It's been a productive week. I mentioned recently that I'd joined a Bee, after a long hiatus from swaps, bees, etc. I wrote about my thoughts on bees
here if you are interested. This new Bee started on Instagram and quickly grew to 12 hives in North American, plus an Australian version and possibly a UK one too. It's using the book
Modern Bee: 13 Quilts to Make with Friends. Our first Queen Bee chose a scrappy circle block. I'm usually really good with curves. I followed the instructions, against my better judgement for this block. It called for using freezer paper as a foundation and suggested leaving the paper on when sewing the circle to the outer fabric. I used a lot of pins, because I've always thought, there can never be too many pins, right? I was wrong.
The problem with this construction is that the freezer paper doesn't have any give. When sewing curves, I find you need a certain amount of give to ease in the curve. So while I didn't have any real puckers, I also couldn't get the block to lie flat.
To add insult to injury, I spilled Bailey's Irish Cream on the block! Lesson learned: don't drink and sew! I probably could have got the Bailey's out but no amount of starch was going to smooth this sucker out.
Today I tried again using muslin as my foundation for the scrappy circle and was
much more successful. This is the one that will go in the mail. I prefer the shade of green in the first block, but they didn't have it at my LQS so I had to go with what was available.
In other quilty news, thanks to some helpful friends at The Workroom, I got my Medallion Quilt basted last night. I also restarted my Once Upon a Time sampler cross stitch. I've been messing up on it a lot for two reasons: I've been working on it late at night while tired and I've been using linen. So last night I bought Aida cloth. Hopefully this will lead to less errors and actual progress!
For my master list of WIPs, see this
post. This week, one thing got crossed off the list:
February block for Modern Instabee HOORAY!
That sounds a good tip, I've been wanting to try some curves so thank you, I'll remember this! Love the colours too.
ReplyDeleteI think the drink was needed! Most blocks just need a lot of tender loving pressing, but this one... gotta love curves! I love your second attempt - great fabrics!
ReplyDeleteComplicated stuff! Looks great though
ReplyDeleteYummmm Baileys!!
ReplyDeleteWould steam have helped? (Not that I know that much about sewing circles.)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on getting to cross one WIP off your list! Seems like each time I get one project almost done - I've got two more added to the list!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing the good and the bad here. I agree you need the ease to put in circles and curves.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be a case of leaving well enough alone: your technique is much better than the one proposed.
ReplyDelete