Attempting Little Black Dress 2 ! ...

This is a 'charm pack' or 5x5 inch squares of ...Little Black Dress 2!  Designed by Basicgrey for Moda fabrics,.  It was so elegant I just had to open it! ... And mess it up a little...

Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc has charm squares in a few different Moda fabric lines.  They retail for $12.95.  I've watched a lot of people come in and they are attracted by the packaging and the way the colours all 'blend' with each other.  But what do you do with them?  

I thought I'd show what I decided to make.  ( It won't be perfect, but you may enjoy the process! )  I'm making a quilt block!  My Little Black Dress 2!

First, in quilting, a 1/4 inch seam is very important.  Some will say mandatory.  As this is a single block, as long as I keep my seam lines the 'same' on the same size squares if fabric, things should line up.  On the other hand, if you are attempting to achieve a set finished block size- you will need more math.  This is strictly to get us started in making a quilt block or a patch!

This pitcure is attempting to help us get to a 1/4 inch seam without a special foot on the machine.  An index card is set beneath the foot.  The foot is lowered and the needle, gently poked though the index card on a line.  The next line to the right is 1/4 inch.  Seriously, it's that easy! ( Double check your index card if in Canada with a ruler-but mine were fine) Now attach a piece of tape or a sticky note to the 1/4 inch mark.  This is where your material should be edged along as you are stitching. 

Off we go.  Here, I have 2 charm pack squares, right sides together, chugging along all the way around the square.  I pivot at the corners, meaning that the machine needle is down at the edge and I lift the pressed foot and turn the fabric to stitch the next edge.  

I've also learned, as seams lines are cut in quilting,  back stitching is not always used on the ends. Once you learn this, it is straight ahead sewing.  Back stitching was a very hard habit to get out of.   I also stitch with threads to make it easy to see, in case I have to remove them.  As seams are usually pressed to one side and if the tension is okay on your machine, you shouldn't see too much of the thread.

Here is the 1st square, all stitched around...now we'll cut it diagonally into quarters...

It's been tugged apart to show where it was cut.

Off to the iron we go.  The little triangles are laid on the ironing board with the dark side of the fabric up .  A hot iron is run over the dark side.  The heat helps to set the thread into the fabric.  Then the dark fabric is pressed up from the lighter fabric.  This results in the seam behind the dark colour and not as noticable when you quilt it.

If you look at the top left corner, you will see the 'tails' of the seam still on that square.  The others have been trimmed or clipped off.  The seam is under the darker fabric on all 4 squares.

This could be block but in actual fact, I will need more. 

These 4 could also look like...

...An envelope block.  

I'm off making more squares and turning them into triangles.  

Next post, we will try to attach the multitude of little squares into a row and then attach the rows making a quilt block from these triangles.

NOTE: Not all triangles are equal!  In quilting there are 1/2 square triangles. These are not made on the bias like the above.  On the bias of the material, means the fabric can be stretchy and if over handled,  it can go out of 'square'.  For this project, the above way should work for my end product and it's fun to zoom around the outside of the squares!  

If you are interested, I need 3 sets cut of the above ( dark/light) : 2 sets cut of medium/light and 4 sets of dark/medium.  Check your fabric stash and play along.   If using yardage- cut them into what ever size you want to handle.  I'm using precut, so that saves time.