tractor

tractor
At Plum Loco Ranch, Door County, WI.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Almost there! (stash report week 2)


WooHoo!  I feel better now.  Not only physically, but here's a UFO that I drew out on graph paper when my son was 6 months old.  He's now 6.
Jacob's Ladder progress

It feels good to: (1) get these 35 Jacob's Ladder blocks done and (2) get them put together.  Now to figure out borders.
jacobs ladder w-o borders.jpg
sorry for the poor pic, 60x84

It is so eye opening to see the difference between the blocks I made a few months ago and the ones that I made a few years ago.  Between using different machines, honing my cutting skills, and discovering that my original quarter inch foot was actually a 3/8 inch foot when sewn to the guide on the ride side, some of the blocks were off by 1/4 inch.

Initially, I constructed the HSTs with Thangles.  For the latest blocks I used the Easy Angle ruler.  I think this also contributed to the size discrepancy.  I prefer the Easy Angle because it seems faster for me to stitch the two triangles together and press and voila!, a HST.


I put the top together in sections, not row by row.  Doing this helped tremendously in dealing with the block size discrepancy, allowing me to ease in blocks a bit at a time.  Now, that doesn't mean that some of my seam allowances aren't a bit small in places!

Lots of quilt patterns tell us to put tops together row by row.  In my beginning quilting class, our LQS owner/instructor showed us how to put blocks together in pairs, then into 4 patches, then 8 patches, etc.  This prevents us from sewing long seams over and over again.  I use this method with complex blocks, too.  For example, rather than sewing a 16 patch block together row by row, I create four 4 patches and sew those components and my blocks come out more precise.

To the numbers!  I don't count yardage piecemeal.  Usually I wait until the binding is done before I count the yardage.  However, since I plan to do some "quilting by checkbook," I will count the top and backing once the quilting is complete.  I can count the binding later, when it's being added.  So, nothing "used" this week.

Have a great week!


Used this week: 0
Used YTD: 0
Added this week: 0
Added YTD: 0
Net added YTD: 0

See more Stash Reports over at Patchwork Times.

1 comment:

  1. Your quilt came out great. Love the colors. I think we all improve with time and experience.

    ReplyDelete

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