Tips for POTC

As promised here are some tips I found useful when English Paper Piecing 

my Patchwork of the Crosses blocks.

I have enjoyed using the Sewline Glue Stick, but don't overdo the amount of glue you add on.

I put the glue onto the card not the fabric and hold it briefly in place to help it stick.

You can always add more glue if the fabric is coming unattached.

I am enjoying the wider seam allowance that these templates allow as if my 

cutting / matching is a fraction out I have room to move to get my motifs 

lining up perfectly.

When cutting eight of one fabric that doesn't need fussy cutting I fold it over and four 

at once.  I  hold the plastic template in place and cut around it.

When cutting my 24 background honeycombs that go around each

block I have my fabric folded in four and I draw around my plastic honeycomb

interlocking each shape as I go, then cut out with my good dressmaking scissors.

I have been using a fine pigma pen recently for this. It is nice and fine and after

all I am only drawing on the cutting line.

Once an area is surrounded I remove the card. This is keeping the card in 

better condition as I was tending to bend the pieces quite a lot when I was 

working further out in my block. My cards are being used many times and 

that is working out just fine.

I found a the beginning my blocks were all in a similar format - with the cross being 

well defined in my first four honeycombs - now I am trying to take my 

focus elsewhere in the block eg: out to the edges.

Next I need to go back and re-use some of the fabrics but put them in 

a different positions within the blocks.