Fixing a Problem

Hi Everyone,

Back a while ago, I was working on my sampler quilt for the bee that I am in and I finished the center.

 

 

I proceeded with the border.  For it, I needed to fussy-cut some stars.

 



This is the fabulous Jo Morton fabric that have used in several of the other projects that I've shown this summer.   I needed to cut squares that are 3.5" with the star centered.  To make it easy, I used a 40% coupon to get a 3.5" ruler.

I then traced one of the stars from the fabric onto template plastic and cut it out with a craft knife.  Then I cut the plastic to 3.5" (centering the star) and taped it to the back of the ruler. 

I know that it is hard for you to see, but it was easy to line up the star cut-out with the fabric star.  I then just rotary cut around the template.  I found out that a bit of double stick tape on the back really helped keep it from sliding around. 

Perfectly cut squares!  I think when Jo Morton designed this fabric, she had planned for slightly smaller squares to be cut.  The problem with this 3.5" size was that when I sewed other pieces to it on the quarter inch seam allowance....

...little bits of other star points remained. 

This REALLY bothers me.  Like when a lady's bra strap shows. Or like those really, really long, white eyebrow hairs that my husband seems to be growing in.  That I pluck.  Anyway, regardless of what they remind me of, they had to go!

The border is a bit complicated, so re-sizing it wasn't an option.  I also didn't want to sew some of the navy parts of the fabric over the tips--too tedious, wasteful, and bulky.  I've heard of many people using markers on their quilts when they need a quick, easy fix, so I decided to try it.

I tried using a black Pigma marker to fill in the undesired points.

As you can see, the marker was too sheer, so it wouldn't work.

So I visited my local craft shop where I found this--and it was even on clearance.

It's navy blue fabric paint.

Here I have painted the right hand corner.

 

 

Both of the corners are painted and they are still wet.

When dry, the tips weren't a perfect match, however, it was close enough for me.  Much better than before.

Finished and close-up

 

 

And from a bit of a distance.  I'm really pleased with how it looks.

 

 

Come back tomorrow because I'm revealing the finished quilt top!

 

JoAnne