For anyone out there who is still trying to piece the first three circles together, you might try hand basting them in. For some reason, I am not the best 1/4 inch piecer. I have tried my best but I am just not quite perfect and it drives me crazy. Mine was finally flat. But, I must admit only after I basted it in. If you baste I am going to do my next one in a different colored thread(one that shows up) so I can pull it out easier.

ellen

Check out Sarah's recent answer to this question under the "Questions for Sarah" thread.

Caryl

I'm really confused. My inside circle is 16 in. unfinished, and the next border is 17' in. unfinished, yet when I pin them together, I have 1.5 in. too much??? Can't figure this out!

PittsburgPam wrote:

Wish I had thought of that

After reading all of the posts and making extra, extra sure that my measurements were right, my outer ring is perfectly flat! When I pressed it I used a pressing cloth on the first go-round, then I sprayed the cloth with starch and pressed again. I didn't trim the outside edge of the outer ring to the black dotted line yet (just to the red). I figure if it is off I can trim it to the exact dimensions after the whole center is done.

My center needs to be redone as well. I was ok until I had to sew the outer strip circle....I procrastinated because I was not sure how to proceed....well I sewed it today and 5 hours later, I now have either a wall hanging that I will have to quilt out the fullness in the center or a pillow.....I wish I would have read all the hints before sewing today. I was so frustrated with that darn outer circle, I tore out the stitching and started over ever so carefully only have it not fit so I cut it and sewed it and finished attaching it to the star....now I will do it over again, only this time not on paper but on the stable stuff.....I will re-read all these suggestions....I was so sure that I had printed and glued my pattern so carefully guess not!!!

Oh well, at least I got this month to do Month 1 over and on to Month two.....gads.

DeniseinKS -
Replacing the outer ring might work. I had been afraid that I had to redo my whole pieced border, but after I took off just the skinny outer ring and reprinted the templates, recut, and resewed... it worked out just fine. One step, one problem at a time!

DeniseinKS wrote: What would you think about adding another ring to your circle to make it up to size?

eterry wrote:
Hi Ellen. For my paper piecing, to eliminate slack in my fabric and to be sure that the piece stayed put where it was supposed to be while sewing, I used a combination of double-sided scotch tape (life-saver!) and my Sewline fabric glue pen. Works wonders!

Ok my circle is done, it lies flat, looks good. But when I measure it's only 16 5/8 inches. Do I really need to do it over? Do I have enough fabric to do it over? At this point, I think I'll take a chance. When I start adding to it, I may find I do need to redo. I hope not. It was a challenge!

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I have found several. I am just about through with circle 1 and 2 again and soon I will do the final one. I used freezer paper the first time and I am using stable stuff this time. I too had trouble with the stabilizer in the seam allowance and was encouraged to see the tip about that. I really like the stable stuff but how do you get your material to stick to it when you are paper piecing. It seems like I have a little more slack in my pieces and I am a little worried about that. I really do not want two pillows that are just alike. By the way I had decided to do a pillow and then I saw the suggestion on the list. I figure the stuffing will fill out the bowl effect.

I do really love the stable stuff for machine applique because I hate cutting the back of my work to take out the template. It worked great for turning and glueing the edges and when I appliqued it on it gave a great body to my little cirlces. It looked much better than the ones I turned over freezer paper(and pulled it out before I appliqued).

This list is not as good as a sewing buddy but almost as good. Thanks to everyone for the good ideas. Once again thanks for this great project. I am learning leaps and bounds. That is the purpose, right?

ellen

So It sounds like I'll do the Circle again as my unfinished is 16 5/8 instead of 17, I don't think I can fudge that much. Not a big deal just a bummer. I like the idea of cutting a square template the 2" and 3" to double and triple check my measurements again. I'm not sure where I went wrong because I was very careful with the printing process as well as the taping the pieces together but... That is why they call it PPP. Fabric is too expensive to waste so I liked the suggestion on another topic to just make this one into a pillow

I finished my Center today, incorporated ALL the tips and pointers I could find in this forum. Thanks to everyone "It is FLAT!!!" Whoo Hoo! I typically do not 'think' I have the time to make intricate blocks, but this one intrigued me. I will post in the BOM show and tell section. My outer circle is 17 inches unfinished, 16 1/2 inches finished. I wondered as I was sewing what hints would help others, and for me, since I used paper stabilizer (hand applique for me) I removed the paper after I did the stay stitching on the inner curve only. This allowed me to pin and match much better/smoother. Also,I had the outer ring(s) on top each time, and used my 1/4 inch foot and went very, very slowly. I wondered if some people had cut only to the pink line? That would certainly make things not fit...
Thanks to everyone for not only asking good questions, but sharing good tips!

Patty -
I have the same finished sizes as Dawn and Ellen. I also had the "bowl" when I attached the skinny outer border to the pieced border, which I did before attaching to the center star. Fortunately my pieced border and center star looked like they would play well together (and they eventually did).

Like Ellen, I had to unsew. I unsewed the outer border and reprinted the template (#3) and recut the piece. And resewed. I believe my problem was putting the 6 pages of template 3 together. I was super duper extra careful the second time, and when I reprinted it I could see the registration marks which was a great help in putting it back together. I measured the 3" grid all the way across- both ways and many times. In the end, it all worked (yay!). A few other things: 1) I made sure to press my pieces without steam in case of shrinkage. 2) The first time I put the template pages together with 1/4" Steam A seam, but the second time I used a glue stick. I felt I had more control with the glue stick, and less bulk. 3) I spent LOTS of time pinning - I made sure I put the pin in the sewing line on one piece, and looked at the other piece and ALSO made sure that the pin went through the sewing line there. And...4) I used a longer stitch length the second time, because "unsewing" the tiny stitches as much as I did was a REAL pain... I am using Stable Stuf and plan to leave it in anyway.

I know this all sounds really basic, but I am working on my patience skills I am really glad that I perservered, because I love how it is turning out, and I am really learning a lot! Keep on....