enough 4-Patch Posies for a top row -
But I think that will be OK -
And I don't know about you -
But my eye goes to the QST in the middle column -
4th one down -
It's like a miniature bull's-eye - LOL - ;))
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
I remembered after my post yesterday that another part of the Christmas gift was a set of mirrors to use to preview what a OBW block would look like if you wanted to fussy-cut the fabric repeats - so I found the mirrors and tried them out -
The way I had the mirror positioned only gave me 5 "wedges" -
But it was enough to satisfy my "triangle" curiosity -
So then I decided to get back to work on the Dresden Plates -
While I ponder the best use of the remaining OBW fabric -
The chunk for the back is actually almost two yards of fabric. The photo was of one repeat. I have 4 full repeats and another 16" - so if I pull one out for the back - I need to do some MATH to see how many more blocks I can make. The QST are 4-1/2" (4" finished) and the 4-Patch Posies are 6-1/2" (6" finished) - and they both take 4 repeats -
I usually have plenty of fabric for whatever I want to do - so I just pull a couple of yards and start cutting. I don't like this limited supply stuff - LOL. I do like the thought of one whole repeat for the back. That would leave me with 5 partial repeats - and I only need 4 - so that would give me a few more blocks.
If I sketch it out - I should be able to figure out something -
In the meantime -
The Dresden Plates don't require any brain power - LOL - ;))
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
