Hourglass-II.jpg, originally uploaded by quiltnomad.

Here is the second block of the Hourglass.

You can see I did a better job of appliquing the teardrops.   With this block, I did the needle-turning first and basted the seam allowances down before appliquing the patches.  The first version, I attempted to perform the needle-turning as I appliqued the patches.

Needle-turning the seam allowances down first allowed me to get smoother curves and sharper points.  I still am not 100% happy with the sharpness of the points in these teardrops, however.  Part of this is due to the loose weave of the fabric used for the teardrops.  If I had chosen the fabric (instead of using the fabric as provided in the kit) I would have chosen a fabric with a higher thread-count and a tighter weave.

Because of the lesser quality of this fabric, I don’t think it is physically possible to get the sharp points desired for the teardrops.

Hourglass-I.jpg, originally uploaded by quiltnomad.

This is an Hourglass block from JoAnn Fabrics 2006 QBOM – Garden Impressions.

This particular block is machine-pieced; the circles and tear-drops are hand-appliqued.

The circles were made by using a dime as a template. I cut a square of fabric that was approximately 1-1/2″ square, then basted and gathered it around a dime.

Since I was lazy, and I was at work — I appliqued the circle (dime and all) directly to the block. Appliquing the circle, with the thickness of the dime inside, was probably not the best choice of methods.

After the circle was completely sewn, I snipped away the extra fabric at the back of the block, teased out the basted stitches, and trimmed away the extra corners of fabric (since I started with a square, instead of a circle).

Finally, after much manuevering, I managed to extract the dime.

Given the appropriate setting and the right tools, I would approach this differently, if I were at home.

I would still baste over the dime. However, then I would press the circle (with the dime inside). After the dime cooled, I would carefully snip enough of the basting to remove the dime — then repress (and rebaste, if necessary). After I had my perfect circle, I would then applique the circle to the block.

I might not remove the extra fabric from the back of the block, and so would result in a slightly puffy, self-puffed circle.

When I appliqued these teardrops, I deviated from my normal procedure of appliqueing.

I still followed the same procedure as I mentioned for the Blazing Star: tracing the template onto paper, cutting out the paper template, basting the paper to the fabric on the sewing line, carefully tearing away the paper from the fabric.

This is where I deviated: since it was very apparent where to lay the teardrops, I didn’t feel it necessary to turn the seam allowances before beginning to applique. I pinned the two teardrops in position, and then needle-turn appliqued the teardrops.

In retrospect, this was a mistake, I believe. I think I would have accomplished much smoother curves and much sharper points, if I had carefully turned the seam allowances and basted them down before begining the applique.

Of course, this was my first hand-sewing project in …. well, in months, so maybe I was just a bit rusty.

I will post the second Hourglass block later, so you can judge for yourself.