We've noticed a few of you have come into some problems when squaring up your Mod Olive blocks. Please don't give up! Here are a couple of suggestions to help you out.
Option 1: This may not be an option for many if you've already pre-cut your background fabric. Instead of 6" x 8" pieces for your background and print fabric, cut them 6" x 8 ½". Line up on marks on ruler as per tutorial and just let the ends extend past the 1" and 11" dark lines. I've attached a pic to show you.
This will give you extra fabric for squaring up your blocks to a 5" x7".
Option 2: If you've already cut all your pieces you could square up your block to a 5" x 6 ¾" or 5" x 6 ½" That will give you an extra ¼" or ½" for squaring up length wise. I've attached a pic and marked with a green marker on the ruler as to where to square it up at the 6 ¾" mark.
You'll notice that I have more room to square up on my sample because I just sewed that block using the 6" x 8 ½" fabric.
We hope this helps.
Jenny and Helen
Lucky for me, I miscut my backgrounds to these precise dimensions :-). Will post block pictures when I finally get around to sewing some together.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting your helpful hints on getting the blocks to square up. I finally decided to put a little more tension on the oval as i stitch and it worked great and now I can get my blocks to square up pretty close - at least they are all the same and that's what counts. I would have given up if not for your additional posts.
ReplyDeleteI only had trouble with a couple. I found out that the first batch of blocks I made I ironed the outer petal to the petal and not the background. That has made for some tough bulky seams. I didn't want to redo so I just mixed them in with the newer blocks I did right.
ReplyDeleteI think why this block was harder from me than your others is that I like to have that seam allowance to match up the front design. I know on a few of mine (now that they are all sewn together) really got mushed up in there. The nice background design space for quilting will be a challenge. All in all it was a fun block to put together as long as you have starch! ha
I cut all my fabrics first, but this week I decided I didn't like how they didn't square up very well. I decided to do this quilt again, but I cut the rectangles 6.5x8.5". There may have been a little extra waste, but squaring them was beautiful! With my other blocks, i was having to add fabric for correct seam allowances.
ReplyDeleteMy sewing did get a lot better with this second quilt top, but having that extra leeway was just right.