Try Again - Don't Give Up

Not a pretty site

So, as I said in the last post, I tried joining my larger units without resorting to using pins to keep things lined up and I paid the price.  Making the individual 9-patch blocks and joining 4 to 6 of those blocks to make the bigger units rarely requires the use of pins to maintain alignment of the blocks and form perfect corners.  However, the bigger the units, the more imperative it becomes to use pins to make sure you don't have to rip out any seams.

When I saw the state of the join between my 8-block unit and my 12-block unit, I knew what came next--locating my reading glasses, seam ripper and a spot under my bright lamp and just trying not to get to antsy with what had to happen next.  I'm not a patient person when it comes to tearing out seams whether in garments or other sewing projects.  I'd almost rather start a new project.  But one of the things I hate worse than tearing out a seam is not having the corners of the quilt blocks match up.  So, tear out the seam it is!

After I got the seam torn out, I pinned each junction of the 1-inch blocks.  Eleanor Burns (quiltinaday.com) has this amazing technique for sewing and pressing quilt blocks that make the seams nestle together so that achieving beautiful points and corners is often easy without using pins at all.  However, as I said earlier, sometimes it's advisable to resort to old school pinning of those joining points to improve the quality of my day.

After ripping out the seam across the joining points that were misaligned before, I pinned each one.  Then, I set my sewing machine for a longer stitch.  The quilting stitch on my machine is teeny-tiny but I like that.  I think it will give the quilt a longer life.  However, it's a bear when it comes to ripping out misguided seams.  So, after pinning the joining points and setting my sewing machine for a longer stitch, I sew a temporary seam about two threads away from where the final stitching will go.  Why?  If for some reason the joining points shift even while using pins, it will be easier to rip out.  If I'm successful in all blocks being aligned, then, I'll run the regular piecing stitch to the right of the temporary stitching and pull it out when I'm done.

It's been a while since I've made a quilt like this and this little episode has made me realize I should pin and temporarily stitch all the longer joints of the quilt top from here on.

Oops! First Tear-out of the Quilt

Ready to complete last 6-block unit.

As I described in the previous post, I decided to assemble smaller blocks into 4-block units to then be joined to create the center portion of the quilt top.  Then, those 4-block units would be assembled into ever bigger units to eventually become the quilt top.  This method is different from the more traditional method of assembling the blocks in horizontal rows and, then, joining those rows.

Time to join 12-block unit to
8-block unit just above

As I looked at my design layout on the vertical axis, I found I could make two four-block units and then a six-block unit.  Keep in mind that until this point in the creation of the blocks, I haven't used one single straight pin.  Eleanor Burns' techniques (quiltinaday.com) allow you to assemble blocks with perfect corners most often without the use of pins.

Perfect corners - no pins

Oh, no!  This won't do.

After I had assembled two four-block units along the left side of my design and two six-block units (lower left), I joined the first vertical row to the second vertical row which gave me three units from top to bottom--8-block unit, 8-block unit, 12-block unit.  My first snag came when I joined the middle 8-block unit to the bottom 12-block unit. As you can see in the picture, I got some pretty ugly corners there where the two units came together.  (Also an ugly picture.  Sorry for the blur.)

So, what to do?

Begin Building the Quilt Top

9-patch blocks in desired design

After I got the individual blocks laid out in the desired design, I decided to build the quilt top a little differently than some of the experts would advise.  Normally, they would tell you to assemble the quilt row-by-row.  However, keep in mind, I'm using very small blocks where the smallest portion of the block is only 1" square.  Using Eleanor Burns' (quiltinaday.com) technique to create the 9-patch blocks renders beautiful corners where nothing overlaps.  However, as you begin putting those smaller blocks together, handling them creates the opportunity for the fabric to stretch.  Then, when assembling the quilt top row-by-row, you have more trouble getting those crisp corners.

