The coolest idea from Debbie at Esch House Quilts for her Bee's Knees blocks--positive/negative versions of houses, swapping out a black-on-white and a white-on-black for the "sky" and the house itself, and colorful doors from our own stashes. She offset them in the table runner she made to test out the block (which she designed herself)--it looks great. So clever! I can only hope to come up with something so neat for my month.
Anyway, I had a little time this afternoon while Alex napped (the same child who, at 9:22 p.m., has just called for someone to fluff his pillow. Goodness.) and thought I'd get a head start for the month. I measured perfectly, sewed my seams at turtle speed, and instead of being 8 1/2 inches, they're more like 8 3/8. Maybe 8 7/16 after pressing them with every drop of glycogen in my biceps, and I know she'll be able to work with them, but it's the principle. This is not a new problem for me--I just don't know what I'm going to do about it, other than always make quilts where the blocks require serious squaring at the end. I really wish I could interview (or watch in action) some of the notoriously accurate piecers out there--including Debbie herself, actually...check this out! Can you even tell they're fabric? Perfectly smooth, and flat, and probably the right size to boot!--just tell me what to do so that my blocks aren't too small, and I'll do it!
Anyway again, they're done, they're cute, and I hope Debbie likes them.
Thanks for indulging my vent. On to the rest of the weekend.
It's not you - it's the nature of the beast. Seriously, the seam takes up a good bit. I always make my blocks a tad bigger and square them up. I don't know that last quilter with the amazing geese, but I know for sure that the other three are big time square-it-up girls or like AmandaJean, don't worry about the tiny bits since she's free piecing a lot anyway.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your quarter inch is off? I have a quarter-inch foot that I never use because I can't get an accurate seam with it. I use this method to check my quarter inch: Cut two strips 1-inch wide by 3 or something inches long. Sew them together lengthwise, press, and measure the width. It should be 1 1/2 inches wide. If it isn't, adjust your needle position if you can or where you line up the fabric edge. Play with it until you get the width right, and that's your personal quarter inch!
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