GAME ON! MONTH 8

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Now we are ready to move on to the larger borders--6" blocks. We are making the LEFT larger border:

The good news for some of you--there are NO PAPERS TO PRINT. This is just machine pieced in the regular manner.

I have a few tips. First, once you make the little four patches, they need to be trimmed to 2 5/8". I always measure blocks from the center BUT what is middle of 2 5/8"?  It's 1 5/16". We don't have a line on our rulers for sixteenths. 

SO, I made a 2 5/8" square of Vellum, so I could see through it. Folding it in half in both directions gave me the middle--I drew a line in each direction with a fine point pen:

Placing the Vellum square on the Four Patch, I used a mechanical pencil to draw in the four corners--this allowed me to see where to place a small square ruler--at the 2 5/8" mark on the outside edge:

I rotated it and trimmed the other two sides for a perfect 2 5/8" Four Patch.

UPDATE: A smart person posted on the FORUM how to make this border without a seam in the green—not as Blocks. Take a look at her idea:  Shirlett P’s good idea

Back to the Block method: I discovered my usual 1/4" seam allowance caused me a problem. Those 2 5/8" blocks are just a smidge too large for me  to make a 6" block accurately. How much too large? Oh, maybe 1/32".  Nothing you can easily measure.

When I made the first set of these blocks, using the precise 1/4" seam allowance I am accustomed to, I found I was going to "cut off" the outside points. You can see that where the brown sashing has been added:

SO, when I made the second set I experimented with using a slightly larger seam allowance.

The blocks on the LEFT were made with my usual seam allowance. The blocks on the RIGHT were made with the slightly larger seam allowance--they are MUCH better. The BLUE squares are now exactly 1/4" inside the edge and won't be but off:

As usual, I know I have to check myself as I go to be sure my borders aren't GROWING as I piece them. Two blocks sewn together should be 12.5" long. Three blocks should be 18.5" long. Four blocks should be 24.5" long. Join a THREE and a FOUR to get the 42.5" length this Border needs to be. Add the narrow brown sashing to each end and you have MONTH 8 done!

HOW MUCH bigger was the better Seam Allowance? Here is a photo of where my 1/4" presser foot was to give me the size I needed for perfect blocks. It's only a few THREADS, maybe 1/32". You might have to play with your presser foot or needle position if you find your blocks are coming out just a tad too large as I did: 

I find it very helpful to trim blocks with a ruler that is the size the block needs to be, 6.5" with seam allowance in this instance.  I put the 3.25" marks at the center in BOTH directions, North/South, East/West. 

This ruler has WHITE lines in BOTH directions at the midpoints that allow me to easily place them all across the middle of the block in BOTH directions. I can check to be sure there is a 1/4" seam allowance beyond the BLUE squares. This block is just right so I can trim it now:

I strive for perfection but can accept "close is good enough" sometimes. Not if you want to enter International Competition--then it has to be as perfect as you can make it. So I won't be remaking the PRINT KIT border--FINISHED IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.

Next month we'll make the TOP larger border.

Let's quilt.

Barbara