Welcome to Block 17, Shoreline by Camille Roskelley from Thimbleblossoms.
I have had a little fun with the cutting out and stripe placement for this one so I will walk you through what I did.
I have also had the opportunity to play with some starch, to see if it made a difference.
The starch I used was Terial Magic.
I soaked the pieces of my chosen fabrics and then left them for 10 mins and ironed them dry.
I wish you could feel how they turned out, I was so excited I showed the fabric to all my classes and customers!
The fabric feels and behaves a little like paper. This is particularly useful when cutting toweling, because it stays really flat and stable. I often cut my toweling stripes on the diagonal leaving me with stretchy bias edges. Starching first meant the fabric didn't move or stretch, making it really easy to work with.
Unfortunately, there is no distributor for Terial Magic in Australia, probably because it is a liquid and heavy to ship. So I am on the lookout for something that will do the same job. The shipping costs of buying this from overseas will be prohibitive so if you know of anything similar, available in Australia, then let me know.
Another unexpected and positive side effect of the starching, was it made it very easy to finger press the seams. Once you pushed it down with your finger, it stayed there. This saved me multiple trips to the ironing board. The step count was down but the productivity was up!
In summary, the starching was a great success and I will be using it for all my future blocks.
For the 9" block I made the centre from 4 matching triangles. To do this I cut 2 - 5" matching squares from a section of toweling stripe. You will notice that the stripe is symmetrical and centred. If your stripe is not centred you will need to cut 4 squares.
It is important that both squares are exactly the same, so you can match up the stripes when we sew the centre together.
I then cut both squares on both diagonals.
You can see here how both squares are the same.
From each square you will have 2 pairs of matching triangles.
Place all your matching triangles together into 2 groups of 4.
Here is the first set of 4 matching triangles. You can see how the stripes match and make a bullseye style square in the centre. I used these for the centre of the large 9" block.
Piece these together to make a square. Press all the seams open to reduce the bulk.
The trim the square to measure 3 ½" x 3 ½".
Here is the second set of 4 matching triangles. When matching the stripes on these you form a cross pattern.
Join the 4 triangles together to make a square.
I put this aside, because it was too good to waste. You might need it for another block in the future ; )
Here are all my pieces cut for the 9" block.
All the other pieces are exactly the same as the instructions, the only alteration was the centre block, which I have already outlined.
For the 4 ½" block I cut my A squares with the stripes running parallel to the two sides of the squares.
The C blocks were cut with the stripes running across the diagonal. Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph these, sorry. But I have shown you diagonal striped squares in previous blocks, so I know you are all clever enough to follow along.
The measurements and assembly for the 4 ½" block were exactly as per the instructions.
I used Diagonal Seam tape for all of the diagonal seams and half square triangles. I love this tape and it makes for accurate and straight sewing. It also saves a lot of time, removing the need to draw any diagonals on your fabric. It is a winner in my book.
I hope these tips are helpful, don't forget to follow along on my Instagram @piecestotreasure. I look forward to seeing your blocks.
Happy Sewing
Jenelle
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