New Look 6708: The Eight-Year Skirt Project is Finally Finished

If you only come here for the quilting, be forewarned -- today's post is not for you.  Today's post will be all about how I spent $78 and eight years of my life making a skirt that I will probably only wear a handful of times, using a pattern (New Look 6708, now out of print) that I have no intention of ever making again.  Today I will relate the saga/review the pattern of what my mom and I have been calling "That Dumb Skirt!"  

New Look 6708 Skirt Finish

New Look 6708 (OOP) View B

I made my skirt using New Look pattern 6708, which is out of print from the manufacturer but you can still find uncut used copies for sale.  At the time I'm writing this, you can get a copy of this pattern on Etsy here and I saw a few copies available on eBay as well (This post contains affiliate links).  This A-line, lined Misses skirt with side zipper did not actually take 8 years to sew -- it just got abandoned for long intervals while I was sidetracked by other projects.  If you want to read the post from June of 2015 when I first started this skirt, you can find that here.

I made View B, the above-knee version of the skirt, and I used "Pretty Potent Echinacea" cotton voile fabric from Anna Maria Horner with solid navy cotton voile for the lining.  Although I was unable to find an online source for my skirt fabric in voile today, Anna Maria Horner has reissued this print in new colorways for Free Spirit Fabrics recently, calling it simply "Echinacea," and you can find those on Etsy here.  (Just be aware that the current versions are printed on quilting weight cotton fabric that has more body and less drape than the voile I used for my skirt).  I prewashed both my fashion fabric and my lining fabric prior to cutting out my skirt.

I used Pellon Shape Flex Woven Cotton Interfacing SF101 in White for my waistband and I'm happy with that interfacing choice for the cotton voile, but wish I'd chosen the same SF101 interfacing in Black in hindsight.  Because my fashion fabric is semi-sheer, the waist yoke with the white interfacing behind it looks like a slightly different color than the body of the skirt that has navy lining fabric behind it:

White Interfacing Makes Waist Yoke Look Lighter/Brighter than Navy-Lined Body of Skirt

Ah, well.  It's subtle and no one else is going to notice this or care.  I've only tucked my shirt in to show the top of the skirt for these project review photos; normally the waistband or waist yoke or whatever you want to call it won't even be visible.

To-Do Tuesday: Monofilament Stitching In the Ditches With the Disco Kitties

Quilting Away on Tabby Mountain

And now it is Tuesday.  Does anyone remember Once Upon a Time, A Long, Long Time Ago, the last time I posted weekly goals for the To-Do On Tuesday linky party?  Some of you may not be old enough to remember back that far, all the way back to March 6th when I posted the following goals that I was planning and fully expecting to finish in ONE week:

1. I need to design and embroider a quilt label and decide whether it goes on the front of the quilt or on the back.
2. I need to dig around in my studio to see if I have a package of batting the right size for Tabby Mountain.  If not, I need to purchase batting.  
3. Then I need to get all the dog fur and stray threads off my quilt top and give it a final pressing.  
4. Next, my extra-wide backing fabric needs to be cut to size, pressed and squared
5. Then I can load Tabby Mountain on my quilting frame!
6. It would be nice if I could baste my horizontal seam lines and outer edges of the quilt before the end of the week... 
7. -- Oh, one more thing: Now that Tabby Mountain is out from under my Bernina, I'd like to finish that pineapple log cabin quilt block this week.

Well, darlings, I've finally crossed all of those items off my list, but it ended up taking me THREE weeks instead of just one.  As you know if you saw yesterday's post, my month-end goal for March is taking on extra-special urgency since I've also committed to hosting TGIFF, "Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday" this week, and in order to host the party, I need to have a finish to show for myself!

Look At Me, Stitching In the Ditch Like a Real Quilter!!!

