I took another stab at a Cathedral Windows project and this time it went a lot better. You can even zoom in on the corners because they look good!
- I am using premium bleached muslin instead of Kona cotton. I think that since you are working with so many layers of fabric the muslin works better - it is a lot softer and easier to work with. Also a lot cheaper - I got a 15 yard bolt from Jo Anns for $16 with a 50% off coupon.
- I tried tacking the corners by hand (I didn't want to do them by machine because then you would see the stitching on the back) and I realized that it just isn't worth the time or effort. To get "perfect" corners the best thing to do is 1) make sure when you are ironing your backing blocks you get the corners lined up as well as possible and 2) you have to sew to the VERY tip of the corners. When I originally did this I only sewed close to the tip of the corner and you get sticky up tips. Sewing all the way to the end ensures that they lay flat and it allows you to line them up with the other corners. This also make the back look a lot prettier.
- To make sewing the backing blocks go faster you can chain stitch them
- Last time I tried to skip ironing all the seams open but it is a really important step - it makes the blocks lay flatter. So although it is time consuming and a pain don't skip this part.
- I was a bit more meticulous when I sewed my base blocks together (making sure they were very evenly lined up) this helped a lot.
- The other thing I did was I pulled my thread to the top of the piece before I started sewing the rolled edges like you do with a quilt so that I didn't get thread wads on the back of the piece. Much better....
I'll let you know if I learn anything else later.
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