Today I finished the last of the 221 blocks from clue#1 for the mystery quilt.
Clue #2 was issued on Friday and it put me into a panic. It showed MORE neutrals, and I had more or less used all of my 'scrappy' neutrals and only had two pieces of yardage left and an odd amount of another. So off I went to the fabric shop to see what I could find. This shop is not a quilting shop, but has 'remnants' or 'sale' quilting fabric that is sold by weight. The problem with this is that it is not repeatable, and it can have flaws, or changes of colour along its length. For a scrappy quilt this is not a problem - but if you ran out and went back - chances are what you wanted would be gone. However, I managed to pull out one piece that I had bought before, and three others that were similar neutrals to what I had used. I didn't want the new fabric to look very different. I am reassured that what I have now will be enough for any further amounts needed in other clues - but still keeping the 'limited' scrappy look.
I followed the instructions in the clue carefully as I had never used these new Tri -Rec rulers before and I would never have noticed the little 'nick' at the top of one of them to help with alignment. I did a test block and was happy with the finished size. However, I could not understand how some of them ended up slightly bigger than others when I was being so careful with my cutting and alignment. I ended up unpicking about a third of the completed blocks today. I have bought a new sewing machine (Pfaff Passport 3.0) to use when going to my quilting group. I love it, especially the IDT system and I will use it at home too and leave my Brother Machine set up for embroidery (hate having to keep changing things to set it up!) I used to own a Pfaff many years ago before I bought my Brother Machine (daughter now has it and wouldn't give it back!!!) and I missed the inbuilt walking foot system more than anything. I am awaiting delivery of some 1/4" feet, and in the meantime used a magnetic strip to help keep to the scant 1/4 seam allowance. At least this machine has loads of needle positions to help.
I've made 30 blocks today.....so only 70 to go!!
Clue #2 was issued on Friday and it put me into a panic. It showed MORE neutrals, and I had more or less used all of my 'scrappy' neutrals and only had two pieces of yardage left and an odd amount of another. So off I went to the fabric shop to see what I could find. This shop is not a quilting shop, but has 'remnants' or 'sale' quilting fabric that is sold by weight. The problem with this is that it is not repeatable, and it can have flaws, or changes of colour along its length. For a scrappy quilt this is not a problem - but if you ran out and went back - chances are what you wanted would be gone. However, I managed to pull out one piece that I had bought before, and three others that were similar neutrals to what I had used. I didn't want the new fabric to look very different. I am reassured that what I have now will be enough for any further amounts needed in other clues - but still keeping the 'limited' scrappy look.
I followed the instructions in the clue carefully as I had never used these new Tri -Rec rulers before and I would never have noticed the little 'nick' at the top of one of them to help with alignment. I did a test block and was happy with the finished size. However, I could not understand how some of them ended up slightly bigger than others when I was being so careful with my cutting and alignment. I ended up unpicking about a third of the completed blocks today. I have bought a new sewing machine (Pfaff Passport 3.0) to use when going to my quilting group. I love it, especially the IDT system and I will use it at home too and leave my Brother Machine set up for embroidery (hate having to keep changing things to set it up!) I used to own a Pfaff many years ago before I bought my Brother Machine (daughter now has it and wouldn't give it back!!!) and I missed the inbuilt walking foot system more than anything. I am awaiting delivery of some 1/4" feet, and in the meantime used a magnetic strip to help keep to the scant 1/4 seam allowance. At least this machine has loads of needle positions to help.I've made 30 blocks today.....so only 70 to go!!