Today we get the pleasure of posting a current project over on Missouri Star Quilt Company’s website…and so I am sharing a quilt top that I have been working on for the last week or two that I came to a sudden stand still on….and am asking your advice on before moving ahead.
The quilt is inspired by one of Jenny’s quilt tutorials called “The Alter Ego”.
I liked it because it not only mixes two really great blocks…the 4 Patch and the Hourglass…but it also is a fairly quick sew and has a casual scrappy feel that I really enjoy.
(Especially because with scrappy quilts like this it makes your flaws less noticeable.)
See what I mean! The corners of the 4 blocks above totally don’t match up…but guess what??? No one will ever notice that after it is quilted with this design and fabric choice.
So, ha ha! Take that quilting perfection police!!!
Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes…I came to a stand still on this quilt. I had made some plans but as I started to work through those plans I began to realize the plan may need to change….so to read all about that (and give me some of your sage advice) hop on of to MSQC’s blog and tell me where you would go from here.
BUT…before you go…I have some advice of my own I’d like to share….some advice that may just save your marriage. I know it just saved mine.
Here is the thing. When I make a quilt I lay all the blocks out across my bed or the floor so I can see them all together before I start sewing. That way I can make changes, move blocks around, etc. And once I get everything exactly how I want it I take a quick photo or two of the layout with my phone.
The pictures come in handy while I am sewing the top together…especially if I start to confuse myself about which block gets sewn to which.
The photos aren’t fancy but like I said they sure come in handy when I need a quick reminder of what to sew where.
Well, last week I was sewing along and three hourglasses in a row popped up for me to sew together.
THREE IN A ROW!
That wasn’t right.
This quilt is made by alternating 4 patches and hourglasses…why were there 3 hourglasses in a row???
I’ll tell you why! It was my dang husband!
He must have knocked off some of the blocks and then tried to put them back together without telling me.
Why would he do that?
Did he really think I wouldn’t notice???
For the love! Now I had to figure out what blocks went where.
Good grief! Glad I took the time to snap a picture.
And just like that out came my phone and up popped the picture of my carefully planned quilt top.
Which is precisely the moment when I saw it….and precisely the moment I stopped muttering about how much trouble my husband was in.
If you look closely at the photo of above you will see why…just look at the right hand side of the top second row.
You can see two hourglass blocks right in a row….and in the next photo on my phone it shows all three of them there…laid neatly out on the bed by yours truly.
It wasn’t my husband…..it was all me! My mistake from the beginning…and I had the pictures to prove it.
There was no one to blame but myself.
Later that night while we were eating dinner I told my husband I was sorry.
He asked what for.
I told him it was a long story but that I had given him a tongue lashing that afternoon and, even though he didn’t know about it…he didn’t deserve it….and that I appreciated him not messing with my quilt layouts.
He replied that he knows better than to ever mess with my quilt layouts.
I reminded him that is one of the things I love best about him.
And just like that…my marriage was saved…because…I tell you what….if I didn’t take the pictures myself I would have blamed my messed up quilt top on my poor, unsuspecting husband who really didn’t ever touch it.
So take my advice and snap a photo of your quilt layouts as soon as you have them just how you want them.
You will thank yourself later…and your husband may just thank you too!
-liZ
PS: Now hop on over to MSQC and weigh in on where I go from here on my quilt top.
Save yourself time and trouble and buy a design wall. I hang mine on my bedroom wall with command hooks. My blocks stay put and are easy to access as I am sewing them together. My husband likes to lay in bed in the mornings and critique the layout and sometimes even makes helpful suggestions. When the quilt top is done the wall comes down and is put away until next time.