Late at this but having difficulty

[Johanne C.]

Hi There,

I hope you can help me. I know I'm very late in getting to this point but life is finally allowing me to proceed with the 2021 Quilt and I'm having so much difficulty even though I believe I mastered the paper piecing method and was very, very precise. When I attach my upper road it banks and I find the center of my small houses is all wavy and will not lie flat. I doubt my mariner's compass and its road will join to the little houses successfully. Before I proceed, is there any advise you can offer?

Thank you so much.

Johanne Champagne

[Barbara B.]

There is a Topic in this Forum called Getting outer circle to Lay Flat.

it has links to my detailed blog for Month 5 and the measurements so you can see if your center is the correct size.

this quilt is 100% dependent on accurate seam allowances.

[Johanne C.]

Thank you for replying. I've removed the road and am still trying to get the small houses to lay flat. The inner circle is wavy. I have been super careful with the accuracy of my seam allowances consistently using the 1/4" ruler, but not having much luck. The link leads me to a blog page called My Joyful Journey where I cannot find anything about the roads laying flat. I'll keep at it. I've invested two years, so I'll make it work come hell or high water. Happy New Year to you and your team.

[Barbara B.]

That is my blog where I wrote detailed articles each month for this quilt. If you haven’t read them all you might want to take. Look at each one. Many discuss sizes and being successful sewing things together.

There are also lots of Topics on the Forum asking about sizes as the various units are made. Scroll through all the Topics to see if you find helpful ones.

The only other thing that impacts how well things fit is the size of the pattern. Be sure those are accurate.

Hundreds of these had been made successfully so hang in there and yours will be one of them.

[Julie N.]

I have started finished 8 small block 1’s and will cut the fabric for the 8 small block 2. I plan on sewing this as the BOM along with the BOM for 2023. I bought the kit for both quilts I hope I haven’t bit off too much the 2023 BOM seems like it will be hard

[Barbara B.]

In my opinion, Homeward Bound is less time consuming than Garden Party Down Under. They share lots of similarities so tips learned this year will help with both.

[Helen W.]

Hi There,

I hope you can help me. I know I'm very late in getting to this point but life is finally allowing me to proceed with the 2021 Quilt and I'm having so much difficulty even though I believe I mastered the paper piecing method and was very, very precise. When I attach my upper road it banks and I find the center of my small houses is all wavy and will not lie flat. I doubt my mariner's compass and its road will join to the little houses successfully. Before I proceed, is there any advise you can offer?

Thank you so much.

Johanne Champagne

Hello Johanne, Love your fabric choices. My mind often works different than most quilters. If it were my problem, for
the wavy houses. I would look at the seam allowances first If they are look consistent on both sides of the seam. If your circle is 360 degrees t will lay flat. If it is less you will get a hill in the middle, and if it is more you will get wavy extra fabric.
I would measure the circumference you have on the outside of the compass road on the stitching line, and then
I would measure the circumference of the bottom of the house circle on the stitching line. They should be the same or close.
The difference will tell you how much you need to adjust. Let us know if you have solved your problem yet so members
won't keep posting ideas if you have solved your problem. HelenW

[Julie B.]

Hi, I'm at the point of joining the outer ring of tall building together, but have found that tall buildings 1 appear to be longer than tall buildings 2 and the small houses in the middle.
I have remeasured my finished buildings with the papers and the are the same.
I have only been finishing the quilt this year, so will have missed any advise if there was an issue with the size
I can easily shorten to make the length fit but wasn't sure whether it should be from the top or the bottom, as I don't want to mess the circumference.
Any advice would br appreciated.

Julie

[Barbara B.]

I recommend you go back through all the Topics in this Forum, much information has been provided there. All my blogs are still available with lots of information. There are links to them through the Forum or you can search the Archives to find specific months. https://bbquiltmaker.blogspot.com

My take on the tie quilt. Made a pillow case out of my stepfathers ties. Bittersweet!