Shine Together Quilt SAL

Last week, as I sewed the block pieces together, I challenged myself to perfect all the seam connections. If the seams were off by a 2/8, I ripped it off and sewed it again. All the seams are pressed open and then held down with a wooden piece of wood. Nope, it's not a clapper-pressing tool but a part of a cut-off wooden rail. It works!

All the fabrics for Shine Together are from my stash and NOT from a bundle. Starching all the fabric beforehand helped with the accuracy of piecing, and the fabric stretched less when pressed.

This block took about ninety minutes to sew as there were many little pieces, and as you can see, I didn't rend the seams that weren't perfectly aligning. Tough decision? Nope.

                                                                Back of the block

One of the Barn Star Sample block with seams pressed opened. It is no a rule, it's a preference

                                                            Shine Together Block

Because I didn't purchase the fabric bundle suggested by the designer, I had to correlate my fabrics with the collection. Then, I would be clear when I followed the cutting instructions.

DIY- Design Boards

With only six "12 square DIY design boards, it became evident I would need more as I precut many blocks for a productive chain. I  decided to make additional design boards of the size of "15 and "12 squares. I used foam boards, flannel fabric, spray baste, iron, and a glue-stick for this project. I omitted the binding for the edges for now.

 

I trimmed the flannel fabric with a generous one-inch from the foam edge. The corners were cut off to facilitate the folding and gluing of the flannel on the back of the foam. Then, I sprayed the foam board on one side to adhere to the flannel and flattened the fabric with the iron.

I folded the edges at the back of the board and glued them. Then, I pressed the edges with my hands before ironing them to seal the glue further. The design board is so functional. Eventually, I may sew the binding on those boards.

Let's Go Quilt!