I did spend a lot of time on Tabby Mountain today, but since I'm very much a beginner longarm quilter everything takes me a REALLY LONG TIME.  It took me two hours just to switch over to monofilament and figure out how to get the tension looking nice.  I used Superior MonoPoly Reduced Sheen Clear thread and went down to a smaller size 3.5 needle and changed up my thread path to put less drag and twist on the monofilament, but was able to leave the bobbin tension alone since I'm using gray Fil-Tec Magna Glide prewound bobbins.  Those little prewound bobbins are so convenient and easy to use that I have yet to even try winding my own bobbins for my longarm machine!

Monofilament Tension Sample, Top Side

Same Sample, Backing Side Showing Gray Bobbin Thread

I just love the way that monofilament thread looks like a perfect color match to whatever fabric it's on -- that's why it was worth fiddling around until I got it to play nicely.  Monofilament thread can hide a multitude of sins!  You know, my original plan was to use lots of different thread colors in this quilt, but the MonoPoly thread looks so good on every fabric that I'm tempted to just quilt the whole thing with monofilament!  

SID With My HandiQuilter Versa Tool Ruler

I started out with the standard ruler foot that came on my APQS machine, but soon switched to the high profile, open-toe clog foot instead.  I need to see where my needle is landing for SID, and the regular ruler foot blocks my view.

MUCH Better Visibility With the Ninja Foot!

Angela Huffman calls her clog foot  "the Ninja foot."  I have no idea why it reminds her of a ninja, but I definitely preferred it for SID!  

Exhibit A: Oopsy Wobble Away From Seamline

See how the monofilament thread blends into every color of my kitty cat's fur when my ruler slipped and I wobbled away from the seam line?  That would be so much more obvious if I was using pretty much any color of ordinary thread.

Barely Noticeable Even From Reasonably Close Up

I am happy to report that I have now completed all of the SID (Stitch In the Ditch) quilting, because it took me forever.  I did get better at it as I went along, but I still find that I need to go very slowly in order to keep those stitches right next to the seam hump where I want them to land.  As with my list of goals from three weeks ago, the SID quilting took about three times as long as I expected it to take.

So...  I'm kind of rethinking my quilting plan.  The ruler work I had initially planned to do might require marking and might end up taking a lot more time than I have available if I am going to finish this quilt in time for my self-imposed deadline.  But that's my goal, people -- there is only ONE item on my list for To-Do Tuesday this time:

1. FINISH QUILTING TABBY MOUNTAIN
2. Photograph finished quilt
3. Write blog post for TGIFF and March OMG Linkies

I said only one thing, but once I'm finished of course I'm going to want to share it with all of you!

Okay, that's enough computer time for me.  I'm headed up to my studio to start quilting!  Just as soon as I link up with Esther's WIPs On Wednesday and with To-Do Tuesday, that is...  

Ta Da; I Made a Star! And Perhaps, Have Saved Two More

So, here's what I have to show for myself so far: 

A 4" Finished Sawtooth Star Block

I made one so far.  Way too much going on last week, and not enough fabric therapy!  I paper pieced this block, and only had to rip out seams twice.  Once, because I misaligned a fabric patch before sewing it down and when I pressed it open, it didn't completely cover the paper.  But the second boo boo was evidence that sleep deprivation is catching up to me, addling my brain:

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Nice, right?  First lesson, day one, Sewing 101:  We sew with RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER!!!  And such a shame, too, because I nailed the triangle points at that seam intersection.  Well, when you're sewing it's not that important that you always get it right the first time.  You just need to get it right the LAST time.  And this is why the seam ripper is such a blessing; it gives us do-overs!

Seam Ripper to the Rescue!

I spent most of today doing paperwork and other housekeeping in my home office, supervising the academic labors of kids who have Presidents' Day off and "forgot" about homework due tomorrow, and finishing up laundry.  Now that I've finished up what I need to get done today. I am DYING to get up to the studio for some fabric therapy and see if I can't sew a few more of these little star blocks -- especially since the baby was born a week ago.  But first, a few other things I wanted to share before I forget:

Bernina LED Lights Reflecting Off the Needle

See that white "line" of light?  The LED lights on my Bernina are so bright, they actually reflect off the machine needle to create a guideline.  I want my paper pieced seams to go all the way through both seam allowances, but instead of having to draw those lines in or eyeball them, I can just line that white light line up with the beginning of the printed stitching line on my foundation paper pattern and know that I'm perfectly straight and centered and good to go.  Love that!

