On a whim yesterday, I decided to play with a fabric die cut machine a friend has lent me. I have never used one of these machines before but it seemed like a fun thing to use scraps on… so I grabbed some of my Cotton and Steel scraps and started cutting…
I decided to play with the Drunkards Path die that came with the machine, because it seemed like a great way to make these blocks, as the die cuts both pieces the perfect size….as opposed to the ruler method I have used in the past which leaves you with scrap pieces that are either to small or two big to use.
Anyway some ironing and cutting and an episode of Game of Thrones later I had a pile of curved block pieces….
Now these pieces make a 3 1/2 inch curved block for a 7 inch finished circle… in other words they are small. The first thing I have learned with this project is that the smaller the curve you are trying to piece the harder it is to be accurate. After some struggles aligning the pieces accurately I finally came up with a solution… glue basting.
Using my Sewline glue pen I glued around the seam line of one of the pieces of the block…
Placed the pieces together, using the notch to align and then carefully finger pressed the pieces together…
It worked like a charm and another episode of Game of Thrones later (we are just finishing up Season 5 so are a little behind)… I had a nice pile of glue basted…
Now all I have to do sew them… the glue basting will make chain piecing a breeze…
And I will have my block pieces done and ready for me to play with layout….
I am glad I decided to try the die cut curves… I have learned a lot including the fact that I like my curves big….much bigger than 4 inches….
