I’ve been seeing the occasional stitch next to a seam intersection that is visible from the front of the block. How could this be? Was the thread not pulled tight enough? The previous block was a rough one for me, including points that didn’t quite match up, as well as some of these stray stitches visible on the front. I’m not particularly happy with it, and I wanted to ensure that future blocks weren’t going to be the same source of frustration.

I vaguely remembered a tidbit of hand piecing knowledge that recommended taking a backstitch not just before each seam intersection, but also after traveling across the intersection. I’m not sure why I didn’t adopt that second backstitch, but I have never done it.

Now, though, I’m starting to think that it might be worth the effort. Theoretically this extra backstitch would tighten everything up on both sides of the seam, helping everything to line up better and preventing those random stitches from peeking out at the seams. So, I’m trying out the extra stitches on this block to see if my backstitch hypothesis holds true.

After a frustrating last block, it was nice to do one with plain old squares and triangles. No curved seams, no exasperating appliqué – just easy piecing. It was also kind of relaxing using a small fabric print that didn’t require any fussy cutting to look right. However, some of the triangles in this block are so small that they ended up not having much of any print visible on them. Oh, well.

This block was marked as advanced difficulty, but didn’t seem that difficult. Perhaps it was rated that way just based on the sheer number of seams. I dutifully took an extra backstitch both before and after each and every one of those seams, and it definitely looks much better than the previous block.

A few weeks after this success, I tried pulling out and restitching a few of the seams on that previous block, with mixed results. It might look a little better, or it might just be wishful thinking. It’s also possible that my I4 block is just doomed to mediocrity. The backstitches may have helped a little, but it’s got other strikes against it, like the large quantity of seams that come together at the intersections, and those curved seams that just don’t quite fit together the way I’d like.

The results of my testing? I think I’ll stick with the extra backstitch going forward. My next block is a corner block with a center that is eerily similar to this block, and I hope that the backstitch technique will serve me well on my next challenge.