Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Mod Sampler Quilt in City Weekend Fabric: Top Finished


With Halloween sewing behind me and the fabric for some new drapes on order I was free to work on my Mod Sampler Quilt.  I have finished the top and I like the overall look, but let's just say there are some problems...

First problem - I didn't square up my blocks before I sewed the rows.  I checked several of them before I sewed the rows and they were pretty darn close to 8.5" exactly so I skipped the rest of the blocks and I really wish I hadn't.  After the rows were together I had to lop off the side of the left hand column in order to get a straight edge.  Not good:



Second problem - My sashing on the left and right sides was very stiff.  I pinned it to the quilt top and trimmed it to the same length once it was pinned in place.  The Moda fabrics I used in the blocks seemed to grow a bit as they were sewn and the sashing didn't.  As a result the sashing is an inch too short at the bottom corners.  Also, not good:



I'm trying to figure out what to do the save this quilt.  I'm considering a few options and I'd love to get some advice from any more experienced quilters who might be reading this.  So far I'm thinking I can either:

1.  Press ahead, make a backing and quilt it up as is.  I can trim the outside sashing to 1" after it is quilted and bind it in white.  This doesn't do anything for the patched blocks in the left column though.

2.  Take a step backward and rip out the sashing and the rows.  Square up my blocks and remake patched blocks that got trimmed.  Essentially, start over with just a stack of blocks to be sewn into a top.

3.  Rip out the sashing and the rows and instead of reassembling in the original order use some of the remaining City Weekend fabric in my stash to cut 8.5" squares.  I could probably piece something close to a twin size quilt using the pieced blocks I have and the new whole squares.

SIGH!!!  I don't know what to do.  I guess I'm leaning toward #2.  Any suggestions?  Help!!! 

1 comment:

  1. 1. I would unpick the left hand outer sashing about 6-8" and then add another piece to it to make it the correct size. By adding the piece further up, it won't be evident the sash didn't match, but just that you needed a longer piece.

    2. Your option to rip all apart...um NO!! Learn from your mistakes and love it anyway! Quilt it and square it up reasonably well once it is quilted. If you rip it apart, you will have even more issues with fabric stretch and you will be less happy with it.

    3. Look at it with a fresh set of eyes. As I said, learn from your mistakes. You could have some fun and applique some circles where the sashing intersects.
    A friend of mine gave me a tip, which will even work if you do not use cornerstones. Cut all your sashing pieces the same size as your block (8.5" long by sashing width) and then cut cornerstone squares (can be the same colour) Sew the number of sashing strips with the cornerstones in between to go across your quilt. You then have cornerstone intersections to fit your blocks to. Success!! Good luck!

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