I didn't expect to have anything sewing related to share this week, but yesterday turned out to be a day of puttering in sewing world. This month's block for the Wee Bee was a mini churn dash, which seemed simple enough but caused me lots of frustration. There are so many seams that the smallest inaccuracy ended up with a block that was ever so slightly off size. Now, you might think after the first off size block I might smarten up, but no, it took me THREE to stop and analyze what might be wrong! I've never been one to worry about perfection, but this was ridiculous!
So, I narrowed it down to zipper foot, ruler or pencil line. (or all three) I measured the zipper foot and all was well there. Then I took out a newish ruler and held it against my beloved 3x18 one and lo and behold, it was a hair different. So I backed it up just past the line when measuring and found that all my blocks were right on size. Who would have thought that over the years a ruler would wear down on the cutting side.
The requested format was "scrappy-happy" with purples, blacks and burgundy. I realized yesterday that aside from solids, I have not bought any fabric for six months, and am finally getting to use up all the bits and pieces on my shelves. What's left now I don't much like and don't know why I bought it, but will donate it to a craft circle for them to use and now I can buy some more!
Lovin' these mini churn dashes, Margaret! Especially those with the fussy cut centers. They are all incredible! Thanks for sharing your learning experiences in this post, too!
ReplyDeleteYour scrappy happy blocks look great and so varied and colourful. Especially like the beautiful pansy block.
ReplyDeleteI'd never thought to fussy cut churn dash centers before- what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteChurn dash was one of my first quilts. I still like it. Heck, we all wear down on our cutting side! ;~)
ReplyDeleteLove your churn dash blocks!
ReplyDeleteSuch sweet churn dash blocks. Love the owl! :)
ReplyDeleteThese are brilliant. Love the frame effect on the owl one, very clever.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about my ruler wearing down. Now I will have to go check it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip about rulers wearing down, even so your blocks came out wonderful. Congrats that you got your stash down!
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