Sugar and Spice is Oh so Nice

Whats not to love? It has everything in a quilt that I love. Pretty fabrics, flowers, applique and that level of cuteness that makes me smile everytime I look at the adorable blocks.

You might remember in a earlier blog post my frustrations with this pattern/kit. Well I found another issue. It's not an error, more of a personal preference. Let me explain. In the block below you see the Dresden as it finishes before the yo-yo's are attached. The pattern calls for a large circle to be placed over the hole. The large circle is just big enough for the 16 yo-yo's to cover the edge. After attaching the large center circle and yo-yo's I'm supposed to applique the Dresden to the background fabric that is the same print as the large center circle....what?

So here was my pattern alteration(because I can never follow a pattern to a "T"). I sewed my yo-yo's together, then centered them on the Dresden and glue basted them in place. Next was to do some seam ripping from the bottom of the dresden wedge seam. The extra fabric on the blades will be cut away before attaching the Dresden to the background fabric. Wish I had made a test block before cutting and sewing all the Dresden wedges. I learn something new with each quilt. LESSON LEARNED: Always make a test block. The little cut offs would have added up to some nice sized scraps.

Here's another lesson learned quite by accident. A few years ago started using Roxanne's glue-baste.(on the right) to hold applique in place instead of pins. Well I read somewhere on the vast internet...."Roxanne's glue baste is nothing more than washable school glue." So when my large bottle (on the left with the big brown glob) was empty I refilled with the school glue you see laying to the side. The big brown glob is school glue. Why is it brown? I've no clue why it turned brown, but if it'll turn brown on the bottle when it sets for awhile, what's it going to do in my quilts!? Now I know what your thinking....It's washable school glue, just wash it when you finish the quilt. True..but what if the one quilt I use it in becomes a UFO, lays around for weeks,months or years? LESSON LEARNED: Some internet quilt tips are actually bad advice, do your research.

So back to those cute yo-yo's. Remember I told you I stitched them together before attaching them with glue baste. Well hold on to your hats....it's machine stitching holding those yo-yo's together. A tiny little zigzag. Can you see it?

Here lets zoom in and take a closer look, can you see the stitches? Invisible! This was so much quicker than handwork. Making the yo-yo's by hand has been a real chore(bore). So anything to speed up this quilt is worth a try.

I know my loyal followers are tired of hearing about Superior Threads MonoPoly thread but it really can't be beat when it comes to invisible thread. It doesn't show on a quilt, it doesn't melt under a medium heat iron, and it won't melt in the dryer. I've put this thread through several test and it holds up very well. It can take more heat than suggested by the manufacturer. It can also be used for the actual quilting. If your making a quilt with darker fabrics it also comes in a Smoke color. At about $10 a spool it won't cut into the quilt budget to bad. I've made several quilts with this one spool and will probably be able to make one or two quilts with the same spool. Let me also say my blog doesn't make money for suggesting a product. My blog makes no money ever. It's just me doing what I do...quilting.

~ Lea Anne ~