I used my 1/8" trimmer instead of the 1/4" and it worked great. Just tighten your stitch length.

cmd77 wrote:
Here is what my back looks like--not perfectly flat on the back but fine on the front. There IS a lot of fabric/seam allowance with these small pieces.

The problem I'm having is when I try pressing where all the greens and red come together there is so much fabric it won't press flat.

cmd77 wrote: Cindy, I didn't but I know at least one person in my small group did. I pressed the seams as they most wanted to go. Do whichever method works best for you.

I'm finally putting month one block together. My question is when you put each of the sections together, did you press the seams open?
Cindy (cmd77)

Here I am starting January near the end of February and have a question. I purchased the kit and was confident I sorted the fabrics but am finding pretty low contrast between fabric E and F. Fabric E is green solid and I have fabric F as the geometric star type print (Olives Garden). I'm going to hate getting this medallion done only to find the contrast isn't enough. As the original is made from different fabrics I took a look and the contrast just seems greater. Any thoughts from others using the kit?

Mine is 15-3/4. I'm making the floater boarder bigger so I can end up with 17.5"
My small half square blocks measure 1", so I'm not sure how this happened, as I used the paper piecing and it all measured correctly.

Love your block. I also practice that tip from Sally Collins. I keep a heavy paperweight on my ironing board!

I have that dvd! I'll watch it tomorrow.

Whew! I just finished Block 1. I've been quilting for 20 years and this is THE MOST DIFFICULT BLOCK I'VE EVER DONE!

My block turned out 16 inches UNTIL I spritzed it with Best Press and pressed all million of those seams FLAT. I use Sally Collins technique which I learned from DVD here on the site. She presses seams then uses a book to weight them down while they cool. I instead use a wooden clapper. Guess what? After doing that my block measures 16 1/2 inches and is perfectly square.

Hi Eileenkny, I really struggled with Month 1 BOM, as I have little to no experience in paper piecing. I remembered I had a DVD "Carol Doak teaches you to paper piece" which I had never watched, and I found the lessons really helped me. To be honest had I not watched Carol's DVD, I would probably have given up and used all the fabric I bought for applique. I am challenging myself to do paper piecing
Warm wishes Pam (in Scotland)

PtboGrandma, sorry to have been slow in answering. I have to pull out my pieces. I cut the 2 sizes of white triangles. I'll have to check and see what I'm doing wrong.

That product bled on another project I made to try it out. I would not use it again!

Rick-rack and embroidery floss.