Oh happy day!!
Oh happy day! As much as I love the Christmas holidays, I’m always a little bit relieved when they are over. It’s finally time to relax just a little bit…a time to do things that don’t involve food. A time to emerge from the sugar coma that sometimes comes to represent the holiday season. A time to do some things for ourselves. Don’t misunderstand…I love to do things for others. It makes me feel good…makes me smile. But sometimes I need to selfishly claim some time for me…to do whatever I want to do. And that’s what I did today.
I tried to do that yesterday but it didn’t work out so well. I started down to the sewing palace numerous times and was side-tracked almost every time! Woke up late…started to watch Rachael Ray…liked what she was cookin’ for dinner. That required a trip to the store. Which usually means a trip to two stores…no store has everything. Yesterday was no exception. Two stores later, I was home and set to sew. My husband came home for lunch. After lunch, I caught a glimpse of the People’s Court on television. (Don’t judge me! 🙂 ). I finally pulled myself away from the TV and went downstairs…two thirds of the day down the drain.
Since I hadn’t sewn a thing but Barbie clothes and a Christmas stocking for weeks, I knew I had to piece. But what? Before the holiday season, I decided that I was going to deep six the Grandmother’s Choice project. I wasn’t crazy about the fabrics I chose and just generally wasn’t feeling the love for it. So, with the attitude that life’s too short to make quilts I don’t like, I decided the heck with it! But when I entered the palace, I thought maybe I’d give it another try. Of course I only had ten blocks completed and they were already on block seventeen and it seemed a little bit overwhelming. But I cut out the pieces for the schoolhouse block. There was a time I loved house blocks. That time has passed as of last night. I have no idea why I had so much trouble with this block. I’m just glad I’m not a contractor…wouldn’t be in business long I promise you! It was pretty lopsided building. I pressed the heck out of it and it was OK…except on the bottom. I was not about to remake the block so I hacked off the bottom and planted grass. Guess I’m a better landscaper!
After the housing crisis, I decided to give it up for the night. Today, I got a much earlier start. And what I also got was something even better than that…time alone! There was no one here except me,myself and Irene! I was giddy with excitement! Then I needed to decide if I truly wanted to catch up with Grandma. Yeah…I think I did. So I dove into Block 12. It looked a little complicated…dang Y-seams again. But it actually went together quite well! OK…one success…we’ll try another.
On to Block 13. I thought the directions were a little bit vague. I cut a rectangle that was at some point supposed to become a pentagon. The directions neglected to tell me when that would happen. There were triangles that didn’t look nearly large enough so I cut others. Those didn’t work either. (Of course, they didn’t…they were the wrong size!) I sat and looked at the pieces for several minutes and the solution finally came to me. It would have been nice if the directions had included that little bit of information. I’m hoping that those of you who have made that block know what I’m talking about. I don’t want to be the only dummy!
Isn’t this fabric just perfect for Grandmother’s Choice?
Next up is Block 14. No issues at all with this one. A nice, simple Churn Dash type block. A nice break from Y-seams!
And finally, Block 15. This went together very easily! (Looks a little Christmasy, doesn’t it?) In fact, I decided to quit while I was ahead. There’s always tomorrow. I hope to be caught up soon!
I’ve had some issues with these blocks finishing up to 8.5 inches. They are all just a little bit too small. I have two quarter inch feet for my machine…one with a blade and one without. I was frustrated that some of the blocks were a little too small so I started to troubleshoot. I’ve been using the foot with the blade. I looked closely at it and I saw that the blade is not right next to the edge of the foot…there’s probably 1/16 or less gap between the blade and the edge of the foot. Now if the edge of the foot is the quarter inch mark and if I’m lining the edge of the fabric against the blade, my seam is a “smidge” too wide. Multiply those smidges by every seam and I’m guessing that’s why my blocks are just a “smidge” too small. The last block I made today was made with the foot without the blade and it was fine. Have any of you had an issue with a quarter inch foot with a blade?
buriedinscraps 