Saturday, July 28, 2012

A productive Saturday (despite a snafu)

With coffee cup in hand this morning, I headed downstairs around 7:30 after sending Paul off with a kiss to one of the jobs he needed to work at this morning.  First up on my list was to complete Step #3B/4 of the QOV Mystery #28: Star Path.  And believe it or not----I PINNED those star points because the square-in-a-square units weren't quite coming out at 1/4".  Definitely worth the little bit of extra time needed :)  {{And notice the almost empty cup of coffee?  That may have been cup 3 or 4!!!!  Yikers!}}

THEN!  Since it is Rainbow Scrap Saturday AND the fact that my Jamestown Landing units were still waiting in layout stage on the floor (which I need SOON for when I finish up 'Diamond Fields.') I started piecing the top together.  It was either that, or pick up all the units for storage for some other day (aka: the start of a UFO).  :D  And you should notice----the right side of the screen is showing my Framed Rectangle leader-ender area.

And I was sewing along........finding a great rhythm......

I finished up the 36 block C(1) units for Framed Rectangle as my leader-enders between piecing rows for Jamestown Landing.....so I started leader-endering the 36 block C(2) units......

and....ummm.........**scratching head**......

Huh?  Okay...clearly there are measurements "off."  So.....I sat....LITERALLY for probably 10 minutes, TRYING to figure out what was going on.  The lower 6.5" strip NEEDED to be 6.5" in order to have the complete block C finishing at 12".  So, what on EARTH is going on?  Clearly the top unit is pieced correctly......using 4" center and 2" side units. ????? NO matter WHAT I did....I.  Was.  Confused.

I looked at the picture OVER and OVER and OVER......recalculated OVER and OVER and OVER.
What. Is. Going. On?

And then............LOOK CLOSELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The blocks don't finish at 10x12!  They finish at 10X13!!!!!!!!!!

For crying out loud!  How on EARTH did I miss that??????

And OF COURSE I had already cut out all 36 sets of matching units!  Goodness golly!

So.....what to do, what to do.  I couldn't see trying to cut more units at the correct size!  Besides, many of the scraps aren't available anymore in order to even DO that!

So....I thought!  Well...."this is Framed Rectangles!  What if I were to add MORE rectangles??!!?"

Hmmm?  Maybe?......
And then, when piecing the next row of Jamestown....I thought...."OHHH!  What if I were to add a splash of color????"


And then, as I pieced a few more rows.... and a few more leader-enders.....
I started playing on the design wall.

What if they BOTH were used in the quilt?.....

Or.......
Maybe a MIX of both of them!??!??  For now...these idea are stewing in my brain.

 At least Jamestown Landing's center was pieced during all of that.

Timing was perfect too!  Just as I was putting the final stitches into Jamestown, Paul was arriving back home.  The boat was loaded up....a snack was had by all.....and we were OFF to the Lake to meet up with friends.

I hope your Saturday was amazing!

12 comments:

Quilter Kathy said...

Fantastic and creative recovery...love your solution!

scraphappy said...

Jamestown Landing is amazing. Love everything about it. The splash of color is a great idea on thevfectangles, howvwould it look as a square instead of a sliver? So glad the boat is working again, looks like it is being fully enjoyed.

Andee said...

You are seriously brilliant. I would have been crying and packing those blocks away and you turned it into a design opportunity! I will try and remember that next time I hit a snafu. Jamestown Landing is seriously beautiful! Love it! And wish I had been on the lake with you all..I am guessing you accomplished all that sewing before I even got out of bed! :)

Angie said...

Jamestown Landing is wonderful - so many great elements combined! I love your improvisation with the framed rectangles - that is one of the great things about quilting - just play until it works!

Candace said...

Two great quilts and your snafu just added to your quilt top. It didn't win out over you, it just provided a design 'opportunity'.

Judy D in WA said...

You are a GENIUS!!! And oh so very clever! I love you splash of color, it works out perfect.
I keep looking at Jamestown Landing and want to make that so bad but so many other projects have to be taken care of first....what's a quilter to do???
Hope your time at the lake was fun.

Andra Gayle said...

Both quilts are beautiful! Way to pack it all in on a Saturday!

Nancy said...

You made your own design!!! Lovely!!! and I love the Jamestown Landing.

Edith said...

Great problem solving on the framed rectangle quilt and the result is so attractive. Jamestown Landing is intricate and delicate looking, very nice.

Cathy Tomm said...

loads of blue in your sewing room. I love what you did to solve the problems on the rectangles. The red tabs are great.

Elly D said...

You may have made an ooopsy but you are fixing it great! Love the bits of red in them. Your Jamestown is gorgeous! Elly

Mary Johnson said...

I'm loving the blues! I was a little worried when I started reading your post wondering if there was an error in my instructions ... I was relieved there was not ... And your solution looks great.