Tokyo Subway Quilt - Progress- Quilt Fuse

I completed block 3 of the quilt along this afternoon. I've been using the quilt fuse product to make the piecing easier. Here are some pictures of my progress.

It's a thin fusable interfacing which has a 2 inch grid printed onto it. It was suggested by Danielle of Caboolture Sewing Machines. I'd never heard of it. I popped into the shop last week on my way home from work. Just a quick visit to search for some fabric- and got chatting, as I think most people do in fabric shops. I was telling Danielle of my plans and she brought out the Quilt Fuse from under the counter- the shop seems to have more 'things' everytime I go back. So I thought that I would give it a go and bought a metre to trial.

I returned today and bought enough to do the rest of the quilt. At $10 per metre, it's gives enought to do 7 blocks per metre. I've cut a grid 8x8 squares which is the size of the block. 

Given that I had never seen or used it before I thought that other people might be interested in how I got on.

I have my 2" squares cut and organised into assorted colours so each block does not require cutting, just playing with fabric choices.

I laid out my block as per the diagram on the Oh Fransson blog. I pressed the pieces with my iron -set on hot- to set the layout.

I then folded the block along the dotted lines, and sewed my usual 1/4" seam. I initially tried to use my 1/4" foot (that makes piecing so easy). However, the increased thickness of the fabric meant that it did not feed easily- so instead I have been using my walking foot. I think that my seams are a bit narrower than usual, but they are reasonably consistent. I sewed all seams in one grid direction, alternating direction of stitching to minimise fabric stretch.

 

On my first block I simply pressed my seams to one side. However, the increased bulk made these look untidy.  The instructions for the quilt suggest pressing seams open, which is different to my usual practice. So I split the quilt fuse to allow me to open the seams. I initially used my small scissors, but Danielle today suggested using my stitch ripper. A great idea! Thanks Danielle.

I then pressed the seams open, and repeated the process for the seams in the other direction.

.......And finally....... the completed block. A relatively painless process, the pressing of seams is a bit fiddly but much easier and quicker than pinning and sewing multiple 2" squares of fabric. Seams are square (if not entirely straight- my dodgy sewing there) and corners are sharp. I am converted.  

The final picture is of my progress so far: The first 3 blocks.