Been Busy . . .

Been busy cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and well . . . cutting.  I found this Super Mario Quilt Along

over on Cut to Pieces - and being the Mario junkie that I am, I couldn't resist!  Actually, this quilt will be for a Christmas present for my grandson - he's just as big a Mario Brothers freak as I am - I LOVE it! 

So basically, all the characters are made on a grid and pixelated like the video game.  The initial instructions called for Pellon's Stick n Wash - which is super easy to use since your fabric sticks on it, and then after you sew you can just wash it off - but for 12 yards - it also super expensive.  Instead I opted for a cheaper Pellon product - I think it was P44 - at 0.99/yd, and used my 40% off coupon at Joann's.  Of course, there was always the option of just piecing everything without the foundation - but I'm not even thinking of trying to sew all those individual blocks, and fighting with all those points/corners!  I'm quite comforted to think I can iron, fold, and sew, and everything will be exactly where it needs to be!

I marked my grid on for 1 1/2" blocks.  My quilt blocks are 16 grid blocks x 16 grid blocks - making each block 24" and finishing at 16" after sewing.  All pieces/blocks for the characters are 1 1/2" squares.  So as I mentioned - I was cutting . . .  I mean the kind of cutting that requires new rotary blades, and a full list of programming on your DVR . . .

 Nope - not even close to everything I need to cut!  But dag gon' it!  I'm gettin' bored with cutting!  I needed to make a block!  So today I was able to sit down and get my first block done :)  I opted to use a washable glue stick (not purple!) just to gently swipe the fabric squares.  There was hardly any glue on them at all - I just needed a touch to keep the blocks from slipping out of place or twisting before I had a chance to iron them down.

My fusible was only 19.5" wide so I had to add 3 more rows for the top . . .

Once Mario was all together my first seam was to join the two pieces, then I folded and sewed the remaining seams horizontally.  I clipped the seams along the fold lines and pressed the seams open.  This was a little tedious but I thought if I pressed them to once side, and then folded the fabric again to sew the vertical seams there would just be way too much fabric and each intersection.

Started out super big!  After stitching the horizontal seams he looked squashed.  Then sewing the vertical seams made him just right!

There's lots of great blocks that all the participants are making.  This is just my first, and I need to get cracking so I can get finished in time!  You can check out the other blocks on the flickr group! :)