Today is about the halfway point in the Dandy Drive Sew Along and things are really starting to come together. Now that I have my flower stem block finished I can really see the big picture and am excited to get to the finish line.
HST’s are the base of the flower stem block. This easy design is very common in quilting and can be stitched several different ways. Since my Baby Lock Destiny II has a guideline marking beam, I was able to bypass drawing the line on each block and just skip straight ahead to stitching.
As most of you know, we have a love/hate relationship with HST’s. I love the way they look but dread cutting them with a passion. Something about having to cut dog ears off a massive stack drives me bonkers.
So, when my friend Kari from New Leaf Stitches sent me her latest ruler, Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers,  I was excited to give it a go on this project. To my surprise, this ruler is a game changer!!! Not only was it super easy to use and line up but with just a few quick slices of my sharp rotary cutter my HST was perfectly cut. Heck, even the dog ears were gone. The best part for me is that the ruler set works for so many different sizes, even mini’s!!
Fancy rulers are something I really do not have many of. I’m not sure if I’ve been cheap along the way or really just worried about where to store them but this one… let’s just say I’m pretty confinement I’ll be reaching for my slotted trimmers all the time!
The one thing I determined while cutting is that it would be so much easier with a smaller rotary blade. So, off I went to amazon and ordered this one using my Prime account. (that super fast shipping is a beautiful thing!)
Flower Stem Block
In the end, the slotted trimmer ruler made it so much easier to trim my HST’s into the perfect 3″ blocks and complete my flower stem blocks for this weeks addition of the Dandy Drive sew along.
Remember, the Dandy Drive quilt pattern is free and you can get the instructions here.  Plus, each week Pat & Sarah have put together great prize packages for you to win.
This weeks Flower Stem Block goodie bag is a fat quarter batik bundle of Sunday Drive by Pat Sloan. Â It’s a great builder to add to your stash. Enter to win here or grab it now here.
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