Powering Through the Block of the Month: Top Tips from Nancy

Do you ever get side tracked while working on a big project? Or get a little bored or overwhelmed? Need some more inspiration to get back into the project?

I know I do! In every project I work on, I get a little overwhelmed or even bored. Sometimes I have to walk away from the project and take a break.

Sometimes all it takes is for me to go out with my quilting friends, visit a shop to see something new and exciting or just get out of the house. Some call that retail therapy — and it works!

To help with the Blazing Star, I’ll show you a mistake I made.

Honestly, I made several. I had to rip seams and repair. I’m just like you — I make mistakes, get busy talking to someone on the my phone, texting or watching TV and before you know it, I didn’t align two pieces properly or I sewed the wrong side… the list goes on and on.

Now, you may not have noticed this mistake if I did not point it out, but I saw it. One of my star points with a Comet Block was not sewn correctly. In the picture you will also see I didn’t iron the units. I don’t know where my brain was while piecing this section together!

I was getting a little bored with the project just lying on my table in a pile. I needed to see some progress. Do you ever feel like that? My project needed to go up on my design wall. The only problem: I have another huge king-size quilt on my design wall that’s waiting to go on the longarm machine, and I am not about to take that one down. You know what I did?

I grabbed my all my units and ran upstairs to my family room and laid the quilt in the floor to see my progress. Here is how I began, with the center first:

Seeing the center of the Blazing Star got my creative juices flowing again. Now I was ready to sew some more!

I began adding in the other blocks, the other star points and the ribbon border units I’d already made. Have you done this yet? Give it try! Place your blocks and units on your design wall, floor or even your bed to see your progress.

After I got off the floor — knees and other joints cracking and not wanting me to ever get on the floor again — I climbed on to my couch. Yes, I stood on my couch to take the picture! I was amazed. Wow, my quilt looked fantastic! Did this inspire me? Oh yes!

I hope this will inspire you to keep on!

One of my Facebook friends messaged me about her Blazing Star. She has actually pieced the entire quilt! She was concerned that the ribbon border sections were too long. I told her to pin from the middle out and sew slowly. She messaged me back the next day and guess what? It fit! Just like I said it would.

I hope you are enjoying the project. I also hope that everyone is helping each other on the class board. There was an “oops” in February’s Comet Block, but Bluprint repaired the template and posted a new download for you.

Take your time and enjoy the process. Don’t stress — remember, it’s just fabric, not nerve endings. Relax and enjoy!