Fusible-Foundation Postage Stamp Block {July do. Good Stitches}

The technique selected for this month's do. Good Stitches block is one I've been wanting to try for a while.  Using lightweight fusible interfacing to make piecing fussy seams a breeze. (You can see the tutorial here).

My fused block with one seam sewn

This technique starts with laying out all your patches on a piece of fusible and ironing them down in place. Then, you fold the rows/columns of patches and sew the seam lines. I bought the lightest weight fusible interfacing I could find, but I wish I'd had something lighter as I still felt it was too stiff.

All the vertical seams sewn, not yet ironed

I'm glad Louise chose it for our block this month, because I probably never would have gotten the gumption up to try it on my own.  And I was right!  This method certainly makes the postage stamp process easier, but it is still tedious in its own ways.  Suffice it to say, one block was enough for me.

Vertical seams done and pressed

After sewing all the seams in one direction you have to split the interfacing along the ridge so the seams can be ironed open.  The first set of seams I split using an old seam ripper, the second set using tiny scissors. Neither method was easy or super effective. I think Louise's technique of slicing off a tiny bit of the seam allowance with your rotary cutter is probably best, but it's easier said than done in reality, with these bulky seams and the bulk of the rest of the block trying to get away from you.

The finished block, from the back.  By this point Wilson had woken from his nap and was getting restless.

After sewing and pressing one set of seams you repeat the process, sewing the horizontal seams.  This block, which only finishes at 15" sq, contains 100 tiny squares.

Finished postage stamp block

I was able to get all of my squares from my scraps, and over half of them came from my crumb jar.  That makes me happy :)  My finished block makes me happy too! And although I'm not sure I'd ever do this again, I'm glad I got to try it out.  I'm especially excited to see everyone's blocks together; I think they'll make a really fun quilt!

I hope you had a happy 4th. We had beef ribs and potato salad for dinner and set off bottle rockets and blackcats in the driveway.  I think the dogs had the best 4th of July of all, as they got rib bones to chew on and then lost their minds barking and running after fire works :)

Linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday.  Check out the other posts and share some love!