Friday, October 14, 2016

Measure Twice....

You know that old carpenter's rule:  Measure twice, cut once?  My rule for participating in quilt-alongs should be "Read thrice, measure twice, cut once."  Here's why.

I decided to participate in Lori's  quilt-along, Quilters Madder.  These are the blocks for week two, which ended yesterday.  They are sweet little 2" half-triangle squares.  There are six sets of six and four sets of three for a total of 48 little blocks.  Cute, aren't they?  But they didn't look like this earlier today.


No, they looked like the block on the left.  I thought I was making -- I made -- 2 1/2" squares.  When I reread the directions I realized my mistake.  I don't know if I was unhappier about the waste of time or the waste of fabric.
And honestly, I never recut or trim squares, or any blocks, after they've been sewn.  Except these, so they would fit with the rest of the blocks in this little quilt.

For the first week we made 3 1/2" squares.  It's hard to mess up simple squares like that.

Now I'm ready to begin week three's cutting and sewing, which looks several times more complicated than week two.  I hope I can do better than this past week.  (Chuckle, sigh.)  You can be sure I will read the directions at least thrice.

When Lori showed the photos of madder fabric in her first post I was a little uncertain about the colors.  My memories of dying with madder root many years ago was of a color was in the coral to red range but never as dark as the rusty browns we're using these days.  But for this quilt-along we're choosing 1800s colors and we know color preferences change over time, as does the ability to create some colors.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Naturally_dyed_skeins.jpg/480px-Naturally_dyed_skeins.jpg
Madder-dyed wool at Colonial Williamsburg
I'm good with the colors we're using though I admit to loving those lighter and middle madder tones.

I'm linking this post to
Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and
Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

I hope you have a great weekend.

--Nancy.

P.S.  The photo of wool skeins is shared through a Creative Commons Attribution, courtesy of Madison60, available at Wikipedia:  https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Naturally_dyed_skeins.jpg.

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19 comments:

  1. Yes, it is allways good to measure twice, but at least you were not making something smaller than it should be. That would be much harder to correct...
    And your colours are great :)
    Cheers,
    Emese

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    1. Oh, yes, Emese, I was happy not to have had to recut and resew all the blocks because they were too small. I probably wouldn't have done it and would have used the blocks some other way. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.

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  2. Those colours speak to fall to me and are so pretty. I'm so glad you got to remeasure and cut your blocks to suit the project. Been there, done that. LOL

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    1. Hi, Jocelyn. The colors do look fall-like, don't they? I'm usually attentive to the cutting sizes. I must have been distracted when I cut the blocks. I'd like to say "never again" but with me, I know it could happen again.

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  3. At least you hadn't made them too small and had to do them all over again.
    I am trying to do her quilt half sized and some of the measurements in part 3 are driving me bonkers. I am making larger and cutting down--kind of like you did, but I am doing it on purpose. : )
    Still haven't done part 2. Cutting 2 and 3 at the same time, and I am getting very confused.
    Love the photo of the yarns!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, yes, I'm so glad they were larger rather than smaller, too, Janet.

      Do you use Easy Angle and Companion Angle rulers? When I read part 3, with the 3 7/8" (or was it 2 7/8") squares, then cut diagonally, I thought how much easier it would be to use the Easy Angle to cut those triangles. I may try it, but then I may get myself into another mess of mis-cuts, too.

      I was going to work on part 3 on Friday but after reading through the directions decided to wait until I could really concentrate. There seem to be a lot of different little blocks to cut and make. Confusing to me, too

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  4. At least they weren't 1/2" too small. =) The fabrics look great!

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    1. Yes, at least there's that good thing. The fabrics were fun to choose. I had several on hand but bought a few others. I hope I like the quilt when I see it finished. I don't normally do mystery quilts but this seemed like such a small one -- small investment of fabric, time, effort, etc. -- until I had to cut down those blocks.

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  5. I see I'm not the only one breathing a sigh of relief that the error was too big instead of too small. It will be fun to watch your progress.

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    1. Yes, there are a few of us grateful for cutting down instead of beginning again, Claire.

      This is a small mystery quilt. The third installment came this past Friday and the last installment will come next Friday -- and then it will probably take me a week to sew all the blocks together. Hopefully it will be finished soon.

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  6. Can I just ask 'what does it mean...quilters madder? Not a trem I know! So glad you were able to rectify the problem!

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    1. Hi, Linda. Quilters Madder is the name Lori gave to this quilt-along. Madder is a plant whose roots give a beautiful dye in the blush, apricot, coral, red, rust color range. I think the title may be intended as a play on words -- madder and matter sound so similar.

      I was glad to fix the problem with those pieces by just having to cut them down. Whew!

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  7. Wow! I agree with the rest of the ladies, thank God they weren't too small! I'm so glad you shared your experience. It makes me feel better knowing that I'm not alone in my "Oh Now What?!" club of quilting mistakes! :)

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    1. Hi, Miaismine. I suspect that most quilters, at one time or another, have mis-cut fabric. We're all in the same club with some kinds of quilting mistakes.

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  8. SO glad to see you joining in! I have read the latest clue more than thrice, and am still trying to figure out exactly what to do! LOL

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    1. Thanks, Kevin. Yes, Part 3 was a challenge. Lori edited the original post on Monday morning and I found it a little clearer. Good luck!

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  9. Ugh I feel your pain on the HST's I have messed up and am hopeful I have enough fabric to compensate for my mistake

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    1. Hi, Samplings. Oh, I hope you do have enough fabric! I have to stay really focused not to make mistakes when cutting a pattern from someone else. I hope yours turns out well.

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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