Thursday, July 17, 2014

Steam Punk Quilt Blocks - Fifth Set with Construction Notes

The Steam Punk blocks are almost done. Just a few more and then on to the sashing!

Propeller blocks in pinks, greens, blues and reds.
Steam Punk Quilt blocks 65-80

I've been taking photos of each block as they are finished and cropping the edges. That makes it very easy to create these collages in Picasa. Each collage inspires a slightly different set of blocks: lighter, darker, brighter, quieter. Previously I simply took photos of layouts on my design wall. Cropping and collaging with Picasa is a big improvement because it approximates the sewing edge. You can even add a sashing effect with any solid color by increasing the grid spacing.

Nine Propeller blocks in green, blue, brown and pink/red.
Steam Punk blocks with sashing

While we hope our blocks finish square that is not always the case. Especially curved seam blocks. After making a few I decided to alter my cutting method for the quarter circle corner pieces by cutting the outer sides of those pieces slightly larger than the template. I didn't change any other templates and still sewed quarter-inch seams.

Plastic template is positioned on fabric to show how larger outer seam allowance was cut.
Quarter Circle piece cut with larger outer seams

The extra seam allowance in the outer corners leaves enough room to square the blocks even when my sewing pulls one corner in.

Marimekko fabric in greens and blues is used with browns and yellows to create a Steam Punk block.
Top right corner of this block is not square. But larger seam allowance allows trimming.

Then I use my square ruler to trim the block to 9.5 inches with a quarter-inch seam allowance past the blade edges.

Steam Punk block ready to trim to size

I considered extending the seam allowance on the triangles also but using the correct size helped ensure the blades didn't get too big.

Here are my previous posts on this quilt:
First Set with Tutorial
Second Set
Third Set
Fourth Set

Enjoy the day, Ann

No comments: