In yesterday’s post, I described my newest piecing project…. a charity quilt using the “Whirlpool” block…..
I did make one change in the piecing layout. Instead of piecing the diamond blocks as two half-square triangle squares, I decided to piece them as one unit made up of a rectangle of the scrap fabric and two triangles of the background fabric…..
I was piecing these using the “snowball” technique where you place a background square at the end of the rectangle, sew on the diagonal, and press the resulting triangle over to finish the rectangle.
BUT, I was having trouble getting my lines to be straight!!
After some thought, I figured out a solution……
After I figured out how to position the tape, it was fast and easy to finish piecing the 80 required rectangles and get on with the design.
What would quilters do without Painter’s Tape!!!!
Do you have a favorite trick for using this special tool??
Genius!
Thanks Andrea. I actually drew the line on with a sharpie and used it when I just had two or three seams for a border. It was SO much easier!!!
Great idea!
Thank you for that YouTube demo. I have had the same problem you described and will try this hack.
I have one question though…. I’m surprised that stitching exactly on that diagonal works so well. I would have thought you would have to be a bit off to compensate for the fold. This goes to my confusion about the “scant 1/4” seam. I’ve been quilting for 3 years now and still am not as consistent as I’d like to be.
Joan
Hi Joan. Unless you are using a very heavy thread, I don’t think that you will go wrong by sewing ON the diagonal line. I too struggle with the “scant” business!! I use painters tape to mark my 1/4-inch seam as well and that has made my piecing a lot more accurate. I have been thinking about writing a post about this and will do it either this Tuesday or the following Tuesday. Please let me know if I can help further.I