Greetings this President's day. I am "sew Star Crazy". This is Ann from Utah, and I am loving these blocks. At first I was intimidated by the small pieces, but they go together so nicely, and Sue has done such a good job of instructing, that the job is fun!!
I have never done half square triangles like this, but it is sooo slick. I can't believe how fast they work up. I have always done the triangles sewn together, then trimmed.
January blocks
February blocksI have the blocks laying on the back of a quilt I did a few years ago, and the upper right corners of the Irish chains are almost hidden, as they are the same material.
I am using up scraps and fat quarters, so hope that by the end of the year my stacks have been whittled down. I purchased the material for the background and the green for the narrow borders, but the rest of the material is from my stash.
I have not squared up the blocks yet, but that will come before March.
I have really found the importance of paying attention to detail on these few first blocks. Working with such small pieces, it is so important to make sure ALL seams are 1/4 inch, beginning, middle and end. I have a tendency to let the material slip a little at the end, but it really makes a difference. By laying out the rows as described in the instructions, there is less unpicking to do. Pressing is so important and "kissing" the seams is essential.
This is one of my favorite tools. I can trim, cut the half-square triangles, etc with this side, and the back side is a pressing board that works great with my mini quilting iron. It sure saves a lot of up and down time.