2-block units (bottom left)
4-block units (top left)

So, I decided this time I would assemble the 9-patch blocks in units of four blocks and then gradually build those units into yet even larger units to ultimately be joined into the quilt top.  The beauty of strip piece quilting is the ability to get clean, crisp corners.  So, I try not to compromise that goal, at any cost.  Since tearing out sewn blocks is my least favorite part of the process, I thought this new tactic would work well. Indeed, it worked out easily in the beginning but then I hit a snag.

A Life of its Own

Stacks of 9-patch blocks ready to be laid out

Each project actually assumes a life of its own.  That's why I like to learn all I can about a particular skill or craft and then go rogue with it.  Sure, make a few samples following the experts' instructions to master the techniques.  But then break out and go on your own, I say.  That's when the projects will actually start speaking to you and guiding the creative process.

Case in point, when I had finished all the 9-patch blocks for the baby boy quilt, I sorted and stacked them.  It was then that I noticed I had far more of one set than I did of the other two.  The three block combinations--dark/light, dark/medium, and medium/light--should have been equal.  But, alas, I had miscounted at some point and ended up with too few of one and too many of the other two, or so I thought.

Design wall still a "wish".  For now, design comforter on my bed.  It's all good

I decided to lay out the blocks to see how many I would need to make up the shortage.  When I laid out the existing blocks in the desired pattern, I didn't make the 9-patch center as big as I had planned it on paper.  However, I liked the proportion and decided that I would just make the sashing wider around the quilt.  That way I would not have to make any more 9-patch blocks for now.  Later I can make more of the blocks I was short and use the excess blocks to make another quilt.

As happened in the beginning of this project when I dropped the dark chocolate brown fabric and opted for the mottled brown fabric for a softer look, the project took another turn from the original plans.  But, normally, that's a good thing.  When the project speaks to you and you listen, you normally end up with a better work of art in the end.

Simple 9-patch

9-patch blocks stacked
and ready to go

As I said in an earlier post, I like to make traditional quilt blocks reduced in size to make a baby or child's quilt.  In this case, the 9-patch.  The finished block is 3"x3" which means each little component in the block is 1"x1".  If it weren't for strip piecing techniques, I would never attempt to make this block in this small size.  However, Eleanor Burns, quiltinaday.com, teaches wonderful strip piecing techniques.  I urge you to fix a cup of your fav beverage and set aside a couple of hours to poke around her Web sites.  You won't regret it.

Her technique for making these 9-patch blocks is explained very well in her book Still Stripping after 25 Years.  Follow her instructions to the letter and you won't go wrong.  You'll come up with perfect corners almost every single time and that's important to quilting aficionados.  That perfect corner is the goal for every block I make.

A Little Background Here

I like making baby quilts using traditional quilt blocks, only smaller.  I decided to make a baby quilt for a boy using a popular color scheme--browns and blues.  To make the 9-patch quilt top, I needed three colors, a dark, a medium, and a light.

Dark chocolate brown,
caramel and powder blue
for 9-patch blocks.
Mottled brown for sashing.

 Since this was a little boy quilt, I didn't want any flowery quilt fabric and decided to stick with solid colors for the 9-patch part of the quilt top.  For my dark, I chose a dark chocolate brown broadcloth; for my medium, a caramel color; and for my light, a powder blue.  I found a fourth fabric which I'll call mottled brown to use for the sashing around the 9-patch center piece. Then, I began to make my 9-patch blocks.

Dark brown too harsh.

A sampling of the 9-patch blocks didn't please me.  The dark chocolate brown looked too harsh for a baby quilt.  So, I decided to replace the dark chocolate brown with the mottled brown. So, now that my sashing fabric moved into the dark fabric spot in the 9-patch blocks, I might have to find another fabric for the sashing.  You know what that means.  Another trip to the fabric store.  Oh, well, it's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it.

Mottled brown softer look for baby boy.

In the Beginning

I decided to write a blog for my craft processes and began with the quilt I'm currently making.  I began the blog on my web site, kathygail.com, but realized that Blogger is far easier to use and has far more capabilities.  So, here I am starting over on Blogger.