And then the REAL collecting began. Tools, lovely tools! Rulers, cutting implements, storage... and of course... MORE FABRIC. Did you know that Fiskars makes specialized scissors just for rag quilts - snips. They are spring loaded to make it a little easier on your hands. More on those later...
Now - to preface this project - I started and cut everything BEFORE the Quilter's Academy Freshman Year arrived at the house, and definitely before reading any of it. I'll describe my steps and missteps first then reflect on what the project taught me.
Step one - cutting. I'd never used a rotary trimmer before, so was a little hesitant to start. I started off with the flannel - after a few missteps with the ruler slipping I felt confident enough to start on the patterned fabrics. A few more ruler slips later with minimal wasted fabric, I had a nice stack of blocks ready to go.
Step two - pinning. Hmmm - thought that the 8.5 inch squares would line up a little better (2 matching fabric squares sandwiching a flannel square) - somehow, they weren't square. Also - how many pins to a side should I use? I experimented with 1 and 2 per side (6-8 per square). Not sure if that was the reason for the funky matching (it wasn't) or if it was something else (it was).
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Step four - snipping. The recommendations are correct - DO NOT try to sit down and do this all at once. Your hand will thank you. Three ice hockey games later, spreading lint liberally around my husband's car, my sweatshirt and the bleachers at the hockey rink - everything was snipped.
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Overall, I'm pleased with the quilt - from a distance it looks great - though if you look too closely you can see where seams went awry or where I didn't line things up the way they should have. I did have several nice spots where the corners came together. Ultimately, my friend was thrilled with it, and I'm glad I made it. Gus hammed it up for the pictures and is looking forward to getting his quilt.
Next stop - the lessons I learned...
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