As you can see in the photo above, a sawtooth star block cannot be pieced with a single foundation pattern.  I have four separate patterns to paper piece individually before I remove the foundation papers and join them using traditional piecing techniques. 

Once I've covered all of my foundation papers with fabric patches, I give them a final pressing and then I starch them twice so they are nice and stiff.  I have to flip them over and trim them paper side up, and I can't have flimsy fabric sliding around under the paper, misbehaving where I can't see it when I'm slicing away with my rotary cutter!

When I trim my foundation sections, I do NOT just cut on that solid line on the outside of the block.  Even though it is the cutting line.  Even though it is supposed to give me a 1/4" seam if I do that.  Nope, I trim my sections the exact same way I would measure and rotary cut fabric for a traditionally pieced block, in the way I know I can get precisely accurate blocks.  I line the 1/4" pink line of my ruler up on the dotted SEAM LINE that is printed on the paper pattern when I trim these sections. 

How I Line Up My Ruler to Trim Foundation Sections

Sometimes my rotary knife blade comes down right on the solid "cutting" line when I do it this way, sometimes the slice is just inside or just outside of the solid line -- but when I sew the trimmed pieces together after cutting them this way, using my 1/4" foot with the guide screwed into the machine bed, everything matches up perfectly and the block finishes the right size.

After trimming the starched pattern sections, this is what I need to sew together to complete the block:

Paper Pieced Foundation Sections Starched, Trimmed, Ready to be Assembled

See?  They are just like tidy little rectangles.  Precisely the right size, nice straight edges with no stray threads or wobbly nonsense to watch out for, and all seamlines are exactly the same kind of 1/4" away from the cut fabric edges.

How I Pin Seam Intersections

So then the papers come off, and matching seamlines get nested tightly together and pinned like so, with a pin just to either side of the already stitched seams that need to match up.  Notice my pins do not extend past the raw edge of the fabric, and the pin heads are pointing to the LEFT as this unit goes through the sewing machine.  This way my seams stay locked together without shifting, the pins don't get in the way of my patchwork seam guide, and I can easily remove the pins as I go.

Bernina #97D 1/4" Patchwork Foot for 9 mm Machine, with Seam Guide

That nifty seam guide takes all of two seconds to screw down or to remove.  I LOVE IT.  I just push it right up against the right toe of presser foot #97D, screw it in place, and I'm good to go.  This gives me nice, straight, even feeding for precision patchwork on my 9 mm Bernina, with the Dual Feed feature engaged, and I don't have to play around with moving my needle one click to the right or left or any other fiddling like that.  As long as I use the CENTER of the line printed on my ruler lined up on the CENTER of the seam line when I cut, this foot with this guide give me perfect results every time. 

How Much Do I Love Those Triangle Points?

However, if you CUT differently, you may need to PIECE differently to get the same results -- that's why you hear so many different people telling you to move your needle one click, or to sew a scant 1/4" or whatever.  I like to keep it simple, so I adjusted my cutting habits to work with my equipment.  That makes the most sense to me, because I've invested in really nice equipment!  :-)  Your mileage may vary...

New 4" Star On Design Wall Amid 10 1/2" Bear Paw Blocks

So another thing I wanted to say before I forget: When I printed off these sawtooth star foundation patterns from EQ7, the software gave me the option to number the piecing order myself.  I decided to just take it the way EQ generated the numbering.  This was a minor mistake.  I should have taken a moment to think through which way all the seam allowances would go before I printed the patterns.  I ended up with perfectly nesting seams on the right side of the block, where EQ7 had me start with the big white QST in the center of the foundation pattern.  But on the left side of the block, EQ7 had me start with the white square at the top of the foundation pattern, and that created one seam allowance that nested with the seam allowance on the center foundation and one seam allowance that stacked.  Stacked seam allowances don't lock together, so they are more prone to shifting and misalignment during stitching in addition to creating unwanted bulk in the block.  But I managed just fine with this block, and I'll change the stitching order for that left unit on all of my remaining blocks:

