Friday 8 February 2013

Me and My Seam Ripper

You know the saying about being wary of the quiet ones? Well, I've got a new one. Be wary of the 'easy blocks'. I was doing my Brit Bee blocks today for Judith. She precut all the fabric, she asked for two different blocks from us, and they looked simple.

We received precut HSTs and just had to piece them into a large HST to eventually become part of a star quilt for Judith. Ange witnessed me yesterday making a right mess with this, almost finishing it before realising I had laid all my HSTs out in the wrong direction. So that was fixed.

Today I did the other block. Simply sew 2.5" squares diagonally onto opposite corner of 4.5" squares, trim, and piece together. Could I get it right? The number of times I ripped out seams to get those points to almost match. Perfection was beyond my capabilities. Way beyond!

On top of that Hadley and Trudi set a precedent of piecing the offcut HSTs into a mini block for Jude. I did that without trimming or worrying because it was all just for fun. That one went together without a problem, needless to say. It measures up at 6".


Speaking of bee blocks, did I tell you I was queen bee this month for Modern Stitching Bee? Well I am. I asked my lovely bee mates for churn dash blocks - yes, I know everyone is making them right now - with a white background and using fabrics in blues, purples and aquas. I have received four of my blocks already, from Sarah and Emily. They are gorgeous.


In other news, I have received my low volume charms from the swap that Laura Jane ran. Bless her, she didn't have an easy time of it but she sure managed to get some lovely fabrics pulled together resulting in a great swap eventually.


And I will end this post with a slice of cherry pie. Calorie free pie as Emily made it this morning, with Fimo (polymer clay). I took the photo with the coin beside it so you could tell how very tiny it was and what a fab job she did.


Susan

30 comments:

  1. Snap! We are clearly on the same wavelength even more than usual today! Love the cherry pie - it's amazing! And I love the churn dash blocks - very sophisticated.

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  2. Emily is one talented chicka!!! Of course so is her momma!

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  3. gorgeous blocks and that pie is incredible!

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  4. I LOVE your churn dash blocks! Your blocks for Jude are fabulous, you'd never know they caused so much hassle! Emily's pie looks delicious...and tiny!

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  5. bloody hell - that's one damn fine cherry pie! (see what I did there?)

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  6. Oh my! That fimo cherry pie is outstanding! I showed it to my girls and they are in awe! Even Shannon said Emily is a pro now! And thank you for doing my blocks. I'm not entirely convinced I had cut everything exact so that may have been the cause of the headache! Apologies! I love the mini block too! Jxo

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  7. Wow, that cherry pie made my mouth water, until i realised it wasn't real, it looks amazing, nice work Emily! I think i distracted you with my chatter yesterday, but sounds like today was a bit of a struggle too, oh well, they all look good now. And I know how beautiful those CD blocks are, I nearly slipped those into my bag with your Singing the Blues quilt!!!

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  8. well fill me full of confidence why dont you... (guess what I am just about to do...) Awesome job Emily, thats fantastic! Love the glaze on the cherries, looks so cool! Well done wee one. x

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  9. You know Emily will have to start her own blog soon - both your girls are so clever and creative!

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  10. Darn those easy blocks, anyway! That pie is incredible!!! Is the filling juicy bit holding the cherries together made of coloured glue?

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  11. Love the cherry pie- what clever girls you have! You're not bad yourself- everyone has those sort of HST slip ups! Love the purple CD too!

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  12. The pie looks delicious, can Emily turn her hand to pin toppers?

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  13. You obviously didn't look too closely at my points then!!
    Loving the cherry pie!! x

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  14. I love calorie free cake! It is gorgeous!
    Great blocks and swaps!

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  15. Can totally sympathise re the blocks. I am sure that's where all those "humility" blocks come from in old quilts. They made mistakes & just went "sod it, I'm not unpicking that!!" LOL
    That kiddo of yours is showing us all up!! Clearly gets her talent from her Mum.

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  16. Ah, the eagle eye was on form! Still to fix my block! LOVE your mini!

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  18. Love Emilys craftiness. You didn't have an easy time with those bee blocks did you!

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  19. And I meant to say I thought the cherry pie was real, well done Emily! A pro indeed!

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  20. Both your girls are very talented, but then they have a very talented mum. Emily's pie is amazing. Love your churn dash blocks and your Bee blocks look great now.

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  21. I think sometimes when we think something is 'easy' we pay less attention to it, and it ends up going wrong! The blocks all look fab now though. And wow your daughter is talented, the cherry pie is wonderful...good enough to eat!

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  22. I need to do some cutting but I'm so tired that I decided to leave it until tomorrow to be on the safe side, well done for persevering with your blocks, and the cherry pie is making my mouth water! :o)

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  23. Lovely blocks - I'm sorry that they turned out not to be easy, but you did a brilliant job - as did Emily! That Cherry pie is amazing - how did she do the "juice"?!?!

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  24. The cherry pie is so realistic - good enough to eat!

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  25. I want some of that pie! (I must have the munchies after the pub ;o) ) You have rather scared me on the blocks though...

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  26. When the seam ripper is your best friend, you know the block is going to turn out perfect.
    Your girls are so talented. That cherry pie looks so real.

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  27. How cute is that Cherry pie - amazing!!! Love your churn dash blocks too.

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  28. I was trying to figure out how you got the cherries to stay in the pie, but then realized it wasn't for eating. very nice. those dash blocks are great. Can't wait to see the quilt come together.

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  29. You ended that post with a wow moment!

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  30. I love churn dash blocks. I have a vintage quilt kicking round here somewhere made out of them. I love that your bee mates have given them a modern twist with the fabrics they used.

    That cherry pie looks good enough to eat!

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