0 Replies to “Episode 78: The Imprecision Diaries”

  1. Hi Francis. I love the coloours in you hexagon quilt and the blocks look great. I do like the Bear paw but think the autumn tints is lovely too – would make lovely pillow fronts or maybe one on the front and one on the back? Your blocks from grandmas attic are brilliant – love the colours on both, it will be interesting to see how they are bought together with the other blocks in the series. I was very interested to hear about the advice to keep blocks of the same grid together for harmony – it makes sense and is easier to do the math when you have the same grid, but I hadn’t really ever thought of it like that, so thank you.
    I know you love sampler quilts – do you know about Craftsy? It has online courses for a number of crafts – I have done a few knitting ones and they have been great. But they are running a free BOM course – anyone can sign up for it. It started in January but you can access the material with video lessons at any time. It covers a technique for each month doing 2 blocks – the first was slashed blocks, the second was HST and this month is foundational blocks. There is a new video lesson each month with the accompanying material that you can print off. Might want to give it a look or mention it for others to have a look at – and by the way I don’t work for them or anything just a happy customer. Have a good trip. Happy quilting.

  2. hi Frances! i hear ya about the precision…i am having a problem with a string quilt im making. There are white lines in the middle of each block that meet up and several are, well…less than perfect. I sewed several blocks together and noticed this, so on the remaining ones I am being way more careful to make sure each one is more precise. Have yet to join these to see if it is working or not. Here is (maybe) a link to a pic when it was still on my design wall…
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/karillia/6798978186/
    Hope you have a nice trip with your family ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. I very much like your hexagons quilt. It “reads” beautiful. If you quilt it with big Celtic circles or something circular the points won’t matter as much I think. I made a Sunshine and Shadows quilt once for a baby with beautiful shades of the rainbow. I sewed strips, cut the shadow triangles from the strips and sewed them to the Sunshine triangle to make squares. Individually the blocks were good but sewn together, Oi Vey!, not a point matched anywhere. The baby’s Dad said it was art! He loved the quilt. I bit my tongue not to point out the bad points (literally.) So enjoy the Hexagon Quilt. Maybe Jaye knows the secrets to the template/pinning enigma. I think hexagon quilts are kind of hard and a lot of points meet in the center, too.

    By now your vacation is probably nearly over. I hope it was lovely.

  4. Dear Frances,

    The word you were thinking of was weft (warp and weft).

    Remember that hexagons have a lot of bias and if you want to control the bias, you need Mary Ellen’s Best Press. That will make them nice and stiff so you don’t have to worry so much about handling them. Otherwise, you can just handle them very carefully and redo if you have to rip too much. I had to toss a whole line of diamonds, because I had ripped them out too many times and they were getting out of shape. It happens.

    Also, if you need fabric int he future, try quiltshops.com. It is a search engine that searches multiple shops at once.

    More later,
    Jaye

  5. I often get on myself with phrases like, “Why did I ever feel like I was getting better at this??” and “Why can’t I just get this right?” Then I remember, it’s because I’m trying something a little more difficult than I’ve done before so, of course, I probably won’t get it perfect the first time. So you ARE improving, and you’re challenging yourself! I agree with KellyV–by the time you quilt it, the points not matching won’t show up nearly as much and muggles will be so wowed by the colors and overall design they won’t even care. Remember the old adage about looking at it like you’re on the back of a galloping horse…. (Personally, I think it’s darn cute.)

  6. I love listening to your podcast, Frances. I think you mentioned this episode that you found some fabric at Undercover Quilts? I was there this past summer in Seattle. It is a lovely shop with wonderful people. One of the first quilt shops I ever visited since I started quilting last year! Anyway, thanks for all you do and share with us ๐Ÿ™‚

    Carla

  7. Hi Frances,

    Yes, I heard the podcast after we visited [and I am sending a separate E-Mail with pix and sampler blocks.]

    I have a friend who will only paper-piece because she is so wigged out about points not matching. Me; I celebrate when the points DO match but then I grew up in a colonial house where the corners came together at right angles sheerly by accident. It was a lot of fun to roll balls down the bedroom floor that never saw a carpenter’s level ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m a perfectionist in work and cross-stitching, but not quilting or crocheting.

    Kurt and Eric send their best, even if we are Duke fans and not Carolina fans!

    All the best

  8. I think the hexies look great! When it comes to precision, I think that we are our own worst critics. I’ve shown friends and family my quilts, pointing out all the MAJOR PROBLEMS (in my mind), and they squint, look closely, and finally say, “Oh, that? Shut up – it’s fine!” Now, granted, they are my friends and family, so they’re endlessly complimentary (whether I deserve it or not – that’s why I keep ’em around!). For my part, I’m a long way off from some judge in a juried quilt show every laying eyes on my work, so I’ve learned to relax about it. Usually. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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