I did it. My first traditional block quilt. I chose “Only One Quilt” by Dory Cary because you can arrange the blocks anyway you want. You need 6 yards of one fabric. No set pattern.
The only real rule I had to follow was to cut the blocks wack & stack style. Yep, that is a legit quilt term. Google it. Then, sew all the triangles together, sew the rows together, and done.
BUT…..
Naturally things did not go according to plan. The cutting went well. Why? Because I had help. I had BOTH Susan and Kerry watching over my shoulder. More like, I was watching over their shoulder. Have you ever been asked for help?? Say from your child. “Can you help me with this, Mom?” Only not to be able to STAND how they were doing it, and just take over and complete the whole project yourself? That is how Susan and Kerry are with me. It’s very endearing I think. Either that, or they think I am a complete idiot. I’ve been told I am endearing. Wait, I have also been told I am an idiot, but that was by my 13 year old daughter. Clearly her opinion does’t count. She is 13. I am back to endearing.
All triangles cut. I am actually enjoying it! On to sewing. I have gotten more clever, I KNOW there is a thing called a 1/4 inch guide foot. This is what I will use with my 1/4 inch stitch button. They are making it too easy! I put on my 1/4 inch foot and I press my 1/4 inch stitch button. Off I go. I sew 36 squares. My eyes are starting to dry out, and I am starting to think of all the ice cream I want to eat. Time to take a break. I turn off the machine and go to bed (after I eat my ice cream, don’t worry).
You know what happens when you turn off your machine and turn it back on? It goes back to the regular straight stitch setting. Guess who didn’t figure that out until this happened. All my rows were slightly off, none of my seams are lined up.
Guess how many squares I did? 36. 36 squares with the wrong seam allowance. My old self would just say, “Whatever” and keep going. But my new, slightly more experienced self now knows it WILL NOT END WELL if I ignore this.
Hello Harry (my seam ripper). You have all been missing him, I’m sure. I think he has lost some weight? Don’t you? It’s all the working-out he does.
Once that problem was solved I did the fun part. Arranging the squares.
The squares are set, next sew them into rows. I started by using my same 1/4 inch guide foot, but I was finding that it was pushing all my fabric into the “ditch”. This pains me, I need to ask Darren for guidance. He tells me I should be using the HP professional 1/4 inch foot with the HP plate. Again, nerd sewing speak, sorry. BUT, it was really helpful. I thought it was so helpful we made a video about it and posted it on our YouTube channel. Apparently, I was the only one who thought it was helpful. 10 views. Still, you can watch just for the enjoyment of it.
Once I had the right foot, the right plate, and the right attitude, all went well. I even enjoyed the binding! Don’t remind me that I said that the next time I am complaining about hand binding. This was only a throw quilt size!
All in all, I consider this a success! If you would like to watch the full reveal from all of our “Only One Quilt” Challenge, you can find it on our Facebook & YouTube channel.
