Lovin' these Hampshire Blocks from The Jane Austen 250th Anniversary BOM!

 Lovin' these four (4) applique blocks - AMAZING!

Hampshire Block #1

Hampshire Block #2

Hampshire Block #3

Hampshire Block #4

Having LOTS of FUN learning 'How To' cut w/ScanNCut - not quite a week ago today, I had NEVER cut one single/solitary thing w/ScanNCut!  Once I FINALLY got started - there's NO Stoppin' me now!  I even have two - an older one in the house:

and my Disney in the quilting studio.  As HOT as it's been in the MidWest lately, haven't wanted to go out and learn 'How To' run the Disney one that I got 'after' Christmas last year from a friend who won at a Christmas party at work and didn't want OR know what to do with...Thanks, Roxanne!  Recently, an older version - the 350cm came into my life for a song - Thanks, Veronica!  And now I get to have the best of BOTH worlds.

To create my applique templates to 'cut' my applique fabric shapes, I first needed to scan to print the original shapes in black & white, scan into my ScanNCut and then SAVE to my usb thumb drive (it could be done wirelessly IF one has wifi - my metal building where my quilting studfio resides allows NO wifi ;-):

Applique shapes - ready to print from pattern sheet

Once the units were scanned/SAVED, I imported ALL of them into Canvas Workspace and resized each and EVERY unit one at a time according to the sizes given in the original pattern, THEN 'after' each unit was sized properly, I reduced each unit 10% w/aspect ratio LOCKED to account for 'turn of cloth', since I was creating 'raw edge applique' pieces, rather than applique w/seam allowances.  (And I didn't figure this out until 'after' I had cut my first block - the Chawton block, and NONE of the pieces would fit...they were ALL too BIG.  I even had a sleepless night trying to figure this out when it hit me about 1:00 am...turn of cloth...BOOM!)

To prepare my fabric, I did what most of us do w/pressing:

Pressing fabric

Spraying Mary Ellen's on the BACK 'after' pressing:

My fav - Mary Ellen's Best Press

Pressing/steaming the front

I keep two (2) irons on my ironing board - one is STEAM,
the other is DRY - for dry pressing stabilizers like Steam-A-Seam

After pressing/starching ALL my fabrics and making sure they were DRY, it was time to stabilize w/Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite:

Steam-A-Seam2 Lite

I left the Steam-A-Seam2 Lite paper backing on 'until' it was time to load my mat(s) for cutting - I keep the backing for tear-away for machine embroidery AND for loading my freshly cut applique pieces 'until' ready to stitch-down w/cover stitch:

LOW tack mat loaded w/Steam-A-Seam2 Lite backed fabric - 
fabric side facing UP

LOW tack mat is key to part of my cutting success:

LOW tack cutting mat

Just look as these GORGEOUS cuts!

ALL perfectly cut!

It did take me more than a few cuts to realize I could turn my units 'sideways' 90 degrees to get the most cuts and use of my fabric but...once I did, I was off to the cutting races!

Sideways cutting - Gamechanger!

MULTIPLE units can be 'duplicated' w/press of a button on BOTH machines...BAM!  (I'm used to cutting w/AccuQuilt GO! cutter w/MULTIPLE layers of fabric - once I got used to duplicating units, since we can't use multiple layers of fabric on a ScanNCut...just made perfect sense.  And because I'm also used to cutting 'chunks' of fabric for my GO!, now I can cut 'chunks' for my ScanNCut...Oh, yeah, we got this ;-)

350cm ScanNCut - duplicating one unit in seconds

Brayer works great to ensure the fabric makes good contact w/mat and helps eliminate bubbles/creases:

Brayer works great to ensure good contact w/cutting mat and eliminate bubbles/creases

Getting ready to cut units for two (2) of the Hampshire blocks

The cuts are so precise, I can take advantage of scraps for stems, etc.

MAXING out scraps for 'stem' cutting - the Steam-A-Seam2 helps
the scraps stick to the mat for more efficient cutting...Who knew?

Freshly cut fabrics come off the cutting mat ready to be assembled into blocks and stitched down,

Stitching down Hampshire Block #1

Some of my chosen threads for this project - including multiple variegated threads:

Project threads - ALL are 40 wt. cotton

Already checking out those Kent blocks...I have some great ideas and fabrics for them ;-)

Later,

~Deb

PS.. Check out one of the previous posts on this Jane Austen 250th BOM here for additional info - including the F R E E pattern!  https://donebybettyboop.blogspot.com/2025/08/its-time-for-jane-austen-250th.html