I started this at least two years ago, possibly three, with fabric I received for my birthday. It wasn’t fabric I would have chosen myself, but I stretched a little and decided to make a smaller version of “Whimsy” by Darlene Zimmerman from her book “Granny Quilts”. Hers was made with scrappy 1930s reproductions.
My first pinwheel came out perfectly so I was encouraged to go ahead and cut up the rest of the fabric. Since the first one came out so well I figured I had the hang of it and merrily chain piecing units for the remaining 11 and for the sashing units as well. When I got tired of that I took the units that were finished and started putting them together and discovered that my seam allowances were not as consistent as I had thought. With this pattern it mattered. Pinwheel blocks were a smidge too small to fit with the sashing, or points got cut off or wouldn’t meet neatly where they should. I bundled everything into a box and left it.
Last May, with my new sewing machine and a lovely 1/4 seam guide I took it out again. I was able to fix some problems but thought I would have to rip a lot of seams to fix the rest. A lot of those seams were on the bias and I feared I would distort the edges while I ripped,so I decided against it and just bundled the whole thing up again.
When I pulled it out again this past Monday I decided the flaws weren’t as bad as I had thought after all. I must have been in a very grumpy, critical mood last May!
By the time I quit for the night on Monday I had pieced all the cornerstone pinwheels and sewn all the green triangle units for the sashing.
Tuesday afternoon I matched points and pinned and pinned and pinned some more to sew pairs of triangle units together point-to-point. Those points were a thing of beauty!
After the kids went to bed Tuesday evening I sewed units into rows. So far so good, all points behaving. When I sewed the rows together those earlier not-quite-right seam allowances made themselves known again. I had to do some tugging in places and easing in others, and fudge seam allowances in the new seams to get all the sashing units to line up properly with the big pinwheels. Sigh. In some places I can’t quite see why things weren’t fitting.
There are rippling seams in places where two units were just not quite the same size and more rippling where I had tension issues with my old sewing machine. There are points that don’t quite meet where they should or aren’t pointy. No amount of fiddling would make the points in this picture behave without making the quilt crooked in other more obvious ways.However, the center of the quilt is finished. It isn’t going to a quilt show, so who is going to be looking for the faults besides me? I’ve decided to relax a bit and just enjoy the whole without focusing on the little things (That said it isn’t going to be gifted where I had thought to give it!)
Standing back from it, I think it looks really cool. It still needs borders, but here it is so far.
It does look really cool! I love the colours, and the movement the pinwheels create. (You are way too hard on yourself.)
ReplyDeleteSandy
It's beautiful! I'm so glad you pulled it back out.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great to me, too. Often we are harder on ourselves than others would be. Use it as a learning experience, praise that 1/4 inch foot and just enjoy the finished quilt. I love the colors and movement. We will be waiting to see what you do with the borders. Make it fun!
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful and once quilted no one will see thwe unmatching points. I feel we micro-manage so much we lose the joy of quilting. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a pretty quilt. I'm glad it made it out of the ufo bin. We all should have a sign on our doors "No Quilting Police Allowed".
ReplyDeleteIt looks great;) And if anybody says anything about the points that don't match....smack them in the back of the head with a roll of batting;)
ReplyDeleteHappy Quilting!!
Very pretty! I agree with Kathleen. Anyone says anything about the unmatched points, after you smack them on the back of the head, ask them if they can do better and then tell them go ahead and fix it! Love that pattern, too.
ReplyDeleteLiri
It is really lovely! I'm sure you will be happy with it - I would be!
ReplyDeleteI love your quilt! My favorite colors! If anyone points out a place that's not perfect, show them the ones that are, and tell them you left the bad ones in order to test other people for discerning eyes and mean spirits! That should hush them up! *giggle* I'd be proud to own such a pretty quilt! ---"Love"
ReplyDeleteI love this pinwheel quilt. Your colours give it a life of its own.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we tend to be overly critical of our work. I have seen quilts from quilters with 20+ years of experience, and their corners don't always match up. "If you can't see it from the back of a galloping horse, then its fine." - that was from a Quilting Instructor explaining to her students that sometimes perfection is not always critical.
You've done a great job, and I'm glad you were able to work on it. And I'm glad to see that you are enjoying the process.
Well done!
-Alice