Sewcialites Sew Along/Fave Tools for Mini Piecing

Good Morning!  Today kicks off the first day of the Sewcialites Sew Along. =)

I haven’t shared about this sew along here on the blog as of yet so if you are unfamiliar with this sew along, you can read more about it here.

And you can find block #1, Harmony, designed by Lissa Alexander here.

I have the fun of being one of the Sewcialite designers and I plan to sew along with all of you.  My plan is to make the 3″ blocks–seriously, just look how cute they are!  I will be using Spring Brook fabrics for my blocks.  The white on white fabric is such a great background fabric from Spring Brook as well.

You will have the option of making the blocks in 3″, 6″, or a 9″ size.  You can see the complete layout as well as all of the blocks here.

I played around with possible layouts and this is my layout plan:

It will include some applique on those alternate blocks and will finish at 21″ x 27″.  My layout also won’t use quite all of the blocks that are being released so I am planning to leave out some of the blocks that have more pieces.

I thought it might be helpful to share some of my favorite tools for piecing these small blocks.

1.  I will be using Faultless Spray starch to starch my fabrics prior to cutting the pieces for each block.
2. Good rulers to prevent shifting when cutting fabrics and square block units are a must.  I love Quilter’s Select rulers when I need to be very particular about my cutting.  They shift less than other rulers and I can be more precise.
3. I am generally not a pin user unless I have to–when working with small pieces pinning will help with accuracy.  I started using Magic Pins a number of years ago and they are my current favorite.
4. I am an Olfa 60mm rotary cutter user–pretty much all of the time.  I seldom use anything else!  However, for cutting small pieces, a 28mm rotary cutter is very nice.
5. And lastly, don’t forget that a finer thread will provide nicer piecing results.  Many people don’t realize that the thread you choose can add bulk to your seams.  I always use Aurifil 50 weight thread in the color 2021 for all of my piecing.

And those are my favorites for small piecing.  I am not too much of a gadget-y girl but having the right tools for the job always helps!

I hope you decide to join in!  New blocks will be posted on the Fat Quarter Shop blog each Friday starting today through June.  You can join in at any time.

Additionally, you can join the Sewcialites Facebook group here .

Enjoy your Friday! Corey