Sister's Choice Quilts

My interests are quilting, reading, cooking, family, decorating, and matters of style. I post regular quilting tutorials and book reviews of current fiction.

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Sewcialites Catch Up and Great Tip

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I grabbed a couple of hours yesterday and got caught up with my Sewcialites blocks. The most recent ones are the two on the bottom. #20 "Honor" by Lisa Bongean is the tan block on the bottom right. Super easy block (which is a surprise from Lisa!), but I still managed to sew the strips on wrong. My trusty Jack the Seam Ripper sorted it out quickly and all was good.  The black block on the bottom left is #21 "Zest" by Brigitte Heitland. This was another one of those complicated blocks that can simplified. 

You may recall the difficulties I had with #19 "Unity" by Lissa Alexander. That is the red block on the top right. I still think the measurements were off on that block. I remade it later with the tip I am about to share and it turned out so much better.

Anyway, back to "Zest". This block called for corner squares rather than the large corner triangles that I put on. It added seams and bulk and fussiness I thought. Just as I was thinking I would swap it out for something else, I saw a FaceBook post by an Australian woman named Tracy Bes. Did you know the Sewcialites sew-along has a FaceBook group? Well, they do, and now and then someone comes up with a very helpful tip for better block construction. The group is "private", but you just need to request to join it. Once you are approved my link to the tip below will work.

Tracy eliminated 12 seams from Block #21, and I am all for that.  Here is a link to her FaceBook post. I highly recommend you take a look at it if you would like to lessen the difficulty of this block and get better results.

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Here is a better photo with the wrinkle pressed out.

Hope you all had a great weekend! 

15 responses to “Sewcialites Catch Up and Great Tip”

  1. Your blocks look great. If only I had the time to do all the fun BOM’s I see out there in cyber world. I have two going now that have a lot of embroidery in them and that is about all I can handle, in addition to all my other UFO’s.

  2. Your blocks look great. If only I had the time to do all the fun BOM’s I see out there in cyber world. I have two going now that have a lot of embroidery in them and that is about all I can handle, in addition to all my other UFO’s.

  3. Your blocks look great. If only I had the time to do all the fun BOM’s I see out there in cyber world. I have two going now that have a lot of embroidery in them and that is about all I can handle, in addition to all my other UFO’s.

  4. 12 seams is a lot in that small of a block! I tried to view her post but the group is private. Oh well! I finished making the “bad” blockheads block yesterday and so now I need to figure out how to best take apart the quilting and batting. One step at a time! Enjoy your day, Nicole.

  5. 12 seams is a lot in that small of a block! I tried to view her post but the group is private. Oh well! I finished making the “bad” blockheads block yesterday and so now I need to figure out how to best take apart the quilting and batting. One step at a time! Enjoy your day, Nicole.

  6. 12 seams is a lot in that small of a block! I tried to view her post but the group is private. Oh well! I finished making the “bad” blockheads block yesterday and so now I need to figure out how to best take apart the quilting and batting. One step at a time! Enjoy your day, Nicole.

  7. The tan block’s bee center is adorable! That’s nice there’s a Facebook page to share tips & changes. Glad you found some time to work on your sew along! Stay well!

  8. The tan block’s bee center is adorable! That’s nice there’s a Facebook page to share tips & changes. Glad you found some time to work on your sew along! Stay well!

  9. The tan block’s bee center is adorable! That’s nice there’s a Facebook page to share tips & changes. Glad you found some time to work on your sew along! Stay well!