Monday, December 26, 2011

Off to a good start....or so I thought!

Today is warmer, the sun is coming out and I'm anxious to get breakfast over so i can get back to sewing on my Orca Bay Blocks.  I was all excited to show what I've done in step six so far.

I thought it was all going pretty good, UNTIL I noticed that all my light blocks have the center row (hour glasses) turned wrong.  Thankfully I only have 10 of them done.  Time to get the stitch ripper out.

Also, the points that make up the center square in each block (for example in the darker blocks, it would be the black square that forms around the blue center) - are off in almost all the blocks.  I just can't ever seem to get that right.  I try hard to cut precise, sew precise,  square up precise, but to no avail. They are still off at some points.  I have searched for some good tutorials on doing this and I can't find one yet.   Maybe I'll check out youtube for a video.   I learn best if I can see it being done.  I'm a bit disappointed but I noticed that when the blocks are all laid out, you really don't notice them as much.  So it will be ok for us or another family member.  After all, I am still a beginner per say, and this is hand made-Right?  I still have many years to keep improving and I can always look back on these and remember my starts. : )

It was pretty cold at nights these past couple weeks - down in the single digits. Meet Grass Hopper-A 3 year old, very energetic,Master Hunter (when the weather is to his liking).  He doesn't like the cold to much. 
When he's bored, he let's us know by doing mischievousness things around the house like throwing books on the floor, pulling things off shelves and climbing the curtains or attacking the furniture.
(He has a little mouse toy he's getting in these pictures). LOL

He'll be so happy when spring arrives...and so will I.




6 comments:

  1. You're doing well, esp if you are a beginner! Bonnie's quilts are a challenge so any minor inaccuracy will be magnified. Once the quilt is finished, quilted and washed those tiny imperfections will disappear and you'll just see the beautiful overall effect!!
    I'm still working on clue 5 ... keep finding some of those pieces that need unpicking and fixing too :)

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  2. Your quilt is looking great and until you said you'd sewed the blocks wrong, I didn't notice! The points? I can't tell from here. :) As for your kitty, it sounds like you have an Emma! We have a kitty who looks much like yours and at 7 years old, she still pulls all sorts of nonsense, so we just refer to her as "the Emma" and make household decisions based on how we expect her to behave. She's a great kitty and we love her unconditionally, but she's still working on growing up!

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  3. There is a kitty in every sewing room :) Love the Ohio Star blocks the blue centers are very nice.

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  4. Rhonda, I feel your pain with the Orca Bay mishap. I wish I would have caught my mistake earlier... I was 3/4 of the way done with step 6. I realized that I put the wrong colors on ALL of the blocks I had sewn. There was no "Ohio Star". It was a square in the middle of the block. Aye yea yea! With a blister on my finger I finished ripping them out today. Hopefully they will be sewn before Friday.

    I also had trouble matching up the seams. I'm almost glad I had to rip them apart. I found that it helped to press my seams open and match them up that way instead of butting them to "seat" them as Bonnie does. Here's my blog site. I took a picture of the bad ones before I ripped them apart. I'll post them later this week.

    http://new2quilting.blogspot.com/

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  5. I love the colours you have chosen. I really did not notice your points missing. I have had the same problem so often that now I insert a pin right into the spot where the points are supposed to meet and then pin match the rest. Sometimes it means that my 1/4" isn't perfect but I am generally able to match - but not always!! Once it is washed no one will ever notice.

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  6. I've done my share of ripping on this quilt and I've been quilting for a few years. Your blocks are looking great. Hang in there, you will have a beautiful quilt and no one will know you hit a bump or two, they will just be complimenting you.

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