technical talk

How do I have time to sew, bake, make art, teach, work on my book, volunteer, take care of my house and my family of 6?

I have great time management skills, for sure!

One of my tricks is to break down the tasks into smaller pieces.

For example, I wanted to participate in the Australian Flood Quilt project, carisbrookfloodquilt.com, where people around the world make a specific quilt block. The blocks are made into quilts by the quilters of Australia and given to the flood victims.

I chose the fabric and cut the strips one day this week...took about 10 minutes.

Today, I sewed the strips together and made the block..took about 15 minutes.

triple rail fence quilt blocks

Technical talk:

People fuss when using plaids. I say not to worry about where the stripes go when you cut. If they are crooked, they add interest!

The seam allowance in quilting is rarely split open like it is when making clothes. It should always rest towards the side of least resistance.

This block is made up of 4 individual blocks. The center intersection of seams is sometimes a problem because there is too much bulk. Simply unpick about 2 or 3 stitches from the top part of the intersection at the back (try not to break the thread) so that you can spiral the seams counter clockwise which flattens the block's center.

I call it TWIRLING - what a nice word!