Episode 509: Fix Blocks that Aren't the Right Size
Listen to the show in the player at the end of this post.
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Fix Blocks that Aren't the Right Size
I'm sure many quilters have experienced this before: You make your units or your blocks and they're just not coming out the same size as the pattern says. In most cases, this is caused by a seam allowance problem. But it can also be caused by cutting and pressing issues, too. All these little things can have an impact in the size of your blocks and how easily things are to sew together. But luckily, there's a few fixes if things have gone awry in your sewing room.
Ask Us Anything
Lindsay shares her story of a broken machine foot pedal, and all she learned in her troubleshooting research. Did you know your foot pedal has an electrical circuit and wires inside? Because of that, it needs to be handled gently and cleaned regularly. And it can also cause problems with the speed of your sewing or even stop working at all if the wires or parts become damaged.
What We're Loving
The third edition of Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns came out a few months ago. In this new edition, the blocks are displayed in color along with the original line drawing from the first two editions. It has more than 4,000 blocks (161 are new to this edition). It's truly a masterpiece and many quilters fangirl over this book. Meg Dunton of Monograms for Makers is running a sampler sew-along with 100 blocks found in this book. Meg did the math and instructions for everyone and is posting them as images on her Instagram page so you can screenshot them to save to your phone. (She's calling it the Screenshot Sampler.) It started April 1 and it's 100--6" blocks in 100 days. Join her on Instagram here.
Back to Basics
Joanna shares tips for English paper piecing, including:
- Making and buying templates
- Sewing pieces together in two different ways
- Holding pieces together