Design Wall Monday - 9/19/16

DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. -
At Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
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On my wall today -
Enough "units" to make a whole potential Drunkard's Path "block" - ;))

On my last post, Gene left a comment -

I see that one segment that is the wrong direction. But what if....(squirrel) .....what if you put all of the ones like it so the point is toward the circle? Would it make the center look more like a flower?

So - I tried his suggestion - and got this -

Then I went back to the "oops" one - and turned all of the same ones the same "wrong" way - and got this -

Oooh, the possibilities -

I'm sure there are many more -

But I think I'll stick with the original layout that has been on my "To Do" list for ages. It also has a little secondary block that comes together when you join several big blocks - you'll see that later when I get that far - or you can go back a couple of posts and check out the link to the "Quilt Index" where I found a similar quilt - ;))

I have realized/learned a lot playing with these little gems -

1. It actually takes me longer to "pin" them than it does to "sew" them - but it is time well spent because the pins keep the end part of the seam from skewing away from the presser foot - and that makes for a nicer seam and a "unit" closer to the size it's supposed to be. They're not all perfect but the majority of them are pretty dang close - and I'm good with that.

2. Because it seems like I can no longer walk and chew gum at the same time - it's easier for me to sew all of one "type" in one sewing session and the other "type" in another session. The two "types" being (1) the "color" quarter circle and the muslin arc piece and (2) the muslin quarter circle and the "color" arc piece. It's easier to get the correct one on "top" if I don't switch between the "types" - and just have to remember "color" or muslin. For some reason it's easier to tell color/muslin than it is shape - quarter circle/arc - probably less "thinking" involved - just "color" or not.

3. I need a LOT more variety - there are three of the same "pink" in this set - and some of the "colors" don't have much contrast with the muslin. I have to decide whether or not I'm OK with that and if I want to let some areas "blend".

4. It might be easier to sew them as sub-sets of 9-patches - then take four of them and rotate them so that they make a complete "center circle". That might save me from accidentally getting one or more going the wrong way. It should be easier to get 9 units oriented correctly than trying to get all 36 going the "correct" way.

5. I need to come up with a "pressing plan". I think I have one but I don't have enough "units" yet to see if it will work when I join two blocks. It seems to work on paper and in my head - but we all know that doesn't mean a thing - I need to try it in "real life" - on actual blocks.

6. This is not something that I can do "every" day. Some days my left-hand acts a little funky and doesn't have the fine motor coordination it takes for me to get pins where I want them - and other days it works just fine. Getting old is not for wimps! Anyway - along with my little "crumb" blocks - it should be a good project to play with while I get back to practicing my Free-Motion quilting. Since there is no deadline and I need over 500 "units" - it should keep me busy for a while.

What else? -

Oh, yeah - by the time I get done making over 500 of these -

I should be pretty good at it - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -