Friday, January 22, 2010

Sandhill Stars, The Saga Part 2

Hello Everyone,

So the saga continues. My friend Karen and I have worked diligently all day on this quilt and really like what this will become. We are still happy at this point.



I have all my bands cut up into their segments. Just love them in the 30s fabrics!!


Karen's bands are all cut into their segments in her Civil War Repros. Also, gorgeous!


Ahhhh... The first diamond is born and the points all are matchy, matchy. A big hooray from me!!
This is where Karen's started to go awry. Her's were not matching at all and we were both perplexed. We followed the directions. Double checked the seam allowances. Double checked the cutting and the angle. Hmmm... what is wrong?? Karen decides to set this aside and start to join the strips together all over again. Basically from square one.


I persevered. Voila! Love the way this looks. But the worst is yet to come. The instructions unfortunately are not well written and as we begin to find out measurements are off. The squares that we will be setting in don't appear to be the correct size and the large diamonds aren't matching up.

So it is at this point we pack it up and call it a day. Later that night I tried to set in the squares with the measurements given. Not going well. I will have to upload a picture of this. Karen decides to send an e-mail off to Quilter's Newsletter and make a phone call on Monday morning. The response did not offer any positive information.

So Karen is now the one pressing on (so to speak) as I have not been able to get back to it just yet. She goes over every little step with a fine tooth comb. Very meticulously, measuring and sewing.


She now has a diamond!! This appears to be correct with all the correct measurements. The question is will the set in squares work?


They do for her on this quarter block... Yay! But there is a picture that I couldn't upload that shows them not working. Argh!!! We really, really like this quilt and this block and we will continue to persevere, I promise.

Several things to keep in mind. These are really small diamonds. The strips sets that we started with are only 1.25 inches wide, unfinished. The completed quarter block is only 7 inches. So these are smaller for sure and there is definitely less room for error.

Stay tuned! My next post will hopefully show you a correctly completed block. Please send good vibes our way! Thanks! Oh and by the way, thank you all for your wonderful comments and helpful suggestions. Very much appreciated!!

Until Next Time...

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38 comments:

Kathy said...

Wow! those are small diamonds! Good luck, I am sure you will get it to work out!

Anonymous said...

Good luck. I hope you manage it.

Messy Karen said...

the circle in the middle is very cool. i'm on your side!

Abby and Stephanie said...

Well both are shaping up and will be fantastic. LOVE diamonds and have not tackled them, ever. I had a problem with a project in a well know quilt magazine several years ago and the directions we incomplete. When I contacted them their response was "what's the problem, it works for us." That almost made me cancel my subscription.

Heleen said...

I love the colours you used! I'm sure it's going to be great!

Nedra said...

It looks to me like you both have the patience of Job! Best of luck!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Wow! That's just awesome looking! Pieces are too small for me to work with but I love how this is coming out. Can't wait to see more.

Needled Mom said...

It is looking great, but that is really sounding like a challenge. How many more do you have to do????

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

too bad the instructions were not written well. I guess that happens sometimes. Hopefully y'all will be ale to get it figured out and that it will not have been a total waste of time and fabric.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

MichelleB said...

Good quilting mojo vibes sent! I love the way your star looks!

Unknown said...

What a bummer, I just hate it when this happens and it just did recently. Luckily it was an easy pattern, unlike yours. Good luck.

Anina said...

Oh my!
Looking good though! I love the 30's fabrics.

Sandie @ crazy'boutquilts said...

They both look great! Sending good vibes! :-)

Sherri said...

You are so patient...I might be beginning to be upset at this point! Your block is absolutely gorgeous...especially knowing how small it is!

Vivian said...

I'm sending all the positive vibes your way that I can, through our chilly air and foggy skies and bouncing over the piles of snow and frozen slush. I hope everything continues to go well for you and better for Karen. I'm glad that you have each other--and all of us--for encouragement.
The resulting stars will be gorgeous.

~Laurie~ said...

Holy cow - you must have the patience of a thousand saints! Sending extra good vibes through the cyber air waves!
laurie

Meredith said...

I had that problem with a quilt mania pattern and it was for a very large queen size. I am so sorry you have had that happen. The end result looks very nice. I hope you can enjoy it.

Memaw's memories said...

I admire your patience and perseverance.

Hope it works out for you. What you have finished is really pretty.

Thimbleanna said...

Boy, what a challenge! I LOVE your cool star -- those 30's colors are the best!

Pat said...

Oh, boy...you gals have a lot more patience than I'd be having with this project!!!

Joanne Lendaro said...

OH MY GOSH!! That would have been in a bag, way far back in the deepest corner in my closet by now! Can't wait to see the next picture!

Barb said...

I do love how they are turning out but I know how frustrating it is when you do things right and it just won't work....good luck!!

Steffi´s Candy Quilts said...

Wow, I can imagine how great your two quilts will be. I like both colorways! What a pity that the instructions are not correct. I hope you will be the "winners" in the end!
Steffi

annemariesquilt said...

Amazing diamond block, I would love to make something like this ;-))

Yuki said...

Great job!

ttfn :) Yuki

pratima said...

Wow, both the blocks are looking awesome! I hope it's going to be smooth sailing from here :)

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

Wow, you are brave girls, what I see looks wonderful. Good luck and please keep us posted!

Browndirtcottage said...

Oh my....I was really going crazy for you gals until you told the size...eek!!! But what I see so far looks really good!! I'll be cheering you on!!

Vicki W said...

What a bummer to love a quilt so much and then to find the directions inadequate. I'm glad you are sticking with it. I know you can figure it out!

wishes, true and kind said...

There is nothing worse than poorly written directions. Soooooo frustrating! But what a beautiful pattern!

WoolenSails said...

I can't follow directions, so good or bad, they never make sense to me;) I just look at the pictures and figure it out. I love the dark star, really stunning contrast in that one.

Debbie

RG said...

All the very best of luck Jackie and Karen...this is very interesting reading.
Thankyou for posting about this... I am watching on with great interest.

Hi! My name is erica. Would you be my friend? said...

Oh Wow! I really love the look of your star!!!

Cathi said...

Fingers crossed for sure. How sad that the pattern was not well-written. But it sure looks like you're well on the way to figuring this out. It will be a stunning quilt.

Sharon (Stitches on Mars) said...

Hi Jackie,
Those diamonds sure look great...I admire your perseverance :)
Hope it works out.
Hugs,
Sharon

kclily said...

~~~~~~~~Goooooooood~~~~~~~Vibbbbbbbes~~~~~coming your way. Your star is looking good!

Kim D. said...

What a challenge.. I sure hope you persevere and figure out a way to finish. It sure is frustrating when you cut out all the blocks and they don't work together. Happy Quilting vibes sent your way.. Your blocks are gorgeous.

Kim Brackett said...

Your blocks are stunning! I hope it works out for you -- I can't wait to see it finished.

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