Tuesday, August 31, 2010

A New Lollipop Tree Block

This past weekend I made the components for my next Lollipop Tree block.  What I mean is that I traced the pieces onto the fusible web; cut them out; selected fabrics; fused the shapes to the fabric, and cut out the shapes.


This morning I was ready to set the pieces and fuse them onto the background fabric.

One challenge to this process is that my ironing board is quite a bit narrower than the quilt block.  The first blocks I did for this quilt I did the bottom half of the quilt first, and then the top half on my ironing board.  They came out fine but it was kind of scary.  I couldn't be absolutely sure if all the elements were going to fit! 

But this problem was not so difficult to solve (I should have thought of it earlier).  I placed a piece of Insulbrite batting (that's the type of batting you use for oven mitts) and then a towel on top of my sewing table.  I placed the background piece on top and I was ready to begin.

  I started with the stems,and then I added the large elements.

Then I started to add the smaller pieces.  This is where it can get tricky; there are ALOT of little pieces to add, especially in this particular block.


Almost done!

After lots of fussing and endless adjusting, it's time for The Moment of Truth

Once it's ironed, there's no turning back.

Done!  The whole process  I just described took 1 hour.

OK, it's confession time:  has anyone noticed how the green circles in the center of the block (right next to the stem) magically shrank for the final picture?  I will tell you honestly that all 5 of the blocks that I've made from this quilt pattern have needed small adjustments for space.  So the green circles got smaller.   And the truly obsessed among you will also notice that there are 2 circles missing from the top of the block.  I JUST COULDN'T MAKE ROOM FOR THEM.  So my question is, will my jail cell be Solitary Confinement when the Quilt Police come and arrest me, or will I have company?

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