50 States Block Swap DONE!

[chinarockfishakm]

whats the diff between scant and regualr 1/4 inch? I have been using a 1/4 inch foot.

UPDATE: AUDREY! You saved me from certain despair and lost of cursing. I lined up the fabric with the part of my 1/4 foot that curves in a little at the front and its totally correct. Block 4 lined up everywhere and was a tad bigger than 6.5. Trimmed it down and its great!!! Im going to pull the other apart and fix. Seems the scant seam is only needed after step 5 anyways. YAY! 2 more till AK is done. YAHOO! Thanks again! I will sleep well.

[chinarockfishakm]

I put up a gallery for those wanting to post progress pics, and to see others for inspiration (and maybe motivation...haha). If you dont want to see anything before you get them in person dont go to the gallery. Or if you are being secretive dont feel you have to post anything until the end either. Have a good weekend everyone!

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=262336.0

The URL is on the top of the swap info on page 1 as well.

[audrey1999]

Chinarockfishakm, I am so glad I could help.   I know when I first started trying to use these online patterns it was seriously driving me crazy, sometimes I was perfect but more so I was off and too small!  I knew I had cut everything exactly the same size and my foot was supposedly 1/4 inch-which wasn't really true when I measured it.  It is almost 1/4 but a little bigger-I might say a scant bigger.  When they say a "scant" it is supposed to be a thread or two less than the size to accommodate for the area you lose when you sew two pieces together and then press the seams down.  The best thing I ever did for my sanity was put a quilting ruler down on my machine and mark where a 1/4 inch really was from the needle when it was down.  I did the same thing for my mom and it was also extremely helpful because her feet didn't "really" line up either.  My machine is pretty ancient or "vintage", hers is fancy.

Editorial comment:  So why don't they account for this in the directions?  Some people do, so it must not be incredibly hard!  I have been doing the star quilt along at crazymomquilts.blog spot.com this summer and her directions turn out perfect without having to account for that pesky scant 1/4 inch seam. 

Should I post pictures of the blocks I have completed so far in the gallery?  I am a little scared in case people don't want to see them.  Everything I have so far is finished-so no in progress.   Although, I just got some fabric in the mail for NC that I love, which hasn't been sewn into anything.  It seems that is where I am at.  Waiting for mail.  I do have Montana, Colorado, Florida and Washington done!  That is 19/50-which doesn't really seem like very much when I put it that way.

[chinarockfishakm]

Haha well if people dont want to see then they can just not go to the gallery I say. HAHA!
IT felt good to have to trim the block down rather than look at the missing fabric.

[chinarockfishakm]

Ok, I have given up to the fact that each of my blocks is slightly weird. The odd thing is that something different comes out weird everytime.
I finished AK just now. They look alright. I may pull apart the first 3 to about step 5 and redo that part with the scant seam. On to OK now. WOO!

[chinarockfishakm]

Woo I have all my fabric except one for my background for NM. I cant find the one I want to save my life! ARGH!

[pertelot]

i still have some fabric to get... i probably need to visit ebay tonight lol

[chinarockfishakm]

You know when you cut the corners off the squares? What can be done with all these? SEems like a big waste.

[audrey1999]

What I started doing on my last set of blocks because I couldn't stand throwing away all that fabric, was sewing another seam 1/4 inch away so I could cut between the seams and have a set of half triangle squares.  I ended up with a lot of those little squares-mine are about 1.5" square- and have started piecing them into little 4 square blocks, which is kinda fun.  I mad some pinwheels and some other random blocks.  I don't know what I will do with them, but maybe I will use them to make a pieced strip on the back of the quilt.  That way it will help me remember, when I am old, the blocks I made.  I am seriously thinking of pulling out all those little triangles out of my scrap bin and doing the same-but then I wonder if I am sane to want to sew two little triangles together, really.  Anyway, it was easy and really didn't add that much time.

I have my North Carolina focus fabric and will probably work on that set this weekend.

[chinarockfishakm]

I started my Maine blocks. They are kind of bright and busy but theyre cute anyways. The background is kinda brighter in color than the focus. Oh well. At least its the right size this time around.

I also sewed and cut the corners off and they end up being about 1.5 inches. They might be interesting to sneak into my postage stamp quilt.