Oop's

I got so carried away squaring up and sewing the blocks together that I found I was almost through with the project without taking any of the follow-up pictures.  Let's hope that what I took will explain the ending process.

 The black and white material is 4 1/2 inches wide and folded in half.  It is cut the length of the block.  The black with brown stripes is cut at 2 1/2 inches and is the back joining piece.  Place on the finished squared block right sides facing each other. Sew.

  Sew back joiner to second block.  If you do this right then all of your pieces are to the left of the sewing needle.

Slide in batting which was cut at 1 inch.  Fold over the top joiner (black and white material) and stitch down.  Isn't this slick :-)

If this is still a bit confusing refer back to the link in the last blog.  The tutorial instructions and pictures are so much better than mine.

This is the back of the piece.  I like this side better...see lessons learned for the reason why I am not showing the front side!

Lessons learned:  1) Just because you use fabric in the same color or family set does not mean that your quilt will come out looking good.  Always remember to audition where your pieces are going and how they will look next to each other.  This is probably the major reason why the pros have a design wall or space dedicated to viewing their quilts before they are even brought close to the sewing machine. 2) Always stretch outside your comfort zone.  This is where learning begins.

If I had to do it over again I would have crazy quilted the front side.  Randomly using the fabric strips did not work out.  The colors were too jumbled and close together to make sense.  

On the way home from town today I stopped by Chris' house (another quilter and recent retiree).  She has been working on a huge project (a kings size quilt for their bed).  What an awesome job she is doing with it.  Being a hunter and liking elk, she has featured an elk as the center piece.  Next time over I will see if she will let me take pictures.  It is so nice to have another quilter to draw enthusiasm and inspiration from.


Happy learning days!