I have to put something fun in the title since I'm fit to be tied!!

Ok...I'm doing this mystery quilt. Someday if I can get the blasted top stitched I'll have pics to put in the pics section since there's now a reminder about that at the top of my screen.

Anywhooooooo.....here is my problem.

There are 179 total pieces, some pieced some not, that make this quilt top. I have measured, double measured and triple measured all of my pieces. All of the pieces except 20 square in a square blocks are exactly the size they should me. (I was doing the happy dance by then since I'm working on cutting accuracy). Made me feel good. The 20 square in a square blocks were the last thing measured and they are a full 1/2 in off. All of them, exactly. They should all be 5 1/2" square, but the SIAQs are 5 1/4" with rough edges. Once I cut off the dog ears and square them, they will be more like almost 5 1/4" but the points of the inside square will be cut off with the 1/4" piecing allowance.

I have more fabric, I tend to buy more for those "just in case" moments. So, do you think it would be easier to make 20 more SIAS blocks and try to make them end up 5 1/2", or try to fudge with the almost 5 1/4" and just cut off the points of the square. I personally think that I like those blocks because of the square in the middle.

I'm very much a beginner and this project has intimidated me since Clue 2. I'm now on the last clue and the end is in site. I just don't know what to do.

If you were in my shoes, beginner and all, would you make those 20 squares over again? or deal with the aggravation of fudging them all?

Weeelll, if each block is 1/2 inch off, compound that by the # of blocks in each row and see how you feel about having those blocks throw off the entire quilt-- I know it sounds tedious, and we ALL hate our seam ripper, but if I had put hard work and effort into the rest of the quilt, the perfectionist in me would be ripping them apart and re-sewing them all.

Now, if you have enough fabric to remake them, and could put those poor orphans to good use, the choice is up to you....
Clear as mud, right?? :wink:

If I had enough fabric, I would do them over - if would be faster than unsewing all that.

If I did not have enough fabric, I would do what I could to make them work.

There are times when some stuff just has to go into the "well, that was a learning experience" box.

I tend to buy extra,too. It's almost a given that I will goof up on cutting something. Or want to do the design differently that as illustrated.

Before I do them over I would identify what the problem was in the first place so you don't end up doing it wrong again.

set them aside. later, you can turn them into a small companion quilt, pillows and doll quilts, etc, etc.

when you start on the new blocks, make the first few one at a time instead of using any of the assembly line methods. measure at each stage. tht will help you figure out what you did that caused the 1/4" difference. then you can keep that in mind as you assembly-line the rest of the SIAQs.

i have made more than one unexpected top because the block sets for the planned project didn't end up the right/same sizes. and i'll bet we aren't the only ones who've done it. :lol:

yep.. if you have more fabric, I would remake them too. You will be tearing more hair out if you kept them and tried to ease them into the rest of your quilt!

Or you could sash the middle... might be cute. Then you'd always have a reminder to be more accurate.

If it was me I would do over if I had extra.

Can you post the clues here? there may be something incorrect in the instructions that caused the blocks to turn out off-sized.

I had already thought about posting the clues when I was picking them up every couple of weeks.

I know that the store had permission to give out the clues for free, but I don't have permission to post them here.

The consensus seems to be to remake them. I'll have to measure the darker fabric and see if I have enough. What does anyone think about putting a little bit of the center fabric on each side of the SIAS. Frame it a little, but it would add the measurement I need. Any thoughts?

Here are some pics I took when I completed the blocks. Imagine more of the dark red around the outside of the yellow. I'm just not sure what to do.

[IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...1216131488.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...1216131498.jpg[/IMG]


One of the SIAS's will each be surrounded by 4 flying geese blocks kind of like this:

[IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...rogress011.jpg[/IMG]

Huh?

I have had this happen!!! Check back with the place you got the mystery and see if anyone else is having the same problem. They might have a new set of measurements for you.

After seeing your pictures, I am totally confused.

If your untrimmed Square in a squares are too small, and you made skimpy seam allowances your points would be "floating" and not cut off.

If your untrimmed Square in a squares are too large, then I can see where you would be losing your points if you trimmed them down.

Another possibility - if these ended up small -
Your seam allowances might be just a little too deep - even 1/16 of an inch compounded over 4 edges makes 1/4 of an inch difference.

It's completely possible that I just didn't explain something right.

Right now, the way things measure, before I cut off the dog ears and rough edges, the blocks measure to 5 1/4" inches instead of 5 1/2". Once I trim the dog ears and square them up they are closer to 5 1/8".

If I trim them all down to 5 1/8", then allow for 1/4" seam allowance during top assembly, all the points are cut off and the triangles come to a blunt end instead of a pointy end.

I'm going to rip one out, remeasure, resew and see what happens. Just one won't kill me as 20 unsewing would. I have to measure my dark fabric to make sure I have enough for the 20 squares, but I'm pretty sure I do.

I'm also going to surround one or two with an extra strip of the dark red....maybe 1/2" just to see how that would look and measure out. I'll work on that tonight when the munchkins go to bed so I have a chance to see all the possibilities!

OK - I think your triangles on the outside stretched while you were sewing, thus creating the size difference.

I don't mind unsewing (AKA ripping), but I don't think I would rip TWENTY square-in-a-square blocks. I think I would set those boo-boos aside and dream up something spectacular to do with them later. If you've go the fabric, make more blocks. BUT MEASURE CAREFULLY BEFORE CUTTING AND STITCHING. :lol:

Probably the most useful and important suggestion so far.

I do have the extra fabric. I looked over a tutorial on making triangles with squares. I liked it a lot and am looking into making new ones using that method. Once I have some remade...I'll post that process. I still like the idea of sashing around them, but I might save that for the blocks I won't use in this process. Perhaps something spectacular will come out of the unused blocks.

I finally had a chance to look at a tutorial that a friend sent. (She knows who she is) This is how I will remake them. It makes sense to me, which is nice. The only difference is that I will add the corner squares on opposite ends instead of adjacent ones. But she had put those into her instructions too, so that was very clear.

In case any of you ever need to make a block like this, here is the tutorial. It's a great site.

http://www.equilters.com/library/PFP...in-square.html

When I have them done, I'll let you know how it goes!