Tuesday 22 November 2016

Simple Sampler QAL: Foundation Pieced Simple Economy Square

If you are following the Sewing Directory #simplesamplerqal and you are relatively new to quilting, this week's block, a simplified Economy Square, might by your first experience of a foundation paper piecing block.  


This block can be made in the more conventional way but it's also a great way to get to grips with how foundation paper piecing works.  I've written a detailed tutorial at Sewing Directory but I thought I'd show the template here for extra clarity.  The whole block is made up of four economy square blocks so each template needs to be printed to the correct size.  The dotted line of the outer square is the seam allowance, then you can see the square outline of the finished size (6") and the inner on-point square (a scant 4 ¼").
The fabric measurements given for this block were generous so if you follow that your pieces should cover the paper including seam allowances but you do need to check your printing is accurate initially.  Usually the printing instructions say print 'to scale' or print at 100%.  There is often a margin of error between different printing systems and PDF files so check your print and you might need to make adjustments.  I find my printer tends to print very slightly small (a 6" block might be 1/16" too small) so to allow for that, I might up the print scale to 101% which would make the whole template just 1% bigger.  So, get your quilt ruler out, check your template pattern and make adjustments to print it at the correct size before sewing your block.  As this is a sampler quilt, there are techniques that are going to challenge you, be brave and give it a go!

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