The Block That Almost

Did Me In

Way back at the start of July (yes I know it's October, don't judge me) Lydia sent along this great Happy Campers fabric and asked for a star block to make a concert quilt for her and her husband. At that moment I was pretty caught up on my bee blocks so I got started right away. Back in February at the Quilt Show I went to with my mom and dad I had picked up a few new tools. Well I LOVE my Tucker Trimmer, it makes those half square triangles so much easier to get just right. At the same time I had bought the wing clipper but I hadn't tried it out yet. I made up the first 4 flying geese blocks for the block and they turned out perfect. I was so excited I thought this was going to make flying geese into something I didn't mind so much. But then went I made the next set of four in the other color way something went really really wrong. I sewed something backwards and ended up with a seam on the front of my points. Okay that wasn't such a big deal I could try again. So I made another set of four. No way, they were all wonky and not even close to being the right size. I couldn't even use them because they weren't even something I could pretend to trim to the right size.


Frustrated I put the block away thinking I would just come back to it in a few days and everything would be fine. Well when I looked again I realized I only had enough fabric for one more attempted and if it wasn't right I wouldn't be able to try again. So I let that block sit there for a while. To be honest I was scared of that block. Scared because I didn't have any more Happy Campers fabric should I have another Epic Fail. Scared because I didn't know what the solid was and I was quickly using all I had in these failed attempts. Scared because I just didn't want to mess that block up any more. Well the other day I took that block back out determined to finish it and get it back to Lydia. Partly because I didn't want the block to conquer me, partly because I felt guilty for getting behind on my bee blocks, and partly because I just wanted to get the pieces cleaned up from my sewing space. Whatever the reason I managed to get the flying geese made with little trouble. I did however do it the good old fashion way and not with the wing clipper. I'll give him another chance someday but this was not that day. I started to assemble the block but when I went to trim up the center square I was feeling good that it ironed flat really well and all the points matched up. But as I was looking at it something just didn't seem right.

Yup leave it to me to sew the two pieces on upside down. Of course I didn't notice it until I had both side pieces on. So I pulled out four seams and redid the center square. After that I didn't have anymore trouble with this block and I think it looks pretty good as a finished product. But boy was that block rough. I can laugh about all of these silly mistakes now because the block is done. I hope you can laugh at all of these silly mistakes too. Sometimes I think that people who maintain blogs only share the things that go right. We don't get the chance to see the mistakes to often but I appreciate the fact that quilting is something I am learning to do and I believe the only way to really learn something is through trial and error. I'm not the only one sharing mistakes this week, be sure to check out this post for a good laugh and one of those that is something I would totally do moments.


I moved my sewing area into the spare room in our house over the weekend. Better than the dining area that is connected to our living room that I previously occupied. Well I realized I would really like a trash can in my sewing space for all of those little scraps and threads. I went looking for something really cheap but because I am a Target shopper the cheapest trash can I could find was $10 bucks. Not in this budget! Instead I found this "jar" in the bathroom section for 3 bucks. I really like it because it has a lid but the hole in the lid is just about the perfect size to slip those small pieces through.