Sometimes It Just Don't Work Out!



So I was working on the Sunflower Block of the Grandmother's Choice BOW. I was rather unsure of my skills, there were so many of those Y intersections I'm not so hot at doing. Well, right off the bat, I realized that I'd sewn the center petals upside down! Rats!

 

That doesn't bother me so much. I've learned the hard way that the tiniest stitch your machine can sew is not the way to go. Rule of thumb, I generally use 15 stitches to inch. Why? Well, when it's time to rip out a seam, the tip of the seam ripper fits inside the stitches perfectly, and having to rip out a seam is not a problem. With a tighter stitch per inch, your bound to rip your fabric instead of stitches. 15 stitches per inch is perfect, and still makes for a secure seam. See how easily my seam ripper just slides up under the stitch?

Anyway, that was just the beginning of my woes. I found when I joined the last section, instead of a nice flat block, I had a coffee filter shaped mess! What to do, what to do?

Ok, I thought I just gather the inside petals, and Wah Lah... a nice flat block! I patted my back for my ingenuity and thought I had the whole thing licked, and then....

I sewed the outer block. Twice! ARGGGGH! Look at that floppy block! No way I'm going to put it into a quilt! You are now looking at a future pot holder! The End!

Grandmother's Choice Quilt Along Progress.

Progress being made on the Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week! Block number 2 is Amethyst - Suffrage. I had a slightly difficult time peicing this block. Never really dealt with a Y seam on machine before. I know the hexies in Nana's Flower Garden have Y seams, but handstitching and machine stitching are two different things! I had to rip out seams a couple of times to get this one!

But with endurance, I manage to get my 2 blocks done! I'm so pleased! The seams lay flat, and I'm liking these colors together. This is fabric I've had in my stash for sometime. I'm quickly running out of the gold, but am sure I'll be able to find another gold color print that will suffice.

Here's the Amethyst and Grandmother's Choice side by side. What do you think? Poor picture quality, but the white print in the Grandmother's Choice has just enough gold to pull them together in real life. At least to my point of view! I will be putting sashing in as well.

Then I have two completed Union Square blocks. Easy-Peasy! They stitch up fast! I love how they came out!

And here is the contrasting twin. I really am digging the thought of having 2 completed tops when I'm done! This is a fun quilt along and the history of the women's suffrage movement makes for a good read as well!

 

 

On a final note. If you've noticed the Grandmother's Choice badge on the side bar, here is the html code to coopy and paste to your gadget bar on your blog should you decide to join along!

 

 



<a href='http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com/'>

<img alt='A BUTTON' height='151' id='Image9_img' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgryRSTvpdODN2mSXy2yMWLdySXihF2FHVTfKSIn68ZbSFC5KYb0FlQAYMYZ4AamC-y6oRibsqKP2yzMPIn-dzBIYbwNOMgLAJaQCTn_lpLgYbyvZ1P8tmXY1Wyxg8P4ZHmNG1GhFcV_nk/s250/GMCHOICEBUTTON.jpg' width='125'/>
</a>

Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week



While surfing the quilting blogs, I found a quilt along, Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week. The blog has the weekly quilt along based on the Women's Suffrage Movement. It's a quilt along with a history lesson all wrap into one. Being a working woman, and having spent most of my working career as a single mother, I'm especially intrigue by these great women in history that stood up for  female equality.  Where would we be now if not for these pioneering women?

Ms Bessie hasn't seen any real action in a great while by the looks of her when I bought her, Now that she all nicely oiled up and the short in the foot control is repaired, I decided to use her to make these quilts. ( I making two of each block.) Let's see if she is up to the task at hand!





So far so good! She doesn't have all the bells and whistles of Ms Ruby, but her straight stitch is really nice, and she can do a scant 1/4" like a champ! Ms Betsy purrs like a little kitten, quiet as a mouse. The sound of her motor whirling and the needle going up and down is really soothing to my ears.

My favorite setup for peicing blocks. My Little Olfa cutting/ironing board combo, and my little Dritz iron. Sure makes it nice to peice and press the seams as I sew without getting up and down to the ironing board. The blocks will still need a good hard steam press upon completion, but the little Dritz is just enough to lay the seams flat. Up above you'll see my Martelli ergonomic rotary cutter and my Kai scissors. I love the Martelli ergonomic rotary cutter, I can use it without so much pain to my hands.(Arthritis, repetitive stress injury and what I refer to mouse thumb. The joint at the base of my right thumb stays swollen and painful from using the mouse at work.) Ok...enough whining! The Kai scissors are ergonomic as well. The bottom handle is large enough for all four fingers to fit into. Grips are cushioned, and the scissors are razor sharp all the way to the tips. Great for cutting out patterns! I really love these products! (No..I don't get anything for saying so. I just like to share the knowledge when something is really good!)

Here is the first Grandmother's Choice block complete! I can't make up my mind whether the dark fabric is blue or purple, Can you? I'm thinking it's blue, but depends on the lighting. Sometimes I swear it's purple!

Here are my two blocks together. If you'd like to join this quilt along, I have the blog button on  my sidebar.

Later! Have fun stitchn!
Mary