GailG

Yes, it can be.....but...I have been there and I know first hand that it is also time to stop and regroup. In my case, I definitely reorganized my priorities. Suddenly some things are not as important as they once were. Every day is a new day...and she will see progress daily. And that will lift her spirit. Prayers are still flying, so Ashlea, we are all pulling for you to have a complete recovery. And Miriam, thanks for the updates. And Rodney, thank you for all that you are doing for this project and soon Ashlea will be wrapped in our love.

Rodney

You all are making me blush. I just hope you all don't turn into a lynch mob by the time I'm done.

I made a critical mistake early on. I didn't go ahead and resize the blocks to a uniform size before I started sewing and am paying the price now. I'm struggling with keeping the short sashing lined up from row to row.
Don't worry, so far it's nothing that can't be overcome. I just see some quality time with a seam ripper in my future.
One the plus side, when I get this last seam sewn I'll have one side completed excluding the border and I think I have a fix for where I went wrong.
I'll tackle it again in the morning. Progress picture when that seam is sewn.
Rodney

earthwalker

Yay! Ashlea's improving every 'post', and my packet actually made it to Rodney's mailbox. Rodney, you are doing an awesome job but don't go wearing yourself out....look forward to seeing pics when you have had a bit of a 'breather'. Love this thread, so positive and caring.

Rodney

There's no getting around it. The sashing just isn't going to line up in a few spots. My wife and daughter don't seem to mind so maybe I'm too picky.
Anyway, I have the big mistake ripped out, now I just have to put it back together.
The next side should go better.
Rodney

oldtnquiltinglady

Rodney, the "quilting will fix it"--relax, man. I am back from a Texas vacation with kids on school break--we got home Friday evening and I am just now getting over my "hangover" (from not enough sleep and rest, folks, not excess wine); that was a hard two day drive, and even though I don't drive anymore, my chores as navigator wore me out just like the driving did DH. Thank goodness for electronic devices for both GK passengers--even though they ran out of minutes or data before we got back to Tennessee......

I did get to make one good stop as we came back north on I-24--Sirs in Fayetteville. So today, I am all rested and ready to make a trip out to my sewing room and start getting my thoughts in line to work on Christmas projects. I think (so far) that the GD and I will be making quilts for everyone important on our lists. We had her mama's birthday party (we missed her birthday while we were gone, and birthdays are very special in our family) yesterday afternoon, so we all had plenty of time to reminisce (spell?) and plan for projects special to all of us.

And, to add to this thing that we are all doing for Ashlea, Miriam, thank you for keeping us updated on her progress. I feel like I know her through you. I thought of her and all of you, and wondered how the work on it was going, and couldn't wait to get back here to the QB to check up on her. I couldn't check my QB from other computers, because I forgot to take my new password with me to Texas.

Rodney, my story on mailing my squares is one for the books--maybe I'll share it someday. I won't be forgetting what a nightmare that was.....

Rodney

Sorry things didn't go smoothly on the mailing.
I've got the biggest mistake taken care of on the first side. There is one spot on the edge that the quilting won't fix. I haven't added the borders yet but there's going to be a 1" or so dogleg where the blocks meet the border that I can't do anything about. I think I had a couple blocks that were too small in one row and a couple that were too big in the other resulting in the difference in length. If I trim it, I'll remove too much of the block that's sticking past the other row.

I'm trimming the blocks on the second side to a uniform size and squaring up the ones that need it. The second side should go together much better than the first. Lesson learned.

There are still a few packages on their way here, between those and our blocks we're going to be really close to the 84 blocks needed for this quilt.
I'll get a couple pictures up later when I have some help holding the quilt.
Thanks!
Rodney

crocee

Rodney, can you add a smidgen of either the sashing or a somewhat corresponding fabric to the block to straighten it out? If not then it will quilt out as the beauty of the entire quilt will overshadow the dogleg and make it unnoticeable.

Rodney

That's what I'm going to do is add some of the sashing/border fabric in there to straighten the edge. My wife told me when I showed it to her that people aren't going to pick it apart, they're just going to enjoy the quilt. Me, I know it isn't going to be shown but I still want it to be right. At this point though, I know I would do more harm than good if I took it apart to try to fix it.
Rodney

oldtnquiltinglady

My feelings too, crocee. I've quilted mistakes out of a lot of "whop sided quilts" sent to me for LAing--and they never saw it when they got it back. Most folks are just so pleased to have their quilts quilted that they don't even see what we as the quilter see. If Ashlea is watching these posts, I am sure she is getting pretty anxious, no matter what it will look like. I know I would be. Time for some pictures, Rodney.....

miriam

Ok call in the quilt police.... NOT