So this block took... a while.
Partly because I have been in a cross country move. But mostly because.... don't make me say it....
Ok.... I'll say it....
CURVES.
Those @$#^@$&#* curves.
More...
And this time, the curves won. Kind of.
Let me explain: I used the acrylic templates to cut all my pieces. I had my curvy-sewing tricks up my sleeve. I was ready. And this was the result.
Ok, that was not what I was hoping for. Unpick - try again.
Same result.
I read through the pattern, and sure enough Jen was one step ahead of me. She wrote in a suggestion to sew these curves by hand.
Great! Umm, except, how do I do that? I quilt by hand all-day-ery-day, but I don't piece by hand. Especially not curves!
I tried. I failed.
I felt pretty defeated. I thought long and hard about just SKIPPING this month.
And I almost did.
But then, I tried something else.
I do, actually, piece by hand sometimes. When doing English Paper Piecing (EPP for the cool kids). So the new challenge became : How do I turn this into a EPP project?!
I am not 100%, but I believe the full pattern comes with paper templates. That would have helped a lot here. I, however, had acrylic templates. And I needed to use those to create paper pieces.
I came at the first part of this challenge 2 ways: One, using a window, glue dots, tape, paper and pencil (and my trusty templates). And two, using my lightboard, scanner and Adobe Illustrator (and the templates).
*** A third option would have been to use the registration points in the acrylic template to create these paper pieces. But I only just now realized that, 2 days after finishing the last block.
Option 1: Thrifty
Make sure the sun is out (clouds are fine, just no night time activity). Use the glue dots (or any adhesive) and stick those acrylic templates to the window. Then, tape your white piece of paper over the template. You're going to be tracing the inside lines of the template, not the outline of the template (we are trying to ignore the quarter inch seam allowance).
Do this for each template piece. Cut these pieces out, and trace them on cardstock (as many as the block calls for).
Option 2: Fancy tools
I have a confession: I'm a serial shopper. It's a problem. But this one time, it helped out. I had an impulse buy tool that came in perfectly for this project. And, to be honest, I use this tool for many other things as well.
What is it?
My light board! There are so many options out there, but this is the brand I purchased. I love it. I got a larger size, so I could tape multiple projects at once (and just kind of leave them there until I got around to them again).
So the light board replaces the window here. Set the template on the board, tape paper over the template, and trace the interior lines of the template.
I then scanned these images on to my computer.
If you are new to vectorize scanned images, I suggest you check out this blog post. It is for hand lettering, but the process is the same.
Once I had them on my computer, I used Adobe Illustrator to copy and paste the images to the desired amount necessary for my project. I then printed the pieces out on cardstock.
You then cut those cardstock pieces out, glue the fabric like you normally do with EPP, and stitch together as the pattern suggests.
But how do you EPP curves?! I'm glad you asked. And while I would love to show you this step, I just can't do it as well as one of my favorite sewers, Mister Domestic. Check out his YouTube video to see a thorough explanation of how to stitch these curvy suckers together. His video virtually held my hand through the entire process.
Is this quick? Hellz no. It took quite long to complete the blocks. But, for me, it was a satisfying end.
Maxine Helmer | 29th Mar 19
How can I get the patterns for block of the month. This is new for me.
Jess | 30th Mar 19
Hi Maxine! The pattern was originally released in segments, one each month, which is how we did the block of the month. However, you can now purchase the pattern in its entirety. I like to buy the patterns from Jen’s shop (Amitie) but you can also find them at local quilt shops or online at Fat Quarter Shop.