Super Mario Brothers Quilt Along – Guest Post by Jennifer Overstreet

This is part of an ongoing series of posts for The Super Mario Brothers Quilt Along I’m hosting here on my blog. You can join in at any time! You will find the links to all steps here. Please share your makes on Instagram with #supermariobrosquilt. Also please feel free to join the Super Mario Brothers Quilt Along Flickr Group. This post reviews the Turtle Shell block, which you can find in the free quilt guide that you can download here.

♪do do da do. Da do da do…do do da do do do da do do do♪

I’d like to welcome Jennifer today who has some tips and tricks for you all on alternate interfacing ideas. I think you all will be excited to read about her success with other stabilizers that are a bit less expensive and probably more readily available to you.

Hi everyone!

I am Jennifer Overstreet from gh quilting and I along with many of you am excited about the about the Super Mario Brother’s Quilt Along.  And like most of you out there I already have both Mario and Lugi finished.

But before I could get to the end process of each block I had a little issue of what interfacing to use since Pellon’s Stick and Wash was out of my budget. I did take on Angela’s suggestion of buying the 542 Pellon or the 820 Quilter’s Grid which is also made by Pellon. I don’t know if you would call it lucky or unlucky that my local Jo-Ann’s was out of the 542 Pellon.

So I ended up buying the 820 Quilter’s Grid for $4.99 a yard and I lucked out and got it all on sale for 50% off.
* Keep your eye on Jo-Ann’s sale flyer for interfacing 50%off of the yard for a more affordable way to get your interfacing.

I was all excited that I had everything need for this Quilt Along.

However, I know most of you out there are like me and are on tight budget.  Trust me I do feel your pain!

So after reading about all the complaints to Angela, I went out to my local Jo-Ann’s and found a solution that will hopefully solve the affordability of this QAL. Since you will be more likely be prone to draw the 1 1/2″ grid to your interfacing; there is no reason why you would need to buy the 820 quilter’s grid. What you need something affordable and a blank slate to work on.

This is what I would suggest:

Pellon Shirt – Taylor 950F.

The 950F is very durable and very light weight. It will take the beating of a #2 pencil running across it. The best part of it all is that this interfacing runs $2.99 a yard. For the 12 yards needed that will run you $35.88 before taxes and if you luck out with a 50% off sale it will run you $17.94 before taxes.

or

Pellon P44F

This interfacing is light weight but you will have to be careful when running a #2 pencil across it because it will easily tear. Best part is that this interfacing is really affordable! It runs .99 cents a yard. For the 12 yards needed that will run you $11.88 before taxes and if you do luck out with a 50% off sale it will run you $5.94 before taxes.

Before I go I wanted to mention a few things about the interfacing.

Unlike Stick and Wash the interfacing can not be removed once you have pressed to the fabric. Well, it can but it is a huge pain to do!

But unlike Stick and Wash after it is removed, interfacing will keep your blocks in shape.
You will have no worries of washing it away or the fabric stretching . However, once your quilt is finished and washed a million times over the interfacing will eventually wear away and over time the quilt will become less stiff.

Oh, ??? over the #2 pencil.
Yes, I use a #2 pencil on stuff like this so I can see it. It will wash away just as easily as a water soluble marker will. Also from a recent experience my water soluble marker disappeared just as quickly as it appeared on to my interfacing.
That is why I also use a #2 pencil.

Well, thank everyone for lending me your eyes and ears to day on Angela’s blog.
I hope that this new found information will help any one out there who is really excited to be apart of the QAL.

Also thank you Angela for asking me to guest post this information to all of you!
Looking forward to seeing your Super Mario Brothers QAL process over at Flickr!

Jennifer

Thank you so much for sharing all of that valuable information Jennifer! We need all the help we can get. I also know that there are bunches of people making the quilt with no stabilizer at all. Which is also great! This is what the quilting community is all about. Sharing our methods and techniques with each other so we can all make an informed decision on how WE want to tackle the quilt.

8 thoughts on “Super Mario Brothers Quilt Along – Guest Post by Jennifer Overstreet”

  1. I was going to go with quilters grid. Unfortunately a few of the rows are 1/16-1/8" off. My 27×27 squares measure 26×28.5. Sooo… I have to rule that out as an option for me. I will look into your other suggestions, thank you!

  2. I have picked up some quilters grid and plan to cut my squares at 1" instead of 1.5" do it will have the same look but be a little smaller to keep in the living room for a kid throw. I have also ordered my fabric from connecting threads as they have 40% off their solids this week. Hopefully I will get to catch up soon. 🙂

  3. Today I purchased the Pellon P44F and it is working out great! I purchased it at JoAnn's with a 40% off coupon too 🙂 I would totally recommend this for anyone who is on the fence and just not sure if it would be ok–yeap! it is! loving this quilt right now 🙂

  4. I also got the Pellon P44F which is working great! However, I did end up needing 13 yds instead of 12. Just an fyi for anybody making it past the quilt along like myself 😉

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