Starch Is My Friend

I just finished the fifth Twister quilt top that I've sewn in the last couple of weeks.

This last one was a bit different, though.

This one was AH (after Harriet) and I used starch when pressing each seam.

Oh My Gosh!

Starch is my friend.

Starch is to fabric like a dressage whip is to a horse...it makes the fabric BEHAVE!

If you've ever made a Twister quilt, you know that when you are sewing the windmills together, all those edges are bias.  They're a little difficult to work with...not hard...you just have to be aware of the edges and make sure that you don't stretch them out.

But, when you use starch and carefully press each step as you go along, you have these blocks that are "whipped into shape" and act very formal and proper and they stay where you put them and they sew together so orderly and nicely...OH MY GOSH!

I'm VERY excited that I finished my goal of seven quilt tops for QOV (Quilts of Valor).  I feel now like I can shift gears and start working a little more on my Quilt's Academy Adventure.

I still have Christmas presents and I still have WIP (works in progress) that I want to finish before the end of the year, but I'm feeling a little more freedom to focus on this project now.

So, my plan is to continue with the FMQ (free motion quilting) practice every day and then continue working steadily through Volume 1 of Quilter's Academy.

I have to admit, the FMQ practice is getting a little more difficult because I don't see a lot of progress each day.  It's getting a bit boring because I'm doing the same things over and over again.

BUT...

I know that the only way I'll become a master quilter is to push myself, discipline myself to do the things I don't necessarily want to do but that will make my perfect my craft...SO...

...SUCK IT UP, TAMERA!