I'm going to take the plunge and try to branch out on what I want to learn in the way of quilting. This time I think it will be some of those wing blocks that Rhonda has shown tutorials for. With that in mind, I will go with a patriotic theme and hope to get a block done by July 4th.

Wish me luck. Any pointers or comments are always welcome.

Here is my first attempt. I am using up scraps on this.

So, which block was that, and what will be your final colors?

I was thinking of doing the block called "Grace". That was shown on week 23 of the blocks Rhonda did or see her website at:

http://www.bitsnpiecesworkshop.com/p...QuiltAlong.php

I am thinking of doing smaller squares of that blue combination and then perhaps a red/white small squares.

Are you doing them with templates? Or do you do a freezer paper technique?

Rhonda had sent me her templates (THANK YOU RHONDA) and then I noticed she had a paper piecing version on it so went with that. So here I was cutting out the various paper pieces and on my first attempt i sewed them wrong. Sigh.

So then I labelled them a little different hoping that would help. The directions said to pin the paper onto the fabric but since I use freezer paper for applique I thought I'd try that.

I still can't match up my seams totally correct yet. They are a little off.

I recently tried a cow with freezer paper- it made short work of the cow!

I tried freezer paper once but wasn't too thrilled with it. Share a pix of what the cow looks like? Did it have a lot of little pieces or for a beginning piece did you start out with larger sized pieces.

Here's my cow:

The instructions for it were from this website: (scroll down to see the cow- it has a PDF for the pattern)
http://piecemealquilts.wordpress.com/

Back to the freezer paper- Did you stitch through your freezer paper? The technique I saw/used (actually from the tutorial she has from that same link) shows how to use it as a pattern, but you bend it back along the sew line and sew beside the folded part. That's how I did the cow, and the freezer paper template ends up being reusable.

Maybe I will try that same block, using the freezer paper the same way I used it for the Cow. Thanks for the inspiration, Bonni!

Love the eye....red glowing eyes included. :)

I didn't stitch through the freezer paper so I was able to use it over again. Last night I did four small blocks and laid them out together. Used the same piece(s) of freezer paper for all of them. I did mark on the freezer paper which side was my sewing line and which was the reverse template. Here is how it looked when I pinned it together to see how close I got.

This technique is way beyond me, but I love the cow!

So far so good.

It's only 4 pieces to cut out and sew together. Not hard at all.

Print off my paper templates. Pin them to fabric. Cut out the four pieces and sew the two left hand pieces together and then sew the two right hand pieces together. Then pin the two sides together and sew. Lay it on a cutting mat and cut out the square from the center. NO problem No y seams!

The only other thing that I wished had been on the pdf Rhonda was where you said to make sure that your template (when cutting down the square) was to make sure it's on three of the seams. I found that in the original directions but not the second set. Don't get me wrong....it's still great and isn't that hard if *I* could figure it out. Ask my friends, I didn't call them or text them with crying because I couldn't do it.

Just take a deep breath and start slow.

I've already talked to Patrice about doing a new PDF with a combination of the two tutes into one new one. I will remember to make sure that is in there. I will have her delete the ones I have out there now once I get a new version done.
I am going to also add the paper templates to the ebook. So that is my next goal to get this tutorial cleaned up and replace the originals with one good one that has it all in one.

Sounds good Rhonda. It's too hot in my apartment tonight to do quilting so no new updates. Hopefully another night I can work on it more. :)

Your picture looks like you are doing great so far! If we keep encouraging one another, we will get there sooner or later.

Considering that you pick things up at a faster rate than I do, you'll be the quicker and I'll be the later. LOL.

But the turtle won the race Bonni!! LOL

As long as it doesn't turn into turtle soup. :)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously, when you look at a quilt or a quilt block, can you tell if the person just whipped it together with ease, or struggled over getting it together? Nope. Only the end product matters, and so yes, the turtle can win the race in quilting!

I managed to get a couple more blocks done but I'm wondering if I am using the right template now. Perhaps Rhonda can address this. If she doesn't see this then I'll PM her. On the picture of the finished block for Grace, I see that it is 3 blocks by 3 blocks. I don't think that will give me my size I need. Of course it is ok for now since this is a practice block. I've gotten three blocks (of the small ones) done now. I am using the 2.5" block for these but perhaps I need a larger block if I do this for the block exchange.

It seems everything I learn I have to do it the hard way. I always have to learn by trial and error. The many things I post are a result of 30+ years of trial and error. I doubt anyone picks something new up and does it perfectly the first time or even the second time. My first time is always the worst and by the third or fourth attempt I get it right or at least acceptable.

