Working backwards

This week I am working on the Farm Charm top. It started with the panel, a honey bun and the scraps from the other farm charm top. The pattern I am basing this top on looked pretty easy, 8 assorted blocks, 4 blocks using the smaller panel pieces and 4 blocks of just panel pieces.

Stacie Bloomfield and her version of the Farm Charm Quilt

This is where the backwards part comes in. I looked at the quilt and figured out that I should start with the size of the large panel blocks, I *assume* they are 12 x 12, as that would make sense with the finished size of the quilt. Plus, even numbers are easier to divide up into common block sizes and measurements. Those nine inch blocks can be a PITA. I laid it out in EQ8, simple, drew out the pieced blocks and went to get started cutting.

The panel is printed with cut lines, dashes, between the motifs. None of the large motifs are 12 inches square. and the smaller ones are more like 5″ x 7″. Damn. I carefully measure the large chicken, and find that I can fit it into a 10 ½ inch square. This is the new block size for the quilt. Back to EQ8 to re-do (edit) the block sizes. The next hurdle is working with the scraps and pieces to make the blocks. The simple nine patch took me two hours, as I kept making the pieces too small, big, or wrong. The next few went together easier, the pig block did cause some irritation though. Putting it on point in the surrounding triangles was ‘fun’, note the little triangle inserts and narrow borders. I am hoping to finish the blocks today. The moral of the story is one should start with a ‘constant’ first, meaning the unchangeable panel prints, and work forward through the variables from there.

I started quilting the Santa hat quilt yesterday. The Christmas light design takes a bit of time to do, luckily I realized this before the stitching started and re-did the layout making it larger. The rows are 13 inches wide, up from 8, so there are only 5 rows to quilt. I am using a red and green variegated Superior King Tut thread, which I’m not sure if I really like. I could have stayed on the safe side and gone with white, but maybe once it’s done, I’ll like it better.

Off to sew.

Be Kind