Checkerboard Whoops

In my post for April 29th, I left a teaser about some rectangular checkerboards I was making. After a trip to Southern California to see one granddaughter and a trip to Oklahoma to see another granddaughter I am back to that project. I added a cream strip to the long side of half the checkerboards and created something that looks suspiciously like sashing.

I put the four colorways together and – oh, no – I spotted a mistake. Can you see it? The green colorway checkerboard is different. All the other colorways have the spotted square in the upper right corner, not the upper left corner. The pattern that accompanied the kit was minimal and did not caution about orientation so maybe it is not an issue. There will be a horizontal sashing as well so perhaps having adjacent orange and green dots does not matter.

I decided it mattered to me and that I would change it anyway. This shows the seams I had to take out to correct the error. I needed to remove the side cream strip. Then I had to remove one row of checkers from the top and add it back on again to the bottom. Then I could sew the cream strip back on and be in business again.

At least my checkerboards were self-consistent within the other three colorways.  I only had to do this four times with the green alone and I was able to do it assembly line style.

I am glad I caught it early on in the block assembly. When they are grouped together I think it does make a difference. That green one being different would have always bothered me. There are four of these four checkerboard sections.

The next mystery section is this peculiar block. There are five of these. I'll confess that I goofed in this one also and had to rip out. I sewed the diagonal the wrong way in the split sashing on the right side so it was not a mirror image of the split sashing on the left. I am glad I doubled checked before I made a 45° slice off the corners of the two orthogonal strips.  I ripped out those five short seams and tried again. It is a bummer that I am making mistakes but luckily I am catching them early. I think I am more prone to these types of errors when I pick up and set down a project and do not work on it exclusively. Little details tend to fade from my brain.

My next step on this quilt is the "A" word. Once the applique is complete it will be hard to hide what this is. Applique is not my strong suite. I have done the iron on type with zig-zag around the raw edges but I think I would like the needle turned look on this. It is unclear if I am brave enough to try. One part has a spiral like this. The soft outside and inside curves should be manageable but I am not quite sure how to handle that sharp corner in the interior. On the other hand, one raw spot to worry about fraying is better than having raw edges all around to fret about. I think I have some googling and you-tubing ahead of me to resolve this.

I am still poking along on my Simple Gifts quilting. I am really longing to do a curvy, continuous motion, more forgiving quilting pattern on my next project. My next project to quilt will be one of those two strip quilts I pieced one evening.

The last time I posted my projects list was April 1, 2015.  Here are my stats since then. I figure giving my stats once a week is too often to show progress but once a month gives me a better sense of accomplishment. It is amusing to see items jump from new to completed without passing through ongoing. Does this mean they do not pass GO and do not collect $200? If so, is the opposite true? If it is, then I think my Simple Gifts quilt has passed GO a gazillion times. Sigh... I should be rich.

 

Completed projects since April 1, 2015 (9+ trips):

1. Visit to granddaughter Vivian in Southern California
2. Visit to granddaughter Autumn in Oklahoma
3. Two gray whale burp cloths (April 15, 2015 post)
4. One Campbell Soup apron (April 15, 2015 post)
5. Three graphic burp cloths (May 9, 2015)
6. Three animals and friends burp cloths (May 9, 2015)

Ongoing projects (6):

1. Simple Gifts quilt - (April 29, 2015 post) FMQ in progress
2. Checkerboard surprise yet to be revealed (April 29, 2015)
3. Barnyard Buddies strip quilt (April 15, 2015) awaiting FMQ
4. Life in the Jungle strip quilt (April 15, 2015) awaiting FMQ
5. Overlapping square wall hanging - (March 4, 2015 post) awaiting FMQ
6. Mask quilt (October 19, 2011 post) - packed away... again ... may abandon

New projects since April 1, 2015 (12):

1. Checkerboard surprise yet to be revealed
2. Barnyard Buddies strip quilt
3. Two gray whale burp cloths
4. Life in the Jungle strip quilt
5. Campbell Soup apron
6. Three graphic burp cloths
7. Three animals and friends burp cloths

On that note... I am hooking up to today's Freshly Pieced post for WIP Wednesday.