Here are some things I learned in my no good very bad with quilting week. When working with someone else's fabric if it can go wrong it will. My first mistake was in cutting the white fabric. I missed one of the pieces in the instructions so when I got to the end I was missing a 6 1/2" square that is pretty important since it's the center of the block. Of course I didn't have enough fabric left to cut it so I went and got some more white fabric. Thank goodness it was Kona White and not some elusive fabric like Flea Market Fancy.
Next up I attempted to iron the pink solid she sent. Oh you know what's coming right. My iron decided that it had been abused one to many times and spit some silver junk all over the fabric. Of course I tried washing it but it didn't come out. I gave the iron a good cleaning but am pretty sure a trip to Target to replace it will be on the list of things to do tomorrow. Melissa don't worry the pink was Kona Carnation and I was able to find it at a local quilt store.
Up next I stopped in the middle of sewing some blocks and when I came back to it the next day I forgot to move my needle placement to the "scant" 1/4 inch and sewed full 1/4 inch seams which apparently doesn't work with these instructions. My seam ripper and I have a love hate relationship right now. She loves to be used and I hate to do it.
Tonight I put in the last stitches and I was so excited that it was done I ran in here to photograph it and share with the group over on flickr. I uploaded the picture and added to the pool along side of another practice block that was already done and wait that doesn't look right. What's wrong with my block. Oh you have to be kidding me. Somewhere around step 7 out of 20 I sewed something together backwards. So looks like me and that seam ripper are going to get to be even better friends now. Do you see it. Taunting me there.
Although since it is just a sample blocks and I do actually really like it the way it is I am tempted to leave it alone and just make my real block sans all the problems. Especially since I have plans for a spider web quilt in the same color scheme. I'm thinking that a row of these across the back of that quilt might be really nice. Oh the possibilities.
I haven't received my fabric from Melissa yet, but after reading your post I'm terrified! The block looks really complicated! And I went to the Flickr pool to compare with Lydia's, and the difference is very subtle. They both look great, though. I would keep this one the way it is, since it's your practice block - you'll know what to look out for when you make the real thing.
ReplyDeleteAww, Greta! Don't worry, we all have those days, when nothing seems to go right. I'm glad you were able to find Melissa's solids so easily to replace. :) Next time you sew the block, you'll get it just right, I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteTook me a minute to find what you were talking about. I can relate to how aggrivating it is to do something like this. But other wise it looks good. Breathe this too shall pass!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I have to apologize. I was giggling through most of this post. And this - "My seam ripper and I have a love hate relationship right now. She loves to be used and I hate to do it." Precious! I have been there...many, many times. I'm half way through three bees and still struggle with scrappy, wonky, making mistakes with other peoples fabric and buying more fabric to replace it. I think that's why I was giggling, because I'm not the only one who has the same trials with these bees.
ReplyDeleteAbout the block - I LOVE the block. Keep it and put a row on the back of your spider web quilt. I think you should also put one "correct" block on the back as part of the row (if you can stand the asymmetry) or as a stand alone block. The stories that quilt will tell!
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