Well, I did a lot of cutting and sewing - on advice from our teacher, I decided to do the blocks in calico first, before cutting into my 'good' fabric. I am soooo glad I did. I am hopeless at measuring multiples. And as for the rotary cutter...hmmm...I definitely need more practice! So I cut my good fabric with scissors after marking it up with a mechanical pencil. Thank goodness I did, as I nearly cut sixteen squares instead of the four I needed. I go so confused trying to follow the pattern!
However, I hung in there and finally worked it all out. I also worked out that my Janome 1/4" foot is not actually 1/4". What the? It measured wider than 1/4". So I took Judy's suggestion and put tape on my machine - works much better and my blocks actually measure the size they're supposed to!
I played around with the fabric a bit before I committed to cutting. I ended up changing some of the feature fabric around to match the four-patch and nine-patch fabrics (ah, the jargon, I am sounding like a pro already!!). With a little help from DH. He has a very good eye for colour.
Here are a couple of photos of the blocks. I'm not very good at photographing them yet. Rest assured, they are pretty much square! They just don't look it in these photos. There is one wonky point, which I tried to fix, to no avail, but I'm not going to worry about it. Once the quilt top is finished you won't even be able to notice it (I hope!).
I am so pleased I finished my 'homework' in time for Tuesday night's class. Top of the class for me!
5 comments:
Horray for you!!! VERY Good job on the blocks. I like the fabrics too! It should be a really interesting and pretty quilt. I always like to see what comes out of the different parts.
Good job on the tape thing. It really helps me. Bonnie at Quiltville uses a special bar that's made for Bernina machines, I think some use moleskin. Whatever works. I love my tape thingy and it helps me.
Don't worry about the one wonky corner, I'm sure that once it's sewn to it's partner it will come right into place. You don't want to tug too much with an iron or something because sometimes you will stretch the fabric out of square which makes it worse.
Good job, Lily. You will definately be ready for class!
Congrats on getting some blocks pieced. They look sparkly. Please don't beat yourself up about anything being a bit off here or there. It just doesn't matter in the big scheme of things. Relax and enjoy yourself - that's what matters.
Your blocks look grand Lily, I think you did a great job!! It is often confusing, especially at first. It'll get easier, even the math part, trust me!! I really do know *VBS*
After a while you just start thinking in "measurement" terms, and it's all like a piece of cake.
Love your fabric choices too, really nice!
what a beauty. Nice work ...
I love the green fabric with gold speckles! Definately onto a great start there. :)
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