We know that piecing in the hoop may be scary for some, however, with the Four Seasons Mini Quilt, we will take all the fuss out of placement. With this project, you will be able to create precision quilt blocks in the hoop. There are three important steps to go through for this project:
- Prepping fabrics
- Cutting patches
- Piecing in the hoop
Prepping fabrics
To help you prepare your fabrics the Four Seasons Mini Quilt already has laid out enough fabric for each of the seasons. Additionally, you will notice that all of the projects have already set up the layout for your design. For example, let’s take a look at the Winter Mini Quilt, the fabric is printed so the fabric is printed with the snowman, and as part of the project, we will embroider the face, scarf, buttons, hat, and arms.
Also, as a tip when preparing your fabrics cut a rough edge around the fabrics, this way you have extra fabric around the panel so you have enough wiggle room to handle it. Once the embroidery is done you will know exactly where to trim the excess fabric.
Cutting Patches
On the Four Seasons Mini Quilt instructions, we have numbered the patches in the order they will be placed on the panel. When it comes to cutting there are two methods:
- Manual cutting
- Digital cutting
To help the cutting be more precise or easier, you can print on regular paper or use our Print and Stick Target Paper as a guideline.
Another trick we use to make fabric cutting a lot easier is Sullivan’s Fabric Stabilizer, this helps your fabric become a bit more firm, which helps out when working with piecing.
Piecing in the hoop
The time has come to now piece, getting all those patches to work together can be a little tricky. However, here is a video on how Eileen makes this step really easy:
The key to piecing is placing the fabrics in the correct order, once you manage that you are ready to go to create beautiful piecing projects.
You can also rewatch our Between Friends segment where we go step by step through this process.