When I first started to quilt I had a cardboard square a pen and a pair of scissors. I didn't think it mattered if I was all that accurate. I would draw out 20+squares and as you went the cardboard would get slightly out of whack and by the time you were done the squares weren't all that square but I used them anyway. You wouldn't want to see my first attempts! LOL

We all have our own learning curve and that just makes us all individuals. There are lots of things I will never do. Curves are not on my list of things to master. I did try a traditional drunkard's path because I inherited some pieces from my MIL but I could't do it justice at all! Just not my thing! That is why when I discovered the star point block and the wings block I was so ecstatic to discover the curve effect! And I adapted eleanor Burns DP method to my cut down method and I was thrilled to able to do them that way. I sure can't do them the traditional way!

Let me go look at Grace and I will be right back.
It is still a 6 block by 6 block construction so the 2 1/2" should give you a 12 1/2" quilt block.

When you join the two halves of the wings are you tacking the point where the two parts of the half meet? If you want to have your two wings on each block meet better I suggest you tack it before you sew the two halves together. But I quite often decided it isn't a big deal and let that go as not being anything I want to redo. It's up to you just a technical suggestion if you like.

Actually never mind the suggestion! I went back and looked and other than the top star -the top two joins are only very very very slightly off the rest are absolutely perfect joins.

Your stars look absolutely terrific!!

The way to decide what size template you need:
2 1/2" + 2 1/2" = 5" - (2) 1/4" seam allowances = 4 1/2"

4 1/2" + 4 1/2" = 9" - 1/2"(seam allowances) = 8 1/2"

8 1/2" + 4 1/2" = 13" - 1/2" = 12 1/2"

You can also use copy paper or any paper and cut it and sew it and iron it just like fabric. When I want to know what I will end up with for a size I cut out the squares in paper and sew them to answer my questions. It is a great way to practice a new technique too without having all the flub ups in fabric and wasting fabric.

When I needed to design the paper templates I used copy paper to make a block then took it all apart after I had cut out the wings block and used the pieces to draw my templates with a seam allowance plus a bit more for leeway.

I have cut out squares of paper and sewn them together to determine what size template I need to get the width I want in a project. My trial and error way of finding answers.

I cut out 5 squares of 2 1/4" to find out what it would look like and how it would measure width wise. I am a visual person and have to see it to make sense of it. Math only goes so far for me. Then I tried other sizes of templates til I got the finished size I wanted.

Thanks Rhonda. I'm at work right now so I will look at it more closely after I get home. It always sounds simple when you say it...when I do it? Well that doesn't always turn out as simple. LOL.

I'm not giving up though and I'm getting the hang of doing the blocks. For the swap I'll redo it with larger templates but this is a good learning experience and relatively quick.

Your 2 1/2" template should be the right size for the 12 1/2" quilt block.

Good for you! I took the plunge and did the pinwheel challenge that ended last month. Now I have the courage to try more. I found a Rhonda block this morning that I wanted to do in patriotic colors too. But my red is a bleeder so it's on hold for a minute.

Post a picture when you're done. :thumbup:

Sounds great and I will post pictures. I love to do that to give people ideas (and help me remember my journey). Which one of Rhonda's block are you going to do? Have you signed up yet for her block swap? There is still time to get in on the action for June.

Information can be found here (in case you need it or are interested):

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-127056-1.htm

Here is the update that I promised. This is the block half way finished. I miscounted how many wings I had to count out. That is my normal way of doing it though. When I did the blue blocks I miscounted a couple of times. Not sure if I will finish this block this week, but if not then I will finish it next week.

It's coming along nicely! I love your contrast.

Thanks Rhonda. I have to force myself to only work on it a little bit at a time otherwise I goof up (more than usual that is). It's not you or your instructions...it's me. Not being careful on my layout before I cut or sew it together, etc. LOL.

Live and learn...

Well I didn't have enough fabric to finish this block. I thought I had made enough but either I lost what I had cut and sewn or I was just not remembering right. I'm not going to go out and buy more fabric since this is my test piece. I know I can do it so I can move on. Either way I did get some of my red and white 2.5 sections done. I will take some of the red and white and blue and make a mug rug or coaster out of it. I was thinking of this.

I hope it won't hurt your feelings if I point something out.
For the sake of accuracy if you pay attention to the seams where they come to the corner on each block if the fabric on each side of the seam is the same instead of one side being more than the other you will get a good point when you sew the blocks together. You will lose the point if your corner is not evenly split by the seam. The bottom right red wingbblock looks to me by the picture that the white is more than the red on the upper left wing in that block. It may be the way the block lays that makes it look that way and it may be perfectly fine.

This is one of the best ways to save some frustration is to make sure your corners are straight and even.
This is one of the quickest ways to lose your points if you don't check your corners in any Block whether it is a Wings or an HST or any other block. I trim very gently to get a square square and make sure everyting will meet correctly. Taking the time for prevention saves a whole lot of hair pulling later!! :lol: :lol: