Thursday, August 6, 2020

Lesson Learned

Ahoy Mateys,

This is how I spent my day working on my new "Crossing The Pond" pattern. I put all of the blocks on my design wall and started attaching the sashings to my blocks......so I thought.  The ship on my journey was totally blown off course.


I always tell my students to make a "pilot" or test block before you continue with the entire quilt.  My blocks are perfect.  My sashing measured exactly 10-1/2" which it was supposed to be.  So I was good to go to start putting everything together.....right?  Sew, sew wrong!

My sashing didn't line up perfectly with my block.  Could it be that this "math lady" made a huge mistake?  I checked and double checked my math, and sure enough, my perfect sashing didn't line up with my perfect block.  This "math lady" deserves 10 lashes with the cat o' nine tails. I think 10 lashes with a wet noodle would be more appropriate.  I felt like a wet noodle by the time I finished disassembling and re-cutting a few pieces for each sashing section.  Then re-assembled the sashings.....which I will continue to work on today.  

Part of my nautical knowledge base today is about the cat o' nine tails.  When not in use, it was stored in a bag.  Hence the term "the cat's out of the bag".  "Not enough room to swing a cat" also derives from this.  I was dodging the cat all day long!


The seam ripper came out and spent the day with me out on the deck while I ripped and ripped some more, then started remaking the sashings.  It is a good thing that Marcus Fabrics produce a high quality fabric with very little fraying.  I pressed all of the parts and pieces to remove the wrinkles and seam lines, and I was good to go to insert the new pieces and start over.  (Boy, I wish I could iron myself and remove the wrinkles!)


This is how it should look.  Much better now and I no longer have that sick to my stomach feeling when I look at my design wall.  I think I had a huge case of seasickness.


So I learned a huge lesson yesterday, which I vow never to repeat.  My ship is back on course, my sails are harnessing enough wind to power me across the ocean, and I'm back to "Crossing The Pond".  I'm no longer at the bottom of the sea in Davey Jones' Locker.

Soon,
Lynn

10 comments:

  1. Could it be the math lady had a glass of grog while measuring? Or it might possibly been shackle crack from too little wind in your sails! I'm glad you're now cracking on, Lynn!

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    1. Grog?? Who me?? Ya, sure, ya betcha! I love the phrase shackle crack!

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  2. What caused the problem Lynn? That was a lot of ripping - I have had to do that before and it is no fun! Glad it is fixed (especially for your sake).

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    1. Even though the sashing measured correctly, where the seams landed, didn't line up with the block. They were 1/4" off. So I had to change two measurements to make it work. Does that make sense?

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  3. Thank you for the explanation on the CAT! I'd sure never want to swing a house cat! Sew many things to learn from you today! Love the fabrics you are playing with and the blocks you're making. I am a math dunce and it sure gives me troubles when figuring out my own quilt things. I hate the patterns in magazines, because they do not have a finished size that covers the top sheet, they all fall short. NOT what I want to create, so I do my own, my own way. Have been doing this since I began quilting in the 90's.

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    1. I learned some new things too when I looked up cat o' nine tails. I used to struggle with math in school, but now it all makes sense to me. At least quilting math anyway!

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  4. Monique D (Belgique)August 8, 2020 at 8:01 AM

    Il m'arrive souvent de tirer une leçon de tes articles et cette fois encore tu attires notre attention sur le fait qu'il faut vérifier les mesures de ces blocs avant de continuer son ouvrage car il ne faut pas toujours faire confiance aux publications. Tout le monde peut se tromper...
    Comme je te l'ai déjà écrit, j'ai vraiment beaucoup de plaisir à suivre tes ouvrages car j'adore les tissus que tu choisis et tes modèles.
    Amicalement

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    1. Ce qui est embarrassant, c’est que l’erreur a été totalement mon erreur. Je suis si heureux de l’avoir trouvé maintenant, au lieu de plus tard. Merci d’avoir commenté Monique!

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  5. Oh goodness! Glad you didn't have to walk the plank! Maybe a little more Yo Ho-ing and a little less bottle of rum???? Lol!

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    1. That's is so funny Susie! You could be right too.

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