Kaleidoscope QAL - oops

It's definitely exciting and inspirational to watch all the beautiful kaleidoscope quilt tops popping up on the flickr group for Don't Call Me Betsy's QAL.  So in my excitement to keep up (now that I had finally caught up a little) I started putting together those lovely kites I had assembled last weekend.  Remember them?

Well, happily assembling away, I was impatient to see one finished block and so instead of being a good little chain piecer I made four quarters into two half blocks and then lined them up to stitch into one block.  Uh oh!

Not looking good!

In a futile attempt at denial (it will be okay, it will be okay!) I tried to join those two half blocks - yikes!  I couldn't even take a photo it was so depressing.

In the vain hope that this problem would only occur with one set of pieces, I tried another four quarters to two halves only to find the same kind of discrepancy!  What on earth had I done?  I retraced my steps - yes all the seams are scant 1/4", all the pieces are cut to size of templates, template is 6.5" tall - what else?  With a little prompt from a friend I checked the template for symmetry - no, not symmetrical at all! How did I miss this?  I read all the posts about checking the scaling on the pdf templates, measuring the height of the template to make sure it was right etc, etc.  Why on earth didn't I think to check whether the thing was symmetrical? I could have cried.  Clearly the issue is mine (or my printer's) as Elizabeth's great instructions and templates are working for so many others.  Do I feel like a dummy or what?

Anyway, after an afternoon of despair, I decided not to give up hope and definitely not to let all my precious blue & whites go to waste.  So now I'm in the process of adapting a foundation pattern for a kaleidoscope block and making it large enough to make the most of the fabric pieces I have already cut.  Yes, the overall block size (and consequently quilt size) will drop a bit but that's much better than wasting all that effort and fabric.  Wish me luck as I start to unpick all those pieces and then foundation piece them back together!  I guess in essence I'm now departing from Elizabeth's fun QAL in order to rescue my quilt, but fingers crossed I'll still have a kaleidoscope top at the end of it all!

Notes to self:  when using pdf templates check, check and treble check everything is exactly as it should be before cutting 360 pieces of gorgeous fabrics AND always make a practice block first to check that I've got it right!

PS If you stuck with this whinge right 'til the end you are truly a dedicated reader of this blog and I thank you for your fortitude and perseverance!  Hope to have more joyful news next time I blog about this quilt.

Liebster Award

Rachael from Tiny Pink  has very kindly awarded me a Liebster award, which in accepting I am supposed to nominate some other new/lesser known blogs worthy of a peek.

So here are my nominees in return for accepting this liebster award:

Listen to the Birds Sing - a very new blog but given the stunning items Karen is posting I definitely think this is one to watch!
Poppy Makes - the lovely Fiona is stitching up a storm of beauties on her blog!
Scissors and Thread - I just came across this blog a few days ago and so far I like some of the interesting things I'm seeing there!

Hope you go to check these blogs out if you haven't already!  Happy snooping!

Exciting Giveaway - Baby Go Cutter!

Don't miss out on the great giveaway over at Lily's Quilts.

An Accuquilt Baby Go cutter could be yours - check it out (though don't feel obliged to enter and I might have a better chance of winning - just kidding!)

Special Delivery from JoAnns!

Check out this special delivery from JoAnns all courtesy of my mum's collusion with her big sister who has just come "home" for a visit from Florida!  Yay - more fun fqs and mini-jelly rolls!

Thanks Mum and Aunt Roberta - I'm sure I'll be able to fit these into one of my future projects very nicely!

Kaleidoscope QAL - catching up

I've been playing catch up today on Don't Call Me Betsy's Kaleidoscope QAL which I joined and duly fell ill and therefore was unable even to make a start.  But after a big effort today, I'm on the way to being (almost) on track for the next set of instructions coming this Thursday.

First off there were 120 HSTs and 240 kaleidoscope triangles to cut -

Phew! that was a lot of cutting.

Then, I tried to pair up the HSTs with the kaleidoscope "arms" so they would  be in keeping with the pattern I'd designed for my Kaleidoscope.

Draft of my pattern - mixing darker blues with lighter.

Lights and darks paired alternately.

 Next came the biggest chain I've ever pieced - 120 joined pairs!

It just kept going and going.

Joined and pressed - these look like little kites to me!

 And finally some laying out to try to keep the values of my design correct for the final blocks.

It's all coming together, though I must admit to a little trepidation as I started to join the solid triangles to the blue kites and I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to lose a few points in the final make-up.  Might just have to live with them on this occasion though.

Picnic Quilt Ready to Gift

It's finished (and on time) so here it is in all its ragged edge fluffy glory -

It's hanging sideways to keep it off the wet grass!

Look at those lovely fluffy, cuddly seams.

All folded, ready to be wrapped!

All ready to be a pressie next week.  The beauty of this quilt belies the thread-fest that was required to get it to this state (I had to clean the lint filter 6 times during tumble drying and had to hoover it on the washing line when it came out) - but all totally worth it!

Check out Judith's blog post to see the other amazing picnic quilts made by the ladies at her class.

Special Pressies for A Very Special Friend

In between other projects I have been sneaking in a wee extra here and there for somebody's birthday.  This was nerve wracking stuff 'cos the person they were for is my inspiration and encourager and it's quite scary making offerings for the person you admire most in patchwork and quilting! Thankfully though, she's also a beautiful, gracious and forgiving person, so these were for her special day and now that she has received them I can show them to you.

Firstly, a fabric basket as a gift bag for her real pressies in purple, her favourite colour. (It had a few wee bought pressies inside for her to enjoy.)

Then I made a mug rug as a celebration of her special day.  I really enjoyed this one and got carried away with the little embroidery pieces which made the final mug rug a little bigger than normal - just right for an extra large piece of birthday cake with her cuppa!

The finished mug rug.

The little embroidery windows - a cupcake ...

sort of self-explanatory this one ...

yep, it was a special birthday ...

and a girlie cup for her tea!

And finally, remember my scrap fabric - well, I made it up into her birthday card.

There's a wee pun  Fab 40 -fabric 40, get it? and 'cos she really is fab in all sorts of ways, not just her stitching talent.  The buttons are there just because she loves them. I know this card isn't the most sophisticated she'll receive but I thought it fitting since she taught me how to create the fabric for it (and almost everything else I know about sewing).

Happy birthday (a little belatedly), my dear sweet friend. May your celebrations continue all year and may this new year bring many of God's richest blessings your way