My Current Project-Heritage Sampler and Stack Pressing Tutorial

A few days ago I looked through a bin of UFO's and came across my Heritage Sampler blocks. This was block of the month project I coordinated at the shop a few years ago. All of the applique blocks were complete and I only had three blocks left to piece. Even these three blocks were cut so I don't know why I stopped working on this so near completion. I quickly pieced the remaining blocks, trimmed the applique blocks and sewed the top center together. This quilt has an outer border of nearly 300 half square triangles so I pulled out the border triangles that were cut and pieced them. I was 96 triangles short so I cut those. That's where I am now on this project. I hope to get another little burst of energy this evening so I can finish piecing the triangles. It shouldn't take too long to piece them into the border. I just love this project and now I can't wait to finish it. The pattern is by Lori Smith of From My Heart To Your Hands. All of her quilts are just wonderful and it's so rewarding to finish them! Here's a picture of the top so far.
While piecing all the half-square triangles I thought I'd make a little tutorial on stack pressing. When I teach classes I'm always surprised at how many people haven't heard of this. I think it's very efficient and your pieces end up well-pressed and FLAT. Give it a try next time you're piecing a bunch of blocks and see if you don't think it works well!

Stack Pressing Tutorial
1. Press seam closed. This helps relax the thread into the seam. Then open up the triangle and press the seam toward the darker fabric.

2. Place the closed seam along the open seam that you just pressed. Offset it a little bit, then press this seam closed. Open it up and press it open toward the darker fabric. You've just pressed your first piece again.

3. Continue placing the next piece along the piece you just pressed. First press it closed, then open it and press.

4. I usually stack eight pieces before starting a new stack. I let the stack sit and cool off before handling it.

5. Once the stack has cooled, I pick them up together and trim the "dog ears." It's very easy to slip the tip of the scissors between the blocks and snip.


I use this pressing technique for almost all my piecing. Just remember to offset your blocks a little bit from the previous piece and you'll have nice, flat blocks!

Whirlwind Weekend

Our son Bryan is applying to medical school and has interviews scheduled at a number of different schools. I’ve been traveling with him and it’s getting a little crazy because they’re close together and there hasn’t been much time to recover from one trip before it’s time for another. Needless to say I haven’t been doing much quilting. Before all this started I had been on a roll and finished a lot of stuff. It’s been kind of fun going with him but it will be nice when it’s over and I can get back to my sewing machine. I’m determined to work down a few UFO’s before the end of the year. There’s a laundry basket of projects under my sewing table and I’d at least like to finish those.

Last week, we were in Rochester, NY and stopped in at the High Falls Visitors Center (and Art Gallery). We met the curator, Sally, and after a delightful visit with her she revealed that she had spent many years earning a living as a quilter. I knew there was a reason we hit it off right away. It was a beautiful weekend in upstate New York and Rochester is a very nice city. There are so many hiking and biking trails and we really enjoyed seeing much of the city on foot. We also walked on a path along the Erie Canal, did a little wine tasting around the Finger Lakes and visited the US side of Niagara Falls (we hadn’t brought passports to go on the Canadian side). It was a fun trip and we did a lot in a short amount of time. Here are a few pictures from the trip: fall leaves along the Genesee River walking path, Seneca Lake and Niagara Falls.

Here are pictures of a couple of quilting projects I’ve finished lately. I made three of the Spicy Spiral Table Runners. They look difficult but are really easy. I think I’ll make some for Christmas gifts. It’s an unusual pattern and not many people have seen it. The other quilt is an old UFO from Patchwork Sampler called “Grandpa’s Best” from a pattern by Perkins Dry Goods. It will be a nice one for the holidays. It’s probably from around 2004 or 2005 and now that it’s finished I wonder why I didn’t get to it sooner!