Thursday, June 18, 2015

A Little bit of Starch

When we moved to Michigan my camera went AWOL and my phone is not wanting to send pictures I take to my email or anywhere else for that matter.  Therefore, no pictures until I either buy a new camera or a new phone.

Last month I taught the quilt group how to make a lone star block.  What beautiful projects came out of that class.  There were also questions that I hope I can answer if you decide you want to tackle this issue.  To get the block to come together without the distortion and lump in the middle there are a few things you can do that will help the process.

When you make the strip sets and iron them use spray starch or Best Press to give them stability with all of the bias edges.  I also use it again after I have sewn the strip sets together to make the diamond shape.  For me this makes all the difference in how the block turns out.

This is one of those patterns where cutting, piecing 1/4 inch seams carefully and pressing with starch creates a more successful outcome.   In fact, any block where you have bias edges and need to be extra careful in handling it, starch or Best Press helps tremendously.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.