And the winner is......

Leanne, at www.quiltmekiwi.blogspot.com !!!!!  Congratulations Leanne, and send me your mailing address and I will send you these lovely threads.  I do hope you enjoy the YLI #8 Pearl Cotton threads as much as I have.




I have been working this week on my snail trail border for my Doh-si-Doh quilt.  These little 3" blocks are quite a challenge and I had to come up with some organizational ideas to keep me straight. Soon I will show my paper piecing process, but first I would like to share how I got organized to make the blocks.

First I had to make notes on what size pieces I needed andhow many.  I hope you can read this card, if not, then double click to enlarge.  The cutting guide shows the size square to cut, which then has to be cut in half to form triangles.  Sizes were 1 1/4", 1 3/4", 2 1/2" and 3".  I kept getting it confused, so the need for the card.






Next was setting up the layout of the block.  I kept getting my pieces in the wrong order, so I printed out the block on cardstock, and labeled my fabric A and B.  A blank meant background.  Since this is a border, I just needed the two colors.

I sew these blocks in sets of two, a top block an a bottom block.  This is the card for the Top, and the bottom card is similar.  These cards are my life line in piecing the blocks, which get very confusing with all the twists and turns. Anyone of you who have ever done a snail's trail block know what I mean.

I labeled my foundation papers as Top or Bottom, so that I could keep it straight which one I was working on.  This also gave me a reference point to line up with the pattern card to make sure I was positioning the fabric correctly.

On the back of the paper foundation piece I drew reference lines to be used in lining up the fabric pieces when sewing. 

These lines were invaluable when lining up the beginning 4-patch.  This helped me to center the 4 patch in the center of the square and to ensure the block was not tilted.

And finally, last but definitely not least, I lay out all my pieces needed for the top and bottom blocks on the design board.  The "A" pieces are on top, the background pieces in the middle and the "B" pieces on the bottom.  This has really helped me so much in keeping the pieces straight.  Not that I have not made some booboos - and will continue to do so. 


Well that is all for now, more to follow on the paper piecing process. Hope this gave you all some ideas on how to organize your piecing process.

Thanks for stopping by,
Teresa