Sunday, May 11, 2014

Not being Anna


Thimbleanna very kindly sent me a cot quilt kit some time ago. As ever, it took me a while to pluck up courage, and to find the time, to start it. (I'm certainly not the sort of person who can just do a block a night between having a bath and brushing my teeth. I need Long Periods of Free Time and then I have to wash the kitchen floor, email everyone I know and do some weeding first.) I did some cutting out and then life got in the way and it was some weeks before the wind was in the right direction and the constellations aligned appropriately for the rest of the cutting to happen. (And then of course I did some of it twice, having forgotten where I'd got to.)

Because my last (only) quilt's corners didn't all meet perfectly, I was extremely careful with the accuracy of my cutting. I thought I'd been careful last time but - hmm.


This is what it should eventually look like.

I've now assembled three of the nine-patch squares, or at least I've almost finished the third. I'm having a little break because I've just sewn one patch on back to front and am not pleased with myself. Anyway, even though I feel I'm being terribly careful with my quarter-inch seams, I can tell you now that my corners are still not all perfect. I'm ironing the seams of the strips in opposite directions and nestling them together but by the time they're sewn, some of them are - well, not horribly bad but not Anna-good. Is there a magic solution? Or does one just need to be a different person? (And would this different person also find playing the piano easier than I do?)

The accuracy of the cot quilt doesn't matter that much because I don't know of any impending babies and even if I did, I can't imagine any baby noticing slight imperfections in the joins. But it's annoying to try hard and still not get it quite right.

Son came home last night, which was nice, but now he's gone away again. However Daughter 1, Son-in-Law 1 and the grandchildren are coming back from Worcester tomorrow so I'm looking forward to seeing them.

And so another week begins.

Right, I'm off to rip that patch off and sew it on the right way. And then do some piano practice.

7 comments:

  1. Isabelle, that's very pretty! Just keep at it - practice will help with a more accurate seam. And don't forget to relax!

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  2. You are too funny! I love all of the activities you must do before you sew a quilt block -- some days I feel exactly like that!

    And I certainly hope I haven't given you the impression that I don't unpick seams. I do that a LOT. And After almost 30 years of quilting, I still sew patches on backwards, upside down and wonky in general. Unpicking is part of quilting life. And the magic secret? Practice! It WILL get easier!!!

    It looks great so far -- it's fun to see that kit laid out!!!

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  3. Quilting sounds much too hard to start at this stage of life, and it seems to require dexterity and accuracy) feyong my fading powers. And unpicking is awful work. My too hard basket is full enough. I admire your ability to to lesrn new skills.
    My minorproblem st present is that the shop has run out of the blue wool with which I was doing the final rounds of crocheted squares. I now have to rethink the entire design. Drat.

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  4. This conjured up a terrifying vision of a tiny pink baby in wire-frame specs. frowning over a crooked stitch .
    Perhaps , given my sewing , it's just as well I only had grandsons .

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  5. You are certainly a very busy person, and a very tenacious one! I am sure you will finish this lovely cot quilt and also become a skilful happy pianist.

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  6. Anonymous8:26 pm

    Goodness, aren't you brave? I would not attmept anything like that. Good luck.

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  7. Anonymous8:27 pm

    attempt!

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