RatherB Quilting

I have done a school house block before for a block of the month I joined. Now, I only did ONE school house...it's all I could handle.
After ripping out my seams several times because my chimneys didn't match up either, it was my Hubby that solved my problem. He pointed out that the chimney section has more seams that the house section. I had to do a "scant" 1/4 inch seam on the chimneys and be really careful so that "section" of the block didn't shrink from the seams. Sometimes if they are just a tad off, you can ease it to match up with the house (read, stretch it a bit) but be careful, I also found out that could make the house pucker.
Hope all this made sense! Good luck and keep at it! Once the houses are finished, they are just the cutest block ever! :)

howard anne baumann

well, they look pretty good to me. but I would stick with material with little patterns, not the big polka dots. that's me though. just makef sure your pieces are all the same size by usingk a square and a rotary cutter. and put some tape on yur machine for the seam size to guide you. If you 're crazy about perfection,,, have your ripper on hand. Cause it ain't sewing, if you're not a rippin once in a while. I hate when that happens, though. I usually take a break and get a class of wine or go for a walk. Sometimes, when I'm not satisfied with a project, I'llk stop and do something else and come back a day later and then I find that I have a different perspective or a new idea.

Lace hearts

Thank you. I like the idea of having a break with a glass of wine. This has taken a back seat this wkend because I've had to get to work on a Henry VIII costume for my 9 yr old. It's fun, but I'm itching to get going on the houses again.
Really good advice. Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

Moonpi

If the chimney section is a perfect rectangle, and the house section is a perfect rectangle the same width, they should go together easily. Some patterns let you slide until you get to the end, but with most, you have better results if you check sections as you go along.

Lace hearts

thank you Moonpi. :)

Quilter7x

Everyone has given great advice here. The one thing I want to echo is to use a smaller scale print for the houses, rather than the large polka dot.

You should spend some time in the "Pictures" section here. There you will get a lot of ideas on what scale fabrics other people use for varying shapes. And you'll get lots of ideas. :D

So glad you joined here, there is so much information!

mpspeedy

Hi and welcome. I admire you for starting with what I would consider an ambitious project. Our church is celebrating it's 250 anniversary as a congregation. We are making a quilt as part of the celebration. They are using that house pattern. One of our girls found a paper piecing pattern to make the houses. It makes things a lot easier as it stabilizes and makes consistant all of the pieces. In my oponion it would be easier to see what you are doing and line up the pieces if you used all the same weight fabrics and smaller prints or checks. The houses we are making are finished at 6 1/2 inches. Large dots or motifs would over power them.
It is a charming pattern and when it is finished you will be glad you made it. Good luck.

Lace hearts

Thank you so much!
I'm loving taking a look at the pictures, though it scares me if that makes sense. I've sewn for years, but only more obsessively in the past 3 years since my children stopped being small enough to need round the clock entertainment.:D I've always admired quilting, but always felt in awe and thought I just couldn't, not helped by the slightly superior attitude in a couple of quilting shops I visited when they realized how little I knew. I mean, I was even unclear about 'piecing' until I came on here and had such lovely advice. I'm that much of a beginner. I don't know anyone who quilts locally, so I've noone to ask for advice. Anyway, I've had a change in that I now look at quilts, and think, well, why can't I. This one needs me to make 42 houses, so I reckon by number 38 or 39 I should have 'got it'. :D What people have said about the size of the prints makes a lot of sense, also matching fabrics. This is my third one, where I thought a bit more carefully about prints - I agree about the bubbles being too big - but even more about seams and measuring. As you can see, I haven't used the same cottons, but that's more because I haven't got lots of choice with my 100 per cent cottons yet. Need to get more, but I find it so confusing in a quilt shop, faced with lots of prints to choose from. I worry about getting it wrong and wasting money. I already have a humungous fabric stash.

MPspeedy - thank you. You really made me smile. I've always been ambitious when it comes to crafting anything. I knitted my first jumper when I was about 13/14. I chose a horrendous pattern, simply because I loved the picture. My mum thought I was mad, but I made it, very very slowly, by the time I was around 18. I just fell in love with the idea of a house quilt, and I think I should really pull myself back and take on something simpler, but I am having so much fun. :D I love the thought of your church congregation doing a quilt together.

Anyway, so this is block number 3. I still feel embarrassed about posting a pic given all the wonderful pics on here, but I reckon this will help me. I really have appreciated everyone's help. I know it's not brilliant, but I am definitely proud of having matched my chimneys up better.

salmonsweet

Hi Lace Hearts! I think you are doing fantastically well.

This is an ambitious block to start out with, and in my opinion (I'm self-taught as well!) that's just fine, in fact perhaps the best thing you can do. Speaking from my experience, everything you try out now teaches you loads for the future. I as well used to use fabrics I had lying around, and that also teaches so much.

A couple of pointers that helped me for choosing fabrics...

If you want to emphasise a geometric shape (like your house), small prints with little to none light-dark contrast within them, (or even solids if you like using them, a lot of quilters don't use them much) can work really well.

When on the other hand you want to emphasis the fabric pattern rather than the shape of the piece, choose a big pattern (your polka dots) or one with strong contrast (e.g. a black-and-white print).

Someone else has already said that straight lines and chequered fabrics emphasise the piecing. So when you choose a pattern that's a bit more curvy/swirly, you can get away with loads more in your piecing.

Two things that really help me with making designs stand out: using contrast along lines I want to emphasise. This can be dark-light contrast or cold-warm contrast.

E.g. if you were to combine your pretty light blue sky in the third house block, with darker fabrics for the house in warmer colours (reddish, brownish, that sort of thing), you'd have unity in the house and a contrast to the sky so the house shows more. Or a dark blue/even black sky with a light tan/cream sort of house, for a night scene! Endless options.
To see how light or dark fabrics are in relation to each other, screw your eyes almost shut and sort of squint at them. Or look at them after dark with the lights off (as long as street light or light from teh hallway can come in so you can still see!! :-D ) I hope this helps!

I sometimes toss fabrics on the floor or a table or chest of drawers and let them lie for a while and just watch them out of the corner of my eye as I walk past during the day. That tells me much about contrast.

I hope this helps! One thing to remember: THERE ARE ONLY RIGHT WAYS OF DOING IT. It is all an adventure and every step you take, takes you forward. Although it might not always seem so, you will find it's true.

studio-christine

like the third house best....

not a lot of advice to give, everyone else seems to have said it

just relax and have fun...

....oh, and Fat Quarters are your friend :-D