Save the Scraps!

Slow but steady progress has been made on the quilt top. The wintry weather has made it easier to seclude myself so a little sewing can be done and a lot of homework 😉. Here is a shot from this weekend’s storm:

The column is a decent measure of snowfall! Moving on to the quilt, a few more cutting steps were next and what should have taken 2 minutes led to a full day adventure of sorts. This is where I started off with the focal blocks:

But this is what was the ending of the adventure:

Can you tell the differences? Actually, looking at it now, I don’t see the mistake as obviously. The next step was to create the angles on the focal blocks, yes more cutting with a dull blade. The 1^st and 3^rd  blocks were cut smoothly without issue, but one of the neurons was not firing correctly that day and I ended up cutting the 2^nd and 4^th blocks the same way instead of mirror images! After some brain muscle flexing, I came up with a rescue plan. Luckily, I saved the scraps from the first round of cutting so I was able to use them to newly construct the 2^nd and 4^th blocks so they could be cut correctly. Though there are some extra seams in the blocks, I am happy with the result.

Luckily, the sewing commenced centering on these focal blocks with the sashing fabric added to the top and bottom:

And yes, I am a disciplined sewer; after each seam was sewn, it was pressed on each side to meld the stitches, then the seam was opened up and pressed from both the wrong and right sides of the fabric to flatten the seam, and finally the seam was pressed towards to the sashing (red fabric) as the directions specified. So the pressing took probably longer than the actual sewing. But it is worth it, to attain the best look possible. And with the cold weather, I don’t mind working with a hot, steaming iron.

Next, the background fabric was added to these focal blocks. The angled cutting was accomplished without an adventure this time.

Looking pretty good!

The final step in this blog installation was to sew sashing to the vertical edges and then sew the 4 “columns” together. This is the result:

I am pleased with how the sashing lined up between the focal blocks – I used a blue marking pen which was a little stubborn to remove and that is why there is a lot of wet fabric in the photo. Of course, the 2^nd and the 4^th blocks were switched but I actually prefer this new order as the little people are more widely distributed along the quilt’s length. So, that is all that has been accomplished in this installment.

I started reading a new book on quilt history in America but I have just made it to the Revolutionary War so I do not have anything light-hearted to share in this installment, but I am anticipating to have some material in the next one.