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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Fabric... Welcome to the Patriotic Quilter where I like to share all things quilty as well as red, white, and blue! Please feel free to look around and enjoy yourself! I would love to hear from you.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

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



12 comments:

  1. Birilliant! Have a great day.

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  2. I concur... brilliant! I love a creative mind at work!

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  3. You know NASA is looking for creative problem solvers like you! You amaze me.

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  4. Very creative with the star template! Great solution!

    Sometimes, you can find a Sharpie marker in the right shade to fill in unwanted white areas. At least I know it works when you accidentaly spill a drop of bleach on your favorite navy shirt. (Ask me how I know!)

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  5. Genius---------you solved the problem! I loved the way you cut the star and then taped to your ruler to get the perfect fussy cut.

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  6. What a great idea , problem fixed and it looks gorgeous !!

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  7. Fussy cutting is so cool!! And your fix for the stars was simply genius!! Can't wait to see the finished project.

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  8. Great job! I love it when I can figure out a way to solve those kinds of problems and have great results for the effort! Done in the spirit of a real quilter, " use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

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  9. You have some of the best tips and "how to's" in blogland! Thanks for sharing your creative ideas!

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  10. I learned a lot in this one post! Thanks. : )

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  11. Great idea! Thanks for sharing it. I look forward to seeing the whole top.

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  12. Oh I so get the out of place feeling from the white eyebrows on husband! I pluck mine too. Really hurts apparently! I agree, the stars look much better with the other points not on their.

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