I am NOT amused

Tracy wrote:

Ooohh, aaahhhh


AARRGH!

For those you who don't know what you're looking at, this is the backside of the bee-yoo-tiful and complicated quilting in the first picture. There was apparently a thread tension problem. Those bright spots are little and not-so-little loops of the front (and expensive) thread pulled through to the back. This is not good. I'll need to remove all of the stitching and re-do it.

Oh, and sorry if the second picture gives you motion sickness. I really WASN'T shaking with rage (or any other emotion)... though it occurs to me that it's been quite a while since breakfast...

Bump In the Road

Tracy wrote:

Jean worked so hard to get one of the 4 quilts finished so that I could start applying mass quantities of thread to it.  (The last large quilt I did had over a mile of thread ON it - that didn't count what was used to put it together in the first place)   She unveiled it while we were at a meeting in Vancouver. 

The quilt top is stunning.  I know, it's not fair to say that and not show a picture, but there ya go.  Absolutely stunning.

The quilt top is also still in Vancouver.  I managed to leave it safely stashed under the coffee table next to where I was sitting.  Didn't remember it until we were past Ridgefield, and it was late in the day and it was rain-snow-slush-Slurpee-ing, so we didn't turn around and go back to get it.




Guess what I'm doing on Friday?

Squeezing Out Some Squares

Tracy wrote:

Okay, I double-checked the measurements - ignored what you put on the sticky and found this info.  I wrote down what you said.  I cut a 6 1/4" template.  I ironed the fabric.  I found a purty spot on the fabric. 

I counted motifs.  Before drawing or cutting.  What a concept, eh?  There are only 7.  As in, I can't cut 8 regular 6 1/4" squares and 8 reverse 6 1/4" squares.

But, I thought that I was only cutting the last block - ?  That's only 4 of each, isn't it? 

Well, anyway the problem is that I can't cut 8 of each.

Re: Squeezing Out Some Squares

Jean wrote:

Okay, I'll bring all the rest of the swiss cheese opulence tomorrow, unless you want it today. I think then you'll be able to do it. I need 4 blocks. Instead of 16 little B blocks (above and below Steve), I decided 4 large blocks would be more sane. I know I thought I could just cut 16 pieces from fabric and now do pieced blocks, but that's just as crazy.

Let me know if you want to mark and cut today to get it over with. Otherwise I'll bring it tomorrow and you can give them to me on Tues.

I have ALL the stargazer blocks cut and only one set to sew making two sets of half blocks. Whoopppeeeee.

I'm planning on bringing you a narrow quilt Tuesday. There's a lot of quilting ahead.

Precision Problem

Jean wrote:

Aaarrgh - You know how particular I am about measuring and remeasuring and cutting precisely and sewing accurately. Well, take a look at this picture. Does anything look wrong???




(Note from Tracy: What you're looking at is that the ends of the black don't reach the lines on the board, like the print fabric does.)

Gosh, didn't I measure the black length correctly? Pin it correctly? Sew it carefully? YES I DID!! The kona cotton shrinks! I couldn't figure out why the strips of fossil fern and white were "long" but the pink opulence and black kona were turning out "short."

Suddenly, it occurred to me. The black is shrinking. So I took a 2 x 7 1/4" black strip and sprayed and pressed it, and then remeasured. The strip was a hair over 7". That's almost a seam allowance short.

So I cut 3 strips the full width of fabric, cut off the selvedge edges and sprayed and pressed the strips. Then I cut some and use them to piece. Do you see any improvement?   NO!



So it should be fun piecing the lower quilt tops where there are so many kona black strips. See what you're missing?

A Precise Solution!

Jean wrote:




Aaaaahhhhh - Doesn't this look better?

How did this happen? I sprayed a long strip until it gurgled, and then lightly bounced the iron along the strip creating a good head of shrinking steam. Then I pressed the full width strip and cut strips to a slightly longer measurement. Then, repeated the spraying and pressing on each short strip, and finally cut to needed measurement. When sewn to the block, it's now the right size.

So, only 44 more strips to rip out and replace. Yeah, well, I should have stopped sooner, shouldn't I?

At least we have plenty of kona - to shrink.

First mistake

Jean wrote:


Okay, I've started piecing the large lower quilt - putting the leading between the A blocks (either side of Steve).

So first I trimmed the first A block to the finished size - duh. Luckily, I had some cut pieces from the workshop, so pulled them out, and there's only 7! Where oh where did one triangle go?? I mean, since they were in a bag...

But I'd rather match and cut one triangle than 8 more pink squares!
(Here's a pic for missing persons - uh - missing triangles. Just in case you sight it.)

Here's a pic of the leading between the A blocks.

BTW, when we were talking about division of labor, I don't remember if you wanted to be a part of the piecing. Putting the black leading in is a piece of cake after drawing, cutting and sewing all the blocks. No, I'm not done, but very close to having all the stargazer ones done. Or are you saving your sanity for the quilting?

I just don't want you to feel deprived in any way. I'm kind of on a roll.

Color changes

Jean wrote:

I changed three pieces in the green/blue wedges.

You can also see some of the first leading. I'm READY to buy the preglued black bias!!!! The kona cotton doesn't like to take the adhesive. I have to use the tiny iron and you have to really press hard. My hand will never make it.

One third is tacked down with the steam-a-seam strips. Is Steve still naked, or does he have a cloaking device?