Sunday, January 25, 2015

Perfectly Imperfect

My love affair with feed sack and teeny tiny squares has officially come to an end!  I must have touched, pieced and looked at 2000 2" squares the past week.  Revisiting this again is not in the near future!

Hopefully it will also bring to an end my OCD regarding leftovers! Honestly, I cannot finish a project and move on when there are extra pieces.  Cannot do it!  In my defense (and I'm really pushing this), I had to use each and every square left from my Postage Stamp quilt. Why? Because the prints were paired with white.  White is hard to match.  This particular white belonged to my daughter, and I haven't a clue what kind it is.  I didn't want to get it mixed with something else....see OCD!!  Anyone else have this problem?!


With that confession, I'm introducing my Postage Stamp Trilogy!  Seriously, I made three! This is the last in the series! (for now).  I wanted to make it a little more traditional and add some color.  The second one I haven't shared yet.  It's traditional with a slightly modern twist.  

I decided to use a block called Retro Cross Roads.  That's the name I know it by, but as we all know sometimes there are several different names for the same block.  





This block is 12" unfinished.  Normally for this block, the center and corner squares don't have a solid.  But since I had some of these center blocks already made, I decided to make it work for me. 


I love the X's!  It's like a great big kiss in the middle of all the little squares!


There is a slight problem.  After sewing the rows together, I discovered one row doesn't line up.  It is way, way off!  Like 1/4" or more!  Now that's a problem!  Can you see it?!  It's so irritating!

Tomorrow I will fix that issue!  I need to buy some white batting tomorrow.  I don't often use white, but it sure makes a difference if you are using white fabric in your quilt or backing. 

I'm not sure how I will quilt it.  It's small and manageable, so maybe this can be FMQ practice.


I've been thinking.  I feel like I get tunnel vision when working on a project.  Like postage stamp quilts.  I made three.  Back to back.   Then there was all the khaki/woven stripes/feather projects.  Hand dyed HST's...see what I mean?!  

 What about you?  Do you do that?  Or do you like to change it up after every project?  Maybe even have several going at once?  

It is interesting how we work.  Methodical or free spirit sewing.  I sometimes sew both ways...after all you know what they say...

Variety is the spice of life!

What?!  

I think what it means:  You should try different things, because trying different things keeps it interesting!

LINKING:

17 comments :

  1. The X's really change it up ... I like it and might have to try it :) I struggle to work on repetitive block quilts, I get bored, so baby size is about all I can cope with unless they are big blocks.

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    1. I do love this block! The X's pack a punch!

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  2. Only once did I do a quilt that was a repeat of a patterned block; usually I do samplers. Or improv. And I bounce from modern to traditional and back again, and from color way to color way. I like your quilt, and after looking hard I may have seen the row that didn't line up, not sure. So it isn't very obvious if you do'nt know where to look. :-)

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    1. It was nice to go 'traditional', but I'm ready to get working on something else!

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  3. I love the design your blocks make when all put together. It is so fun to see what comes together at the end.
    I always have a couple projects going at the same time. Sometimes I get one finished even. I'm so easily distracted.

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    1. It is fun! I was happy to get 3 different quilts out of that batch of squares!

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  4. I love this quilt! Feedsack fabrics are my favorites. I like the way the blue Xs frame all the tiny squares. I try to do different projects each time as it is too easy for me to get distracted and then I have too many UFOs sitting around. I don't know if I could have done a quilt like this without strip piecing it. Great job! Nadine W in Northern Cali

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    1. Thanks Nadine! I am so happy to be done with feedsack for now! They had been around too long! I'm anxious to get back in my comfort zone…solids!

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  5. Holy tiny squares! I have dont 800 of them, but over 1,000 might have finally sent me to the looney bin! Great thing is is that this has turned out great and the variation in the quilt really catches your eye! I am glad you stuck it out!

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    1. Crazy the amount of squares I have handled lately! I am very happy to say….I'm over it! Very happy to have finished, but happy to move on!

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  6. Your quilt is beautiful. Nope, I am not looking for your mistake, you can't make me do it!

    You could link up to the Sweet 16 Patch quilt-along over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict here: http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

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    1. I ended up fixing the mistake! It looks much better now!!

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  7. When I read the title for your post.... I thought you were writing about me. Hahaha! Love what you decided to do with the last of your tiny squares, Jayne. Adding those kisses was a great call. They look fab. And I seen on IG that you are already done the quilting, too! What a cute, cute quilt!

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    1. Nothing like a little imperfection in quilting! I did finish the quilting and binding! I'm hoping the crinkle of a wash and dry will hide a few of the imperfections!

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  8. I absolutely love it, that blue is perfect and how those blocks form the X when put together, wonderful. I pinned it so I can come back and maybe make one some day. I have lots of 30's that would work great! Off to see if I can google the pattern!

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    1. Its a very effective design! The X's make this little bundle!

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  9. The first one you make, that's the trial run, you learn from that one. The 2nd one is to prove to yourself that you can do it a 2nd time, the 3rd one is to use up the scraps...now on to something new and exciting! I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

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