Foundation Pattern with Stitching Order Correction for Left Side Unit

Oh, I lied -- I have another thing to say before I go upstairs to sew.  Remember how bummed I was that those first two RED sawtooth star blocks that I made so long ago weren't colorfast?  Well, it annoys me that I worked so hard to make them, achieved such precise results, and then can't use the blocks.  So amid all of my other activities today, I conducted some experiments with those blocks involving soaks in hot water followed by rinses of cold water and squeezing between white paper towels.  I think that perhaps they had excess dye that I was able to rinse out, and I am hoping I can still use them in the quilt if they stop bleeding.  What do you think?

Bathing My Bleeders

I plan to repeat the hot water/cold water/paper towel squeeze routine some more just to be sure.  But wouldn't it be great if this worked?  If it works for these hand marbled bleeders, maybe something similar can save my Jingle BOM blocks made with bleeding red batik fabric.  Ah, but I get ahead of myself.  One quilt at a time! 

Can you believe I had SO MUCH TO SAY, despite how little I've accomplished?  ONE LITTLE BLOCK.  Imagine how much sewing I could get done if someone took away my computer! 

Farmer's Wife 1930s Block 4, "Ann the Cat Burglar"

I made another something!  Another 6" foundation paper pieced block from the 1930s Farmer's Wife book.  Meet Block #4, Ann:


My Version of 1930s Farmers Wife Block 4, "Ann"

To me, this block has a strong mid-century modern vibe.  Like The Jetsons, vintage Tom and Jerry cartoons, and Alfred Hitchcock movies.  The floral print fabric with the little black cats reminds me of children's book illustrations from this era and the largest patches were just the right size to showcase the kitties.  The watercolor blue batik fabric made the sharp pointy shapes in the blocks look like prisms -- or jewels! -- to me.  So, putting it all together, this block is my quilty interpretation of the 1955 movie To Catch A Thief, starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant.  These are the thoughts that amuse me while I'm sewing tiny bits of fabric together.

Argentinian Movie Poster for To Catch A Thief, with Kitty Cat

So anyway.  I paper-pieced the Ann block as usual.  In the book, all four of the triangles that meet in the center of this block are the same color, but I have an aversion to unnecessary seams in my quilt blocks.  If I'm going to go to all the bother to sew those seams and fight the good fight to match them up properly, then I want contrasting fabric so I can SEE the fruit of my labors in the finished block.  Hence the two lavender triangles.  It was either that or substitute a big pink square for the four triangles.

Precut Fabric Patches, Ready to Piece

After I added the little "wings" to each block quadrant, I shot them with some Mary Ellen's Best Press in order to get them to lie nice and flat after pressing.  Those skinny spikes created a seriously bulky seam allowance.

3 Quadrants Completed, 1 Still Needs "Wings"

Then, once all four block quadrants were constructed, I carefully peeled away the foundation papers.  I had noticed from photos online that some quilters have difficulty aligning seams at the center of this block, and it's because the foundation piecing sequence results in all four of those center triangle seam allowances to be pressed in the same direction.  So after I removed the foundation papers, I carefully re-pressed the seam allowances on the blocks with pink center triangles so those seams were pressed towards the blue batik fabric.  I made sure to press the "wing" seams in opposite directions as well.  That allowed me to nest those seam allowances for a more precise match.

Papers Removed, Matching Seams Pressed Opposite Directions

Also, I almost never press my block seams open, but I did it for the seams joining the block quadrants on this Ann block.  Ridiculous, crazy seam allowance bulk from these intricately paper pieced blocks -- no way would I try to hand quilt through those seams!  I left my stitch length at 1.5 (shortened for paper piecing) when I joined the segments together as an added precaution against the pressed-open seams pulling apart.

Seams Matched and Pinned for Stitching

Once the foundation papers are out, I'm joining the block segments the way I do traditional piecing.  Each of those seams is carefully matched and pinned, raw edges perfectly aligned, and notice how my pins are inserted with the heads to the left and nothing extending past the raw edge of my fabric?  That's so the pins don't get hung up on my little 1/4" seam guide.  I love, love, LOVE using the #97D Patchwork Foot with Guide for piecing on my Bernina 750QE.  It's one of my all-time favorite presser feet, especially in a situation like this where I'm going over impossibly thick seam allowances.  With dual feed engaged and full contact with the left dog, watching the raw fabric edges rub against the fixed metal guide the entire length of the seam, it's amazing how much more control I have to land each and every stitch exactly where I want it to go, even on a 9 mm machine.  And no, Bernina doesn't pay me to say that (but they totally should).

Joining Block Halves with Patchwork Foot 97D and Seam Guide

So here she is, up on the wall with her pals.  These intricate little blocks, each one unique, reminds me of a box of Godiva truffles:

Rose Dream and 1930s FW Blocks 1-4

By the way, although author Laurie Aaron Hird shows on point settings for both of her Farmer's Wife sampler quilts, I've already decided on a straight setting for my own blocks, and I'm keeping that in mind as I'm cutting my directional prints.   I absolutely LOVE those little black kitty cats in my Ann block!  My Rose Dream block still looks out of place to me, so it may or may not end up in the same quilt with these Farmer's Wife blocks.  Reasons: 1. So far, all of my FW blocks have white in them, but the background of the floral print in my Rose Dream block is ivory.  2. The Rose Dream block is the only one with curved seams.  3. The Rose Dream block only has two fabrics, whereas the others have three or more.

Next up on the agenda is Block #5, Anne (with an "e").  Looking at my wall, I decided that I need some yellow, so these are my fabric picks:

Fabric Selected for Farmer's Wife Block 5, "Anne"

I think I'm going to use the print fabric for the background and the two blues for the little pinwheel in the center of the block.

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Visa och Berätta måndag at Bambisyr med sin Quiltglädje (Bambi's blog), Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, Design Board Monday at Bits 'n Bobs, Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag, and Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts, and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, and WIPs on Wednesday at Esther's Blog.  Happy Stitching!



My Victorian Christmas Caroling Costume: Buttonholes of Despair, and Buttonholes of Deliverance

Victorian Christmas Caroling Dress Debut!

My Victorian Christmas caroling costume made from Simplicity pattern #1818 is finally finished, and now I need to catch up with my blog posts in fits and snatches as time permits.  Today I'll share the saga of the buttonholes.

Bernina Automatic Buttonhole Foot 3A with Leveler Accessory

My Bernina 750QE only came with one buttonhole foot, presser foot #3A, shown in the photo above.  I'm also using an optional accessory in that photo, the Buttonhole Leveler, because I'm stitching buttonholes perpendicular to the garment edge over a seam allowance and the automatic buttonhole foot needs to be perfectly flat and level to work properly.  So the Automatic Buttonhole foot for the computerized Berninas really is totally automatic on computerized machines like mine.  You select the buttonhole style you want on-screen, enter the size buttonhole you want and make any desired changes to the buttonhole width and/or the spacing of the stitches, step on your presser foot, and then the entire buttonhole is sewn in one step from beginning to end without you having to do anything else.  Subsequent buttonholes come out exactly identical to the first one.  Sounds great, right?  It is great, BUT...  Notice how BIG that buttonhole foot is?  My dress bodice has boning sewn into a dart that is right near where the buttonholes need to go.  Since the boning was angled rather than parallel to the front garment edge, I was able to sew the first few buttonholes at the top of the bodice with this presser foot.  But then when I got near the boning the foot started to get hung up.  I ripped three buttonholes out of my silk shantung dress bodice, sweating bullets with every flick of my seam ripper... 

I tried the Buttonhole Leveler.  I tried a different accessory, the Buttonhole Compensation Plates (designed more for sewing buttonholes on thick terry cloth or fleece, but I figured I'd give it a try anyway).  Nothing worked.  Finally, I read in my Bernina Feetures book that the manual buttonhole foot 3C was recommended for sewing buttonholes that were either larger than the maximum size of foot 3A -- or for sewing buttonholes "in tight places such as collar stands."  Eureka!

Manual Buttonhole Foot 3C for 9 mm Berninas

I had to wait a day to get the 3C Buttonhole foot, but that was exactly what I needed for this project.  See how much smaller that foot is?  Stitching out the buttonhole was almost as easy with manual foot 3C as it was with the automatic foot 3A. 

Manual Buttonhole on Bernina 750QE

I just had to mark the length of the buttonhole beforehand and sew the buttonhole in 7 steps instead of one.  I selected the same style of buttonhole that I had used for the others, but could not input the length ahead of time.  Then the machine stitched out the buttonhole the same way as before, except that I had to sew down to the end of the buttonhole, then tell the machine it could go to the next step by pressing the arrow on the screen, etc.  It still stitched out the same buttonhole the same way, and the resulting buttonhole would be identical to the others if the stitching on the last automatic buttonhole hadn't gotten denser when the foot ran into the boning.  The two buttonholes on the left in that photo were stitched with the automatic buttonhole foot, and the buttonhole on the right was stitched with the manual buttonhole foot.  I had no trouble with the manual foot whatsoever, even on the last buttonhole that had to fit at the pointy end of the bodice right between the seam allowances and the blasted boning. 

Buttonhole Success!

The moral of this story is not that the automatic buttonhole foot is no good; just that it has limitations.  With the manual buttonhole foot, there is a chance of operator error if I don't draw the buttonholes exactly the same length or I don't stop the machine at exactly the same length with each buttonhole.  If I was doing buttonholes down the front of a normal blouse, the automatic buttonhole would be a godsend.  However, the drawbacks are that the automatic buttonhole foot has to be perfectly flat and level (which is where those optional accessories come in handy), and it simply will not work at all in situations where a buttonhole has to fit into a tight space, like what I encountered with this project.

I'm glad that I ultimately decided to stitch my buttonholes with the same 50/3 Gutermann cotton construction thread, because it's a perfect color match to my dress fabric and my buttonholes ended up looking pretty invisible.

Finished Buttonholes, Awaiting Buttons!

They look pretty good, right?  So then I sewed on my buttons.  I did fabric-covered buttons in Bridal size 20, using the same black silk shantung as I used for the contrasting ruffles on my dress.  I sewed stabilizer buttons on the back of each covered buttons for greater stability and longevity.  This was a pain in the butt, and may contribute to my difficulty buttoning and unbuttoning the bodice with my broken thumb, but whatever -- what's done is done.  I didn't want my buttons to rip through the silk after repeated wearings.

Stabilizer Buttons for Greater Support

That's all you get for today.  Next time I'll tell you how I did the rows of scalloped knife pleated ruffle trim on the bottom of my skirt.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Paper Pieced Pineapple Block #19: A Change of Shoes and Settings

Block #19 of 36

I tried doing a few things differently with block #19 of my Pineapple Log Cabin.  I'm continuing to starch my fabric strips before sewing them to my block, and that seems to have solved the issue I was having where longer strips were not staying completely open while adjacent strips were attached to them.  I didn't starch my fabric before cutting it because starch invites bugs and not all of the fabric is going to make it into this quilt.  Instead, I starch my strips after I cut them to length, just before sewing them to the block.

Starch Keeps Block Nice and Flat During Construction

I'm using Faultless Heavy Spray Starch.  I like Mary Ellen's Best Press for prepared applique, but for starching throughout block construction I prefer the very fine mist of a conventional spray starch product.

I have also devised a method of sorts for staying organized while constructing these blocks.  With the first few blocks, I selected fabrics one at a time, but now I am laying out combinations of two and three fabric rings at once, cutting them to the appropriate length, and then taking them all to the machine, stacked in the order to be sewn.  I still have to get up after sewing four corner strips or four side strips, to trim and press the seams open, but it feels like the sewing goes faster when I don't have to stop and make fabric decisions as frequently.

Fabric Strips Waiting to be Sewn

I like to pile my waiting fabric strips right on top of my sewing machine, where they are in easy reach.

Another change I made with this block was to try a different presser foot.  I had been using the open embroidery presser foot #20D because it gives great visibility. 

Paper Piecing with Open Embroidery Foot #20D

However, all I'm sewing is straight lines that are printed on my foundation paper.  I switched "shoes" on my sewing machine to foot #37D, Bernina's 1/4" patchwork foot (predecessor to the newer foot #97D) and I liked it better.

Paper Piecing with Patchwork Foot #37D

See how there is still plenty of visibility of the needle, but the narrower opening at the front of the presser foot "frames" the stitching line better?  That helps me to sew perfectly straight along the lines even when I get to sewing pretty briskly, because my eye can watch that the line is centered between the toes of the presser foot IN FRONT OF the needle.  With foot #20, the presser foot toes are just too far apart to gauge whether the line is perfectly centered, so I have to watch the needle instead.  I do love and prefer foot #97D for traditional patchwork, but for paper piecing I wanted a foot that was perfectly symmetrical to help me stay right on the lines. 

The other thing I did differently with this block is that instead of sewing beyond the seam lines so that adjacent seams interest, I'm only stitching my strips on the actual printed lines and securing each seam at beginning and end so they don't pull out.  My books on paper piecing say to do it the other way, starting and ending each seam just beyond the printed line, but with the thicker copy paper I used for my block foundations it just isn't as easy to tear those little seam extensions free from the paper so that I can fold it back along the next seam line.  When I try to tear the paper around those extra stitches, they usually get pulled out anyway -- so now I'm doing it the way I would do if I was hand piecing or if I was sewing a Y-Seam.  I was already using the auto thread trimmer on my Bernina 750 QE at the ends of my seams with this project, so I went into my machine settings and activated the feature that makes the machine automatically tie off when using the thread trimmer AND automatically secure at the beginning of the next seam after using the auto thread trimmer.  When I first got my machine it was set to do that by default and I thought it was the stupidest thing ever, but it's EXACTLY what I want my machine to do in this situation.  Now I can sew like I'm brain dead with no worries of forgetting to secure any of my seams and having them pull out later when I remove my paper foundations.  It is nice to have these options available, once you learn how to turn them off and on as needed!

Here's what the completed block looked like before I trimmed it:

Completed Block, Ready to Trim

I'm trimming these blocks upside-down, aligning the 1/4" line on my ruler with the STITCHING LINE on my block rather than aligning the straight edge of the ruler against the printed cutting line at the outside of the block. 

Trimming Up

Ruler Lines Matched on Horizontal and Vertical Seam Lines

If my 1/4" line is lined up with the stitching line along the vertical edge I'm trimming, as well as with the horizontal seamlines, I know I'm going to end up with square, identical blocks that fit together properly.  Or at least, that's the idea...  ;-)

On the Wall Today

So here's my design wall as of today.  I'm still working on the FrankenWhiggesh Rose applique in odd moments here and there.  Now that I've finished the 19th pineapple block, I think I'll go back to the Math Is Beautiful baby quilt on the right and get that finished up.  It was meant to be a "quick and easy" project so I could have the satisfaction of a finish in the midst of all of my long term projects, but then when I got the top sewn together I wasn't excited about it (because it was TOO quick and TOO easy).  However, I signed up for Amy Johnson's Craftsy class, Quilting With Rulers On a Home Machine, and I'm looking forward to learning and experimenting with my Westalee ruler foot and quilting rulers.  A quick and easy quilt top that doesn't really excite me is the perfect first project for testing out new techniques, don't you think?

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, and WIPs on Wednesday at Esther's Blog.  Have a great week, everyone!