Since I invited you on this walk, and some of you are with me to watch the process and learn from my mistakes, I’m going to post something sort of embarrassing. I had to take apart the 2-1/2 blocks I had done, because I discovered my 1/4" seams were just a hair bigger than that, and when you multiply even 1/16” of an inch by 10 (the number of vertical seams, you end up with a block that pulls in on the sides and isn’t square. With this pattern you can’t very well trim it square. What I’ve done is change my needle position and measure each piece that is the result of putting two pieces together. It’s imperative to get each pieced rectangle exactly right – you can trim each one a tiny bit if necessary, or even redo the seam, but once you’ve added onto that piece it’s pretty much inaccessible. So here’s my second piece of advice: measure carefully after each piece you add. I thought I was following my own advice about keeping to an exact 1/4" seam, using my usual needle position, but I didn’t measure to make sure, and it’s essential for this particular pattern. I’ll repeat that the pattern is easy to follow, but you have to be really careful to get it right as you go. Please don’t let this discourage you! I’m a very precise seamstress, but I was so taken by the pattern emerging that I didn’t stop to think that maybe my seams weren’t 1/4" after all. The photos of the triangle process show that if you do that part wrong too you can end up with a rectangle that is shorter on one side. The arrows show where my piece isn’t right – the end where the triangle is should line up with the yellow line on my cutting mat. I’m very pleased with the new finished block – it’s perfectly square. On to identical block #2 of 5, then we start on the other block with a different pattern to make 4 of those.
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