Month Two Ruffled Roses

[Margo C.]

This month we will be adding a couple of borders to the quilt's center. You can do them just like Sue did, or change them up a bit. I replaced her little slat border with a solid border with mitered corners, and show how to to achieve that with a folded corner method.



Sue gives directions to paper piece the lattice border then tells you how to assemble it. My additional instructions explain a different assembly method, and maybe you have a different way that works best for you. Options are good!

[Margo C.]

Margo,

I haven't decided whether or not to do the slat border so I thought I'd start with the lattice border. I read your additional instructions and they are always so very helpful. I'm just don't understand what you mean by "loosed the stitches" in the center. How do you do that?
Hope this isn't too stupid a question.
SueW
Upstate NY(near Plattsburgh)

[Margo C.]

There are no stupid questions!

In order to create a four patch you will sew two pairs of patches together first, press both of the seams to the same side, then nestle those two short seams together with one longer seam to create the unit. There will be a few stitches at the ends of the first two short seams that are within the seam allowance of the longer joining seam.





If you then turn it to the back you will see that those few stitches within the seam allowance of the longer joining seam will need to be un-sewn in order for the intersections to twirl. Most of the time (especially if the fabrics have been starched) just nudging the seams in the direction you want them to go with your thumbs is enough to un-sew those last stitches and create the twirl. If they don't separate easily, I take a seam ripper and gently pick at the seams until they un-sew back to the (longer) crossing seam which has locked them in place. From the back you should see a tiny four patch right at the intersection! Click on the photos for a closer view.

Jeeesh...it takes a whole lot longer to explain it than to do it!! :roll: Try it! You may really like it!
More directions are available in my additional BOM tutorial available here: learn/all-boms

[Margo C.]

Perfect. Now I understand.
Thanks so much you are so very helpful.
SueW
Upstate NY(near Plattsburgh)

[Jo H.]

Quick question. On Sue's instructions for the lattice units, she says at the top of page 7 to print 10 copies of the paper foundation and to make 112 lattice squares. You will have 8 extra foundations. Then at the bottom of the following page, she says to print out 12 copies of the foundation page and cut the units apart.

I counted the sections in the picture and believe that her instructions on page 7 are the correct ones (that we will need exactly 112 of these units). Would someone else please check as well. Looking at all those little pieces made me a little cross-eyed so I'm not sure if I counted correctly.

Margo, will we be using the extras anywhere. If not, I think I will make the exact number (112) and not make the extras. I'm not a seasoned paper piecer and I am a little antimidated by all those tiny paper blocks.

[Margo C.]

Thanks for pointing that out, JoJo!

Yes! You will need 112 paper-pieced lattice units for this border, so just print out 10 pages. You don't need to make any more.

Please accept my apologies, and report any other typos you may notice. I will report them to Sue and she will change the PDF, but it takes a little time.

For those of you who are not aware, Sue's husband Jack is dealing with severe medical issues, forum/index/

so I'm not going to bother her with these corrections until I'm pretty sure we have found them all. She and I tried to catch all the errors before putting the instructions up on the web site, but there is a lot of info, and we appreciate your patience with us.

Another error has been pointed out to me.

On the bottom of page 4 you will see: Tip: If making the slat border is not to your liking, don’t worry! Choose a fabric and cut 1-3/8 inch
white strips; use those in place of the slat border. Feel free to modify this pattern any time you wish!

That should be 1-3/8 inch WIDE strips. Sorry again for the error.

[Constance G.]

Margo, we don't say it nearly enough: thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do to keep all of the "bomettes" straight! And I hope Sue takes some comfort from all the fun she has created for us, while dealing with the stress of her husband's illness. Prayers continue for them both.

I have another Month Two question. Are the paper foundations supposed to measure 2 1/2" square? If so mine are way off. Can you tell me the printer trick to fix it?

[Constance G.]

Margo, never mind! ops: I forgot to tell the printer not to scale the page. As soon as I set it to "NONE" the foundations print out at a perfect 2 1/2 inches! We can be trained!!!

[Annis C.]

I got a head start on these blocks last month because I knew this would be a short month and I would run out of time. Since I'm resizing everything I figured out what size these needed to be without the instructions. I didn't want to take the time to make foundations for paper piecing so I used the technique Alex demonstrated on a recent video. I believe it was for the stem on a maple leaf. You cut a square for the center strip and add corners like you sometimes do on flying geese. I didn't use starch and didn't mark my sewing line so mine aren't all perfect but I will make them work. If you sew a second sewing line 3/8" from the first sewing line you will have bonus blocks when you cut off the excess fabric. My pieces were cut at 1 1/2" dark and 1 1/4" light. For the full size version they would be 2 1/2" dark and 2" light as shown in the diagram. I was just going to throw away my tiny cutoffs then decided to keep them after I'd already cut them from one side. So half of them were quite difficult to sew and some may get thrown away if they don't square up to a usable size which in this case is only 3/4". For the larger size they will be 1 1/4" which will finish at 3/4". That size is very doable for a small or miniature quilt block. I twirl my seams like Margo does, only in the opposite direction. It doesn't matter as long as they are all in the same direction. And I also pressed the diagonal seams in the same direction so the seams would nestle. I don't know when I will finish this border but at least I don't have to make the slat border for this quilt. I found a checkerboard fabric that will be perfect. I think I'm going to be iced in for a few days so should get a lot done, but it will be computer work, not sewing.

[Annis C.]

Wonderful Annis, you must have the patience of a saint. I love all those teeny, tiny, HSTs!

[Annis C.]

Annis, I am just amazed!

[Geneva C.]

Thank you Annis and Margo! I'm heading off to Australia and New Zealand for a long vacation so I'm not sure how much I'll get done before I go. But, I'll be back and raring to go! take care everyone, geneva

[Geneva C.]

Does anyone have a good recipe for Homemade Starch? :shock:

Thank you!

[Geneva C.]

I just printed out 10 copies of the 2-1/2 squares to be used in this month's BOM and I used RICKY TIMS' STABLE STUFF POLY instead of regular printer paper. I do a lot of paper piecing and I don't enjoy removing the paper...the arthiritis in my thumbs objects to the exercise. With Ricky's Stable Stuff you don't have to remove it...it becomes a soft layer of fibers when the quilt is wet or washed.

[Geneva C.]

Does anyone have a good recipe for Homemade Starch? :shock:

Thank you!

Yes, Margo does. Of course she could tell you where to find it on this site.