Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Outta Control!

AAARRRGGGHHH!! Working on my Leaf One Hour quilt--as usual, I decided to make it 'my own'. No, I just couldn't follow Judy's directions, I had to add my own touch. I was thrilled when she initially did the Challenge in that I found a bunch of leaf blocks in the RIGHT size for it. I never got around to finishing that quilt, so I was well on my way, right? I just had to add a few more leaves. No problem. And that little window in between the blocks? How cool would it be to put pictures or appliques of real leaves? Well, now I finally decide to get that done and that tub of unfinished blocks off my worktable! I had pressed the leaves in a book last fall, so I dug them out and since we need 5 1/2" squares--I could fit two on a page--which was great since that computer fabric is a bit pricey. After a few practice tries, I decided that I liked the look of a fabric background rather than white, so I taped my leaves to the fabric and then copied them. The colors of the fabric weren't quite the same, but they look similar and that was good enough. I followed the directions to heat set the ink, rinse in cold water and then let damp dry and then iron. So far so good!
NOW here was the problem--did you know that the computer fabric by June Tailor shrinks? Almost an ich! So, now I can't cut my 5 1/2" squares, I was down to 5 inches. Problem--big problem! Everything else was cut for the quilt and a 5 1/2" square HAD to go in there. Problem #2--since I copied the leaves on fabric--I would need to have more of that print! So, I pieced together all the little pieces of computer fabric leftover to get 1" strips to add to the blocks. Sheesh! What an ordeal--some of the blocks now have 2 seams in them! Oh well. It's the best I can do without wasting all that computer fabric.

I also did slightly different borders than Judy because I had a lot of HST's leftover (remember these were leftover from another abandoned quilt project) and I wanted to use them. So I figured out what size my borders had to be so I could use these HST's. Used up the last of my fabric and got all my borders cut. Started sewing them on--and when I get to the HST borders, they don't fit--by a couple of inches! Well, it turns out that borders #1 OR #2 should have been a little wider. Now what? And since there was an odd number of HST--adding a 'filler' would be a little obvious. But I reallly couldn't think of what else to do, so added the filler anyway. I couldn't take the other borders off and fix them, because I was out of fabric. What a pickle I was in! I was way beyond frustration--so I decided to go do something in which I had CONTROL!
And that was my pantry--sorry didn't take before pictures--but believe me, it was bad! I totally emptied all the shelves, bought containers to control the loose things and totally re-organized the whole thing. As I was putting things away, I thought I should have painted--but it was only a fleeting thought! And now I know I don't need any more corn--I have 12 cans!!
and after immersing myself in the pantry for a day and a half--I was able to calm down and go out and sew again. So, it's not perfect--that added filler strip is obvious to me--off center and I thought of a few other ways I could have solved the problem (but not until after it was done naturally!). But the top is done and I was planning on donating this one too. Hopefully whoever gets it won't be disturbed by all the boo-boos! Boy, it's been a while since I've done all that!

11 comments:

Gail said...

I hope that you like going your own way with Judy's design, I certainly do! ...oh, and then next time you get all worked up,come on over and redo my pantry--that'll settle you down again. LOL

floribunda said...

well, from where I'm standing it's quite lovely! most likely no one but you (or the quilt police) will ever care if the background had to be pieced...

tami said...

I was thinking I was the last person who hadn't finished Judy's leaf hour a day quilt. Now I probably am. Congratulations on your finish of your top. I really like the changes you made with the pattern. The smaller leaves in the clear blocks look great.

~Bren~ said...

The leaf quilt looks great. I don't think anyone else would even see your boo boo. Funny, I posted my cleaned out pantry today too! Great minds....

Libby said...

Your quilt looks great, and I love the idea of the "real" leaves in the filler blocks. This is what quilting is all about - spontaneity and making do. It makes quilts wayyy more interesting!

Sharon said...

It has been said that "necessity is the mother of invention". . . and I think your inventiveness (is that a word???) is terrific. Your quilt looks wonderful & I am sure that the person who receives it will be thrilled.

Keep up the good work!

37NL Swaps said...

I like the quilt. You can't tell, if you don't already know where the pieces are. It looks great, and the person who receives it will be so impressed by the whole design that they will never even know if there are mistakes!

Ms. Jan said...

It must be something in the air....I did a pantry cleaning yesterday and found 3 different boxes of powdered cocoa and 3 bags of basmati rice! Well, thats done, anyway. The leaf quilt is lovely!

Granny said...

I like the way it turned out. Looks great to me!

Rhonda said...

That quilt looks darn good from where I'm sitting!

Jo Raines said...

I love it! I don't see where there was ever a problem. Great job.