A Quilter Can Change Her Mind, Right?

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I was working on the Quilt As You Go Braid yesterday and decided that although I like the method, I was having a few issues that I needed to change if I wanted this quilt to look decent. (Perhaps being able to find the original post with information would have helped me avoid some of the issues I had.)

I decided that I should use 100% cotton batting instead of the 80/20 blend that I did. The batting was stretching a bit and I think that would happen less with the cotton. Also, I need to be much more careful and accurate when I cut the batting. I cut the batting 8" wide, but found a few spots that were as small as 7.75" plus, one piece was 72" and another was 73". The length wasn't a big deal, but the width could be. (I have to admit that I have some 100% cotton here, but I was trying to be frugal and use up some of the scraps of batting that I have. You know you get long pieces when you trim up the sides of quilts before adding binding and I've been saving those for a rag quilt or something similar.)

Also, I need to be very careful accurate with the angle when I place the first few strips and check it every so often. I got a bit off and that error really became visible quite a few strips later. I was just so excited to try this and I really didn't think it through. :-(  Slow down and quilt with purpose to avoid spending some quality time with your seam ripper.

And one other thing that I really need to do is check that the strips are actually 2.5" wide. It really wouldn't matter if I was using lots of strips of different sizes, but when they are all mostly 2.5" or close and then a 2.25" strip gets sewn in, it really throws off the matching points and it is a real challenge to get back on track. I'm beginning to think that some of these strips were set aside and not used on other project because they weren't 2.5". If you've ever used jelly rolls, Bali pops, etc., you know that can sometimes happen. It's not a big deal, but I didn't like how it looked because it was so random.

So, what's a quilter to do when she's working on a project that isn't "working" for her? Well, she has a few options. She can pack it up and save it for another day. (Yea, like I'll get back to it in this lifetime!) Or she can get out the rotary cutter and make two doll quilts for the grand kids!! Guess which option I chose.

In case you missed it before, this is what the braid looked like yesterday.

Here's what I have now. Looks more like a chevron than a braid, but I like them. After trimming and cleaning up the "issues," these measure about 30" x 36" and I'm OK with that.

And, I had two pieces of fabric that I think make perfect baking for these. I even had enough extra backing fabric to I could make binding strips, but I'm swapping the binding so that the blue/pink binding will be on the other quilt. 

If you click on the above picture, it should enlarge the picture so you can see the simple quilting lines I did. I used a variegated thread on the top and bobbin (King Tut #918) and am really pleased how it turned out. 

Based on the backing alone, I think I know which quilt Sadie will choose. She LOVES purple, while Quinn is more partial to pink.

This was a fun and productive learn experience. Now I really need to get busy working on some projects that have been sitting around here for a while. That, or start cutting out my papers for the Prairie Star quilt that I'll be working on when I'm with Judy Niemeyer at Tennessee Quilts in February.

Check out what other quilters are doing today. Go to i have to say... for show and tell Tuesday.