Slow and Steady Slogging to Provence

Those of you already sleeping under En Provence, I salute you!

Even though my oversized wall hanging only has 9 of the big purple/yellow/green/neutral blocks, it is very slow going in the quiltorium.

My challenges have included:

  • Miscounting how many QSTs I needed.
  • Thinking that I miscounted my HSTs, and making more only to realize I had some up on the design wall.
  • Sewing for a while with no thread in the bobbin
  • Orienting my purple four patches wrong during assembly
  • The usual difficulty getting crisp points in blocks wiht HSTs, QSTs, and those dreaded Y-blocks. I am not loving the Y-blocks
I have had a few moments like this:

I couldn't resist putting one block together all the way.  Can you spot the mistake in the lower partial block in the following photo? I made that mistake twice. 

To cope with these challenges and minimize disasters, I am doing the following:
  • Checking and trimming every 3.5" unit before sewing
  • Keeping a printout of the design handy at all times
  • Pressing thoughtfully so seams nest
  • Pinning the match points where points must meet
  • Proceeding for the most part in sets of nine to assemble the five strips that I need to make each big block. 
  • Carefully laying all the pieces to be sewn in piles next to my machine so that everything is oriented properly.
  • Walking away to do something else when I am too frustrated.
I think it will go a little faster, and easier, when I get these big blocks done. I am eager to move on to other projects soon.....

How's it going with your mystery quilt?




Comments

  1. Sounds like a good plan! Especially the bit about walking away when it gets too frustrating. Good luck with it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's going to be so pretty when it's finished, and worth all the frustrations!

    ReplyDelete

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