We now have video instructions! Kewl! Are we going to be able to download them to keep? Or will they only be available as long as the BOM is available? Maybe they'll make the instructions available on DVD...that'd be awesome.

I hope to finish mine as well

Well, I have persevered and I am getting there! I haven't had much time in the last couple of days but have got a couple of units together and it is starting to make sense! It is quite a satisfying technique, especially as it is so accurate. I am going to try and get it finished in the next week or so!

gloucestershirelady wrote:
I am in Melbourne and i can imagine that your friends would not be used to the cold anymore. I am waiting for winter to come round here i don't cope to well with the heat. I agree with you the show and tell are very inspiring this is what is keeping me going with the BOM
Jenny

Nancy - thanks for that explanation - yes, it is very clear - it seems the trimming after each seam makes all the difference! Thanks everyone for all the tips - Jenny, where abouts are you in Oz? We had some friends from Melbourne stay with us for a couple of days over Christmas - of course it was absolutely freezing here in the UK - I don't think they are used to the cold now, having lived in Oz for 10 years, although originally from the UK.

I keep looking at the pictures of the feathered stars in the show and tell section - very inspiring aren't they?

dear folks,
i am new to the site and forum and am soo excited to have finished piecing all those little feathers. today, here in nova scotia, is a "snow day", i.e. no school due to freezing rain, SO i am heading up to studio to finish sewing it all together. i'll post a picture later on.
margo, your tutorials are awesome!!!

Great tutorial Margo, I should have looked at it before posting my earlier reply I love the colours you've chosen for your quilt.

I tend to be a visual learner. That's why I did the photo tutorials for the BOMs last year, and Sue suggested that I do one again for this year. If a photo is worth a thousand words to you, check out my tutorials! They show, step-by-step, how I did this project. Of course, it's not the only way to do it....just what works for me, and sometimes I used a different technique than what Sue shows in her directions.

Nancy, I use a post card and it works too!

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569453221xrxRqK?vhost=good-times

It helps to organize your cut pieces such that they are stacked with all right sides up. This was especially helpful to me since I used a batik and a white on white print, which are both difficult to discern the right and wrong sides of the fabric.

Also, I used a thin laminated business card to crease the paper back on the next to be sewn seamlines to trim the 1/4" seams of the last added pieces. An index card would also work for this--probably even better on the longer seamlines.

Lay the next to be sewn piece of fabric right side up over the section to be covered, ensuring it is large enough and positioned to cover both the section to be covered and all of its surrounding seamlines, then flip the piece over aligning the next to be sewn edge with the corresponding edge of the last sewn piece. Since you have already trimmed this 1/4" seam edge of the last sewn piece, you can be assured that you'll catch enough fabric in the new seam. (I hope this is clear.)

I learned late and the hard way how to avoid chopping off the tips of the small triangles when sewing the long seamlines. First, sew with the triangles on top so that you can see the tips. Second, sew a hair or two to the right of the tips, rather than touching the tips. Because of the bulk of the seams, you'll need those hairs to allow the seams to lie flatter so that the tips will show.

Prior to this project, I had little experience with paper piecing and the pieces were not nearly as small.

Margo, by the time I could get a tutorial ready everybody's blocks will be finished. It's something I am considering for the future though. I'm glad to hear about the self-publishing. That will be interesting. I'm actually already doing some self-publishing but only selling to local stores as everything is printed one at a time on my home printer. There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything by myself so I really do need to put together another book proposal and submit it to other publishers. Maybe next month I will find the time. The rest of this month is going to be busy.

i too am having the most difficult time with this block. i am struggling with the upside down and backwards pp but i am going to persevere and get it done i just know it will be worth it.
Jenny in Oz where it is extremely hot

ajclapp wrote:
Annis, I wish you would do a tutorial!
I'm just working with a (cheap!) digital camera and my 5 year old laptop, and Bridget talked me through setting up the Webshots page. Trust me, if I can figure it out.....it can't be too hard!!!

Also....reading the preview for tomorrow's new show, it looks like Gregory Case is going to talk about self publishing! Maybe something that will work for you???????

gloucestershirelady wrote:
Yes, that's the way I did mine. It sounds like Alison is using a regular ruler, which certainly will work, but the ADD-A-QUARTER ruler has a lip on it so that it snugs right up to the seam line and you don't have to look for a 1/4" mark!

As for doing ALL blocks this way....I don't think so. At any rate, I'm not a huge fan of PPing except when it makes a complicated block more do-able and more accurate!

I solved the problem of thinking in reverse by figuring out a way to paper piece by placing the fabric on top of the paper instead of underneath. If you lived a little closer I could show you how. I wanted to write a book on the subject but Leisure Arts wasn't interested because it took too many pages to write the instructions then life got in the way and I haven't been able to pursue it yet. I wish I had Margo's talent to do webshots but maybe that will be something I can do in the future. My computer locks up everytime I try to open the webshots so it looks like I may need an upgrade again! Good luck on your block.