PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

I've been working intensively on the Tradewinds quilt this weekend.  Tomorrow evening the town quilt club has their "Show 'n Tell," a windup evening to which we invite anyone we think might be interested and set out the quilts we've made this year for everyone to admire and enjoy.  At least, the quilts we've made that haven't been given away yet.

I have just two lap quilts to show, because everything else has been given away already.  But there is that very large quilt that I'm working on, and I'd like to get the top sewed together to show.

First step was to sew the vertical seams within the blocks.  Second step, shown here, was to sew two rows of blocks together along the vertical seams.  That involves laying the second row of blocks on top of the first row and pinning them together.  This shows row two being turned over onto row 1.

I've pinned them on both sides of the block to keep them from getting twisted.  They made quite a pile on the sewing table!

After the vertical seams were finished, I sewed them together horizontally.  I'd been using the recommended "scant" 1/4" seam, and was very unhappy with the way the intersections turned out:

Just not acceptable.  This was a blow!  Up to that point the quilt was a pleasure to make: the squares (four to a block) were very simple to sew and "square up."  I stopped sewing for a while to ponder how to fix this.  The problem seemed to be in the "scant-ness" of the seams.  If the seams were a generous 1/4" would the intersections be better?  It was late on Sunday evening when I took rows 3 and 4 tried out the fix on the first two horizontal rows.  It worked!!!

I was actually glad to see a gloomy, snow/rain day this morning!  That meant I could devote my time to sewing!  After 2 1/2 hours of effort, which included resewing the vertical seams and then sewing the horizontal seams, rows 3 and 4 were together, looking good!

Then it was time to do some kitchen work.  We've run out of breakfast goodies, so I made a dozen Saskatoon muffins, a large batch of granola and a fruity scone (eight pieces).  Also cooked up a batch of cranberry sauce to go with the roasted chicken breast, curried cauliflower and oven roasted sweet potato sticks for dinner.  Was that ever delicious!  Then it was back to sewing.

I follow Bonnie Hunter's method of "Webbing the Top" which you can find on her web page.  Just go to Quiltville.com.   Here are rows 5, 6 and 7 webbed.  All the vertical seams are sewed.  The horizontal seams will be sewed after all this is very carefully pressed.  That's a job for another day!

In this last photo you can see how I've pinned the outside of the set of blocks together to keep them from flopping around.  I start doing that when I sew two rows together.  Otherwise the blocks twist around each other and you have a real rat's nest.  Pinning everything keeps things organized.

I wonder if I'll get the top far enough to display tomorrow evening.  Rows 1 and 2 need to be picked apart and resewed, and then the three separate section can be sewed together.  Probably a good 2 1/2 hours of sewing left, and that doesn't include all the "unsewing" that needs to be done first.  I'd better get at it!