I'm in the middle of making a double Irish chain (I think it's a double irish chain) and I stayed up last night until 2:30 sewing. All my blocks turned out well (my 1/4" is not quite right but I thought I could manage. I made 66 of them) And today all I had to do was cut the solid blocks. Since my 1/4" wasn't quite on target I measured and cut from that measurement. Well I guess I didn't do the math right so when i started sewing my rows together things just didn't look quite right. Well, I stopped after the 3rd row. So now i have a lot of unsewing tomorrow. Taking a break for the rest of the evening. I'm attaching a picture i got off the net of the quilt i'm attempting to make .
Thanks ya'll for letting me vent.

:D OH, I LOVE it! Yours will be OK.

judee

I'm sorry to hear that your quilt is giving you problems...it happens to all of us from time to time. Glad to hear that you are not giving up...can't wait to see it when you get the bugs ironed out :D :D :D

I'm sure yours will be just fine.
Just take your time with it.

That is a single Irish Chain.. sort of.

Whatever it is, it's nice. I hope you figure out the issues. Take your time.

tim in san jose

I don't know if this helps at all, but when my blocks are a little off, I cut the solid squares exactly to the right size, and then use them as a "guide" to square up the slightly wonky blocks. For example, if my solid square is exactly right, and the block is off by 1/8, I line it up so that the seam is 1/4 on the solid square and 1/8 on the block, and it comes out (close to) right once they are sewn together.

Cheers,
Jan

Take a deep breath and don't sweat the small things!! Your quilt will be just great!!

Hang in there!! That seem ripper is our best friend at times and we all have had days like that. :wink:

Love that pattern and keep us updated!!

Ninnie

Been there done that, and it takes patience to get it all back in order!
Sorry you are having that problem. I hate it when I find out I am off! Take the suggestions here and go forth! :?

I soooo understand the frustration of the slightly off 1/4"'s. And, yes, AAARRRGGG. But, I have to say that, looking at the picture, I can't even begin to tell where there's a problem. It's really lovely.

It's a double 9-patch - which I love. (But I tend to LOVE anything with a "chain" effect to it)

A break is probably just what you need.
"Unsew" today, just take your time.
Go back to it tomorrow with a fresh head and sew.

I'm sure it'll all turn out fantastically.

Thanks everyone for the support. Ducky, that isn't my quilt just a picture i'm going by. The problem i'm having is with the solid longer strips of blue. They are all 1/2" to long. It won't be to hard to fix just time consuming.

I'm also guilty of not reading your post close enough the first time because I kept looking at the picture and thinking that you're just waaay to hard on yourself because I wasn't seeing any problems!!!!

Hang in there. It wouldn't be the first time I've taken a quilt apart :oops: :oops: Better to do it again and be happy with it!!

Are all your pieced blocks the same size? I can only suggest to double check them and possibly square them to a common size. Sounds like you were tired and in a bit of a hurry. THAT combination ALWAYS bites me in the butt too. (Usually, I know when things aren't going right and I do it anyway.) Good luck with the re-do!

That is a beautiful pattern. Don't give up. I'm sure yours will be great too.

I just finished an Irish Chain with blue and white and it's the opposite of yours. Love yours. We all have been where you are, and it is frustrating. It'll look great.

Thanks, I'm at a standstill on it. Need a touch more fabric and I need to find some backing.

If all your pieced squares are about the same size (someone else said about the same thing) - measure them and cut your your solid blocks to that size.

I think you can "get by" if all your seams are the same size.

Mary Ellen Hopkins said something about a "personal measurement" in one of her books. :-)

Quick test for sewing - take three 2 1/2 inch strips, (they only need to be about four or five inches long) - sew them together, press them, and then measure them. The sewed strip should measure 6 1/2 inches across. If not, make adjustments.

I was happy when on a couple of Eleanor Burns videos she admits that her blocks came out smaller than the 12 inch they were susposed to be.
She says as long as you are consistant with the size just make adjustments to the sashing to fit the block size you made, or if no sashing make sure your alternate blocks are the same size as the other blocks.

The quilt is beautiful. I know you'll work out your problem. My rule is that nothing good ever happens at the sewing machine after midnight! And incidentally, this kind of problem is the the rule for me rather than the exception, so you're not alone!

okay i must be as blind as a bat because i don't see a darn thing wrong but i do see a very pretty quilt

This is a problem that has happened to everyone at one time or another in the quilting lifetime. Sometimes it is good to just walk away and let it simmer for a while, then when you go back you are refreshed and ready to tackle your quilt anew.

I cannot wait to see YOUR quilt and I am sure it will turn out just as great as your inspiration quilt. :-)