QUIET WEEKEND

I've had a nice quiet weekend so far. I got some laundry done, knitted some and I have even got some playing done in my sewing room. Since I have the house to myself this evening, I put in some DVD's ( I Robot, and Fool's Gold) and just enjoyed myself. I found something interesting that I didn't even know people did these days. It is something I wouldn't even consider. HOMEMADE SANITARY NAPKINS . I didn't even last long with cloth diapers when my twins were babies, I can't even imagine messing with these. Not that I would have to anymore. But when I showed them to my daughter, she didn't think it was such a wonderful idea.

My guild is having a small quilt auction in November and my mini group made a small "Indian Hatchet" do-it-yourself signature quilt. It has 100 2" blocks. It was a really fast project. I ironed freezer paper onto the back of the fabric that would eventually be the signature block. Then I made a template to put in the center of the paper and drew two lines which were the sewing lines for the triangles.

If you are making blocks that you will carry with you to be signed, this is a good way to stabilize the area to be signed and keep the blocks from being stretched or wrinkled. When I was collecting signatures for a quilt, I carried a bunch of finished blocks with the freezer paper still ironed on. I put them in a plastic envelope and kept it in my purse with a pigma pen. When it came time to put the top together, I just tore off the paper and sewed the blocks together.

If you are just going to sew the whole quilt together and then collect signatures, an easier way to do it is to first cut a piece of fabric intended for the signature (center section). Example: if you want a finished 4" block, cut a light colored piece of fabric 4 1/2" square. Then cut 2 squares of contrast fabric 1/4" smaller than the unfinished block. In this example it would be two 4 1/4"squares.

If you keep the blocks small, you won't have to draw a line across the center of the square. Just focus on the end point and your line will be straight

This is what one side looks like after stitching

And this is one side of the block finished. As you can see, there is not a need to trim the block. You will need to cut the 2 extra layers under the color fabric to make a 1/4" seam. Then repeat with the other contrast square for the triangle in the opposite border.

This technique works best with small blocks. There isn't much fabric waste. You would have to use a different technique with a larger block, perhaps paper piecing or templates.