What a buffoon….

 I guess I should have measured the finished size of my pieced blocks before I cut the white squares for the cat blocks and the white strips for the sashing. It turns out my pieced blocks were 12 1/4 inches instead of 12 1/2 inches. There are 3 seams that contributed to that error. So that means each one was 0.08 inches too big. I never really worried about the scant 1/4 inch in the past. I guess I should have this time. So I had to rip out and trim the white strips in the sashing that I had already sewn. I’m in the process of trimming the cat squares. 

I’ve satin stitched most of the cats at this point.  I have 3 left to stitch. The sewing has aggravated my SI joint so today I’m not going to sew. I’ll be trimming cat blocks instead. I have to trim off 1/4 inch, but since the cats are centered I have to trim 1/8 inch off of each side. Fun, fun, fun.

Here are some cat blocks that have been satin stitched.

It would have been so easy to cut the blocks to the correct size to begin with rather than trimming. I guess you’re never too old or experienced to make mistakes.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

The cats are cut out

There are 8 different cats and about 7 different fabrics. Each cat was cut out 3 times because there are 24 blocks. I have to fine tune their placement on the blocks before I fuse and stitch them in place. Still a lot of work ahead.

I guess I’ll be laying this quilt out on the floor since my design wall is not large enough for a king sized quilt. I wonder what it will cost to have it quilted. I’m thinking my husband will faint when he sees that receipt!

Thanks for reading.

Linking to Nina-Marie. https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Chris

I’ve been working away on the king sized quilt for our daughter

 Our visit to Salem, Massachusetts 2 weeks ago was really good. She loved her crow wreath and it’s now hanging on her door.

I’ve finished piecing the piece blocks for the Halloween king quilt. There are 25 pieced blocks.

I also pieced the sashing strips that run between the rows of the quilt. There were 8 of them.

Here’s the original quilt design from Electric quilt software for reference.

I’ve started cutting out black cat silhouettes. There are a total of 24 cat blocks. I have 8 silhouettes that I will cut 3 times. I will reverse the silhouette once for each one. I have 7 cut out so far. They are fused and will be satin stitched.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

A couple of things

 I finally completely finished the wreath with the crows for our daughter. It’s just been sitting around waiting for a wire to be attached to the back to hang it. We are seeing her this week so I wanted to give it to her to hang on her door for Halloween. The wreath is hanging on the door to my sewing room in the photo.

The theme for my AI class this week was pumpkin. I decided to input my Halloween quilt as a starting point. It made a really great design from my quilt. I wish I would have had this idea before I finished my quilt top for the Halloween quilt. I like the path that looks like steps. I like how the pumpkins are arranged. I like the hills in the distance. I like the creepy mansion.  Of course the AI version started with a finished top. I’m not sure how that could have helped me in at the design stage.  Oh well….too late now! Although I have thought about making some changes to my original top. You know me….always over analyzing!

Here’s my photo.

Here’s the AI version.

Thanks for reading.

Chris