Stepping Out

On Saturday, November 7, I will redoing a facebook LIVE program demonstrating my new 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo at a local shop in Virginia named Artistic Artisans. The facebook page is Artistic Artisans. Simply go to facebook and enter the name and you can easily find it. The live program starts at 9:30. See you there!

For a demo that lasts about 30 minutes, I needed to make "step outs" showing how to trim a Log Cabin blocking using the new trim tool. It took almost all day, but here are the step outs that I will be trimming tomorrow.

Starting at the bottom left:

1. Cut a precise 2-1/2" center square. Then cut 1-3/4" wide strips in white and green and 1-1/4" wide strips in beige and yellow. 

2. Sew (2) 1-3/4" white and (2) 1-3/4" green strips around the center square. I always add strips in a clockwise rotation. You can choose to add in a counter-clockwise direction if your prefer. Just be consistent and always go in the same direction as you add each round. Press and trim each round when it is finished using the 10" Log Cabin Trim Tool Duo.

3. Sew (2) 1-1/4" beige and (2) 1-1/4" yellow strips to the trimmed unit. Press and trim.

4. Continue alternating wide strips an then narrow strips in each round until the block finishes at 10". There are (3) rounds of wide strips and (2) rounds of narrow strips.  

It is easy and fun and you end up with a perfect block every time even if one of the strips is a smidge off when sewn in place. The great thing about the tool is this...if there is a small irregularity in the width of one of the stitched strips the trimming makes a correction so it is the perfect size before you advance to sewing the next round of strips. Without this small "as you go" correction the block can be very much out of whack when you finish the last round. The trim tool prevents this looming disaster.