Itty Bitty Pretty Tricky

This week's Zakka Style Sew-Along looked so cute and do-able. However it proved to be quite tricky indeed. It took a lot of time because everything was done on a tiny scale. It felt like I was  sewing tiny quilts for the mice of Brambly Hedge.


Itty Bitty Quilt Block Magnets - Week 6

It was a great project for scraps and selvedges. I used my Katie Jump Rope bits.

I decided to make 2 sets at the same time.

There were 6 tiny patchworks to cut pieces for. This was tricky with a rotary cutter.

Nesting the tiny 1/8" seams together. The pattern calls for a 1/4" and then cut it down to 1/8 but I sewed mine at 1/8" and I had to adjust the measurements for the front and back. 

I finger pressed quite a bit of the pieces.

 Then there was the foundation paper piecing and peeling off the paper from a smaller stich length of only 1.0.

 The smallest half-square triangles HSTs ever. I can imagine that for non-quilters this would be a tricky block to make. I trimmed all of my HSTs to get them to match up.

Then I discovered that my magnets were not powerful enough so I combined them with some 'gem bond' glue.

 I made many, many errors including sewing the fabric onto the wrong side or the wrong way around...and unpicking tiny seams was no joke.

Trim the corners and excess fabric and batting before turning.

Turning the magnets right side through was difficult. Then holding the last seam closed as I hand sewed it shut nearly had me undone.

I gave up on trying to complete 2 sets and settled on one victory for the time being. I did enjoy the machine quilting and then the decorative hand quilting (getting very effective at it thesedays) onto the linen.

Here's the completed half dozen. Five of mine were 2.5" square and one was 2" square. I think the pattern has them measure in at 1.5" so that would be incredibly tiny and difficult to turn.

Tips

• Use a smaller stitch length such as 1.5 to help strengthen the seams.
• Don't overdo the spray adhesive as it tends to dry stiff and stain the fabric.
• Try a stronger circular magnet rather than a sheet type and glue it to the batting AFTER you have turned the square and BEFORE you stitch the seam closed.
• To give the piece extra strength during the turning through process try double stitching on all sides and triple on the corners.  
• Try deliberately sewing a corner so that you don't cut into the stitching accidently as you trim the corners.
• Get the mice of Brambly Hedge to sew them for you next time - it would be easier!

Image from Royal Doulton

                                              

There are other great tips over at The Patchsmith, Amy Made That! and Little Bluebell (host for the Zakka Sew-Along this week). I wish that I had waited for their posts BEFORE I started making mine. Oh well!

I am enjoying all the new blogs and lovely ladies I have found through the ZSSA. The Flickr group is so supportive and very creative.


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