There is only one block for this pattern, and you make it from two colors, a light and a dark. Mine are white with blue flowers, and a blue-on-blue flowered print. I had all these strips sewn together, and a whole bunch of triangles cut out, which you then sew together to make bigger triangles, which you then sew together to make squares...and so on and so on. The block is made so that the dark fabric makes a cross in the middle. Then when you put the blocks together, you get a secondary pattern of light crosses. Pretty cool.
Last week I went through all the pieces I had already cut, and tacked the one finished block I had on the bulletin board above my desk/sewing table as inspiration. Then I got to work sewing the triangles and squares together and ended up with a bunch of finished blocks. There were 22 of them. While I was putting them together, however, I noticed that they had some problems. Well, one problem really: wonkiness. If that isn't a word, it should be. The blocks were wonky. Most of the seams lined up the way they were supposed to, but each new triangle or square didn't look quite right. I was trying to be careful not to distort the triangles, as that bias edge can be a bit tricky, but they still weren't right. The squares weren't square, and the triangles weren't quite triangles. Here's one of the blocks:
I don't know if you can tell, but it's not exactly square...
So what did I do? I kept sewing them up, of course! I mean, they were already all cut out, what else was I going to do with them? When I was finished sewing together all the triangles that were already cut out, I pressed all the strips I had, trying to decide what to do. I laid them out on the floor trying to see if I should sew them all together side by side.
Or maybe put sashing in between each block?
Nah. If you do that, you lose the secondary pattern of the light crosses.
At this point, I thought I might try making up another block, being careful to cut the triangles so they were true right triangles. Maybe I could make up a less wonky block, and then decide what to do from there? I seem to have discarded the book I got the original pattern from, but I had tape on my acrylic ruler to show the size of the triangle to cut. I used another acrylic ruler, a triangle one, to cut new triangles that were what I thought was the right size, judging from the way I had cut the previous triangles. Then I sewed that one block up. What did I end up with? A still slightly wonky block that was a half inch smaller than all the other blocks!!! Big sigh.
I spent a day or so cogitating on what I was going to do. Chuck it all back into a cabinet and let it fester for another few years? Take all the blocks apart and try to recut them in the smaller size of the new block I made? Heck, there was NO way I was going to do that. I mean, I'm not adverse to ripping back knitting or crochet if I've made a mistake that needs to be fixed (provided it is obvious or will make something else obvious), nor am I adverse to whipping out the seam ripper to take apart a project that isn't going well. But take apart all those blocks, recut them and then sew them back together? No way.
So, I counted up the number of squares I had (22) and realized I had to make three more if I wanted to put them together and have something that was square. A lap quilt maybe or a tablecloth had become my aim. I cut a bunch more triangles, sewed them all up, and ended up with 25 finished blocks. I laid them all out on the floor side by side, much like in the picture above, and tried to decide what to do. The next day I sewed them all into rows of 5 blocks each, aiming to sew those rows into a large square. I haven't sewn the rows together yet, but that is my plan.
But what do I do with it then? I've done the best I could to line things up so that the corners that are supposed to meet actually meet, and so forth. There are a couple spots where there are obvious misses, but most of them actually look ok. Not that I would want anyone to look too closely, but still, not too bad looking. This is what they look like sewn into rows:
Once I get the rows sewn together I figure I have a couple of choices. I could sew on a border or two, back it, and leave it as a tablecloth. I could sew on some borders, add some batting and backing and make a lap quilt. Or I could make it a much bigger quilt in some other way.
The large square, once the rows are sewn together, will be about 56 inches square. If I want a quilt big enough for our queen size bed, I will have to add quite a bit. And I am not going to make anymore wonky blocks. I know that much. Whatever is added will have to be borders of other things. Plain borders, then some pieced borders? I just don't know. What I do know is that I have this:
All these strips sewn together. Forty something of them, all the width of the fabric. And I have checked them - they were not the problem with the previous blocks. They are as straight as I can make them, no waviness or anything. I want to use them, but how? I could cut and sew some more and make some nine-patch blocks with 4-patch corners and middles. Or make a checkerboard border with them. My husband said I should just make it into a twin size quilt for one of the kids, but it's not really my daughter's style, and it's a bit too flowery for my son. Plus, I still really love the fabric and color. If I make a bunch of borders, some pieced and some not, it's going to take some planning, and I am not sure if I am a a good enough quilter to make it all come out right. I could fudge enough to get these blocks sewn into rows, but adding pieced borders is a whole different thing. Plus, I will need more fabric, which I can't buy right now.
So that is where I am, trying to decide what to do next. And working on some other unfinished projects in the mean time, and sometimes starting something new.
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