Monday, August 06, 2007

A frustrating day sewing and blogging

This is the second attempt at this post.

I spent the day working on blocks for my quilt guild's raffle quilt. I made a mistake and didn't notice it until I had completed my 4th block. As you can see there are no seam allowance and when the blocks will be sewn together the points will be cut off. I figured out what I had done wrong.


All of the squares had been pre-cut for me and after making the half square triangles and squaring them up to 3 7/8" I needed to cut the 4" squares to 3 7/8" before making the odd triangles needed for the block. Who would have thought that a tiny 1/8 inch would be such a problem.


So -- some reverse sewing, re-cutting and re-sewing!!


A finished block with a proper seam allowance.

I have not been very motivated since I got back from holiday and this certainly didn't help with the motivation any - LOL. I am not sure why I am feeling so unmotivated and out of sorts lately. I am hoping it will pass!!

I spent a bit of time this afternoon working on my stash of scraps. I thought I would try to organize my scrap bin "Ala Bonnie". I think sometimes a bit of mindless fiddling with fabric can be very cathartic. There is a quilt on Bonnie's site that calls from mostly 2 1/2 inch squares and bricks that I would like to have scraps available for. Maybe a big pile of cut and ironed scraps will make me feel better.

I have also been working on finishing up another baby quilt - I did the machine quilting on it last week - just the binding to put on it now. My nephew and his wife had a baby boy July 19th. (Pictures to follow - next post)


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8 comments:

  1. Bummer! I hate ripping out, it can be depressing.

    One of my favorite things to do in the craft room is to iron and cut fabric. Enjoy!

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  2. What a pain in the neck, all that reverse sewing. I think we all tend to have "funk" periods in our stitching, and yes fondling fabric is very good therapy.

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  3. I like the pretty blue fabrics - it is going to be a lovely quilt. The unsewing part would be frustrating for me too. Good for you for being persistent and fixing the problem. It is a good thing you noticed it when you did. I could have had all the blocks made before I noticed!

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  4. Cutting the squares and bricks can be therapeutic indeed! I'm in the process of converting 24 years of stashed, raggedy scraps into precut pieces using Bonnie's system. I know I am going to love this, but it takes time! I love looking back through these "antiques" and remembering when I bought them as I chop them up! I'm impressed with your perseverance on the Guild blocks. They look good.

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  5. Oh, yuck, frog stitching! One of the reasons I like to cut my own stuff and do things my own way. The blocks are great, though. Love blues!

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  6. HI Pam,
    What a pain it is to undo all that lovely work- good for you to persist. The colors are very pretty and you did a great job on the blocks.
    I like to go and play in my stash when I feel blah- it always makes me feel better- sometimes I even find a color that I am missing in the stash- oh! will that mean a trip to the fabric store- sometimes it does- not right now though as payday is a way away from me just yet. :( Nevermind there is lots to play with in my stash and I am sure that is true for you too :)
    Will look forward to seeing the baby quilt,
    Regards, Anna

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  7. Seems like you were able to solve the problem well enough! May I send you some blocks that I did a while back and have you make a 9 patch to match the size? LOL I gave up on them! Cleaning do have some therapeutic effects! Have fun! Keep well!

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  8. This has always been one of my favorite blocks - but then I love half square triangle square blogs! I'm sorry about your ripping but the remade square looks marvelous. Love the blue and white combination.

    Cutting up scraps ala Bonnie can be very motivating - if nothing else when you see how fast the boxes and drawers fill up and realize how many quilts you can make just from your scraps you realize you'd better get busy sewing them up LOL!

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