Fiddle - Faddle

The two blocks that I have finished this week were quite fiddly. I used the 'starch and freezer paper method' for Block #3 of the Chester County Criswell quilt, the Priscilla & Joseph Turner block. I hadn't tried this method before and found Erin's applique lessons on her 'One Piece at a Time' blog very helpful. It was quite a fussy technique but I guess anything can be the first time you try it. I was happy with the result and it's good for placing separate pieces accurately.

Liquid starch is painted on the seam allowance and then folded over and pressed with an iron.

Then the freezer paper is removed.

 

Then the pieces can be placed on the background fabric with the pattern underneath it. 

I didn't make the leaves and stems in one piece as per the original, I decided to make the stems with a 'Clover' bias maker.

I initially stuck the pieces to the background fabric with applique glue but wasn't happy with the placement so I ended up pulling it all off, getting new background and then pinning. 

I found the starch and freezer paper method good for sharp points and once it was all prepped it was quick to sew as all the seams are already turned under.  Erin also has a tutorial on how to deal with pointy points that also helped me.

The other block I finished this week was this hand pieced block for my Morrell quilt, this was also very fiddly because of all the different small pieces. Like Janet's (from Quiltsalott) recent post on pressing hand pieced blocks I also find pressing challenging and have been inspired to photograph the back so you can see swirls where pieces meet...

The pressing seemed to take ages. Next time I'm going to try pressing as I go along, as I think it will make this task easier.

So, after all of the fiddle - faddle with these blocks I'll be happy to tackle the next CCCQ block  which is 'paper cut' applique - my preferred method.

Cheers

Carole