Wednesday, December 02, 2009

A Humbling Experience

All the basket blocks are finished. When I started to square up, I had to face some unpleasant truths. Bad blocks! Very bad blocks!



After wondering what to do for a while, I realized that it's obvious which seams are wrong--the ones where the piece is too small, right? Why was that hard to figure out?

So I took out one flower, and re-sewed it. Perfect, right? Oops!


One more try:


Not perfect, but much better, and when the lower right corner is trimmed, it will be at least within an acceptable margin of error. There are still a few blocks to fix, and then on to the alternate blocks. I want this thing DONE.

I did these corrections while listening to President Obama's speech. If what he's doing is a mistake, it will be much harder to correct than mine.

10 comments:

Libby Fife said...

I can so relate to your story! Funny how squaring up the blocks is a metaphor for life. How many times have I ripped apart a block where the point was clearly going to be blunted? Or I sewed something backwards? Honestly, it isn't perfection that I am after, just something that doesn't look like that 5 year old did it! LOL!

Debra Dixon said...

It is a mistake. And, I'm not talking about your quilt block.

dee said...

It's a huge mistake, unlike your block

Joyce said...

My blocks never end up square . Maybe that's why I like doing wonky no-rules kind of quilting. The baskets are looking very nice.

Vivian said...

Agreement x 2 -- the blocks look nice -- and I think the decision/announcement last night is a big mistake. My trust has been shattered, and I feel overwhelming sadness. Back to my quilting projects to try to get back some peace of mind.
I'm anxious to see your finished project.

*karendianne. said...

You recall those nosegay's? I had the same situation. I finally had to STOP following the directions and work it out on my own. Don't tell anyone but I think that might be sorta like drafting my own pattern. In a way. And don't tell anyone but I just don't didn't watch the speech. I am not to be satisfied and when he started to say this wasn't anything like Vietnam (oops...okay, I did listen a little bit...)

Beena said...

What Debra said!

No matter how carefully I piece a block sometimes, it still comes out wonky occasionally. Annoys me to no end. And I don't always have the patience to correct the problem (laughing). This might explain why I gravitate more toward applique projects, though I did have many years with many projects that were pieced. And I still can never get completely away from having to piece. I can't tell you how many times I've lied to myself and said that I can press it out or quilt it out when the piecing of a block didn't jive! LOL!

Shelina said...

I make lots of mistakes when I'm quilting. I've learned not to yell at myself and just fix them.

Unknown said...

Amazing how easy it is to make the simplest of mistakes that cause us so much grief! The block is lovely, looking forward to seeing the finished quilt! As for the other mistake that is not yours, I am saddened and dissapointed.

Barbara C said...

Just like in quilting, mistakes have of way of magnifying themselves the longer you proceed as if you hadn't made these errors. Maybe if more people quilted, these lessons would be learned more easily.

Good for you for doing the hard work of fixing your blocks. It reminds me why I shy away from complicated piecing, but your lovely blocks are truly tempting.