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Bigfork, Montana, USA
Bigfork Bay Cotton Company is a full service, brick and mortar quilt shop, as well as a retail/wholesale pattern business. You can view our pattern line on our website, but on a more personal level, we'd like to invite you into our shop and share with you the joy of quilting in our corner of the world!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

PIECING TIPS FOR MYSTERY QUILTERS

This month's step of our ongoing mystery quilt involves piecing our first blocks together! Finally!! However, this piecing will need a little extra effort on your part to match up. Here are the steps I use to insure a good intersection....

First I "eyeball" my quarter inch on the back side of the piece with the triangle corners and drop a pin in.....
I check on the right side to make sure the pin is exiting right where the triangle corner meets the large square.....

Then I drop that pin right into the flying geese unit, exactly at the point where I want the seams to meet......

Snug that pin all the way down until the head is against the fabric, making sure it is straight....this will keep things from shifting......

Holding that pin straight and tight against the fabric, I drop two more pins in, one on either side of the first pin.
Now I withdraw the first pin, making a small dot where that pin went in....

When sewing, I will aim for the dot....my goal is to hit it exactly!

You can watch the dot as it nears the needle and make any adjustments you need....just hit it!

Voila!! Open it up and you will find you've matched things up perfectly!!

NOW, this is what works for me. But it is by no means the only way of doing this. PLEASE, share what works for you. Comment here or email me and let me know what works for you....I'll pass all your hints along. We all have our own styles, and we all can learn from each other!

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