Monday, January 22, 2007

Bit off a little more than I could chew...

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

You can see from a post earlier this week that I finished a quilt top. It went together oh-so-easily and oh-so-quickly, I was inspired to get out another project to fiddle with during the Colts/Patriots game last evening.

This project has been sitting around for about five years now. I collected blue and yellow fabrics, and had decided on a two-different-square design. The alternating squares would make a nice secondary design when placed next to each other.

Before you read how it all turned out, check out a former post, found here. You will find out that I am not the neatest crayon in the box. I have always been this way, and have not yet figured out how to correct the situation. That is exactly why my Quilting Motto is:

Finished is Better than Perfect.

My first problem came up when I cut out pieces for Square A, and then followed the instructions for Square B. I could not figure out why I had cut pieces out all the wrong size. I quit this square after two rows:
So I re-drafted the pattern, using colored pencils to indicate which fabrics were which. I then cut out pieces for Square A, and proceeded to put together Square A. (works so much better that way...)
What a disaster! If the pieces don't meet at the corners, they are warped and stretchy. That middle piece is supposed to be a *square*, people, not something that looks like it went through the room with the fun house mirrors. And it doesn't even lie flat--looks more like the Star-Spangled Banner waving in the breeze.
Good grief.
And then I got to thinking, Why in the World did you choose a pattern with squares with forty-two pieces in them? Okay, maybe for a wedding quilt or an heirloom quilt. But this is not the case. This is Obviously a case of "looked good on paper five years ago."
I'm going to look for a pattern with, like, Squares and Rectangles or something.
By the way, this "messy" thing doesn't end with fabric. Maybe someday I'll tell you about how, after 31 years of marriage, I still can't make a decent egg or pancake.
It's not a pretty story....

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine attempting to do any such project during last night's game! I was on the edge of my seat for the entire second half! No multi-tasking for me!
Go Colts!