3 February

YIKES!!!!!! 1/2" HST units went into today's block!!!!!  That is the smallest I have ever made, and boy were they tiny!!  I did use my triangulations papers, for them, but that doesn't help when sewing them to the units next to them.  I thought I was being very accurate and precise, and while I was making this block, it looked to me like it was not going to finish at 3".  As I was sewing, I contemplated making it again later in the year when I didn't have so many other things I wanted to work on, or perhaps, changing it up a bit so it was easier, or not even using it at all in my final quilt top.  But once I finished it, and put it on my table to see if it was 3.5" it was almost perfect!!!!  I did trim up the edges, and that helped a lot with it looking much better, but it was exactly 3.5" when all those seams were complete.  

3 Feb

One thing that does help, a lot, when working with such small sub units, starch!!! Starch your fabric before you cut it to sew something this small.  It will help keep your fabric from stretching and then not ending up the correct size.  I try to starch all my fabric no matter what size I will be cutting it.  It just seems to work out better to be accurate when the fabric is starched, especially for units that work with bias edges like HST units do.  

So, even if things aren't looking like they will turn out correctly, keep pushing through to the end, and see if things don't turn out like they are suppose to.  Even if your quilt block doesn't end up the way it should, learn from what you did.  What can you do different the next time, to get better results?  What did you do that caused it to not turn out the correct size?  It is never a waste of time or fabric, if you learn something from the process, even if you don't end up with a quilt block that you want to use in your final quilt. 

And remember, unless you are making a quilt to enter into a show, it really isn't going to matter in the end, if all your blocks are "perfect" or if you chop off some points, or your seams don't line up.  Your quilt will be beautiful, because YOU made it.  It will still be appreciated by someone, and it will keep them just as warm, as a quilt with "perfect" points and seams.  Enjoy the process!!!  If you want to work on precision, go for it, but don't stress out over it, if things don't turn out like you expect them to.  Finish the quilt, move on to the next one, and keep working on your precision, if that is what you want to do.  If you don't care about how precise you are, then just enjoy each and every quilt you make... and don't listen to anyone that says something about your points or seams not being as they should be.

Until next time... Happy Crafting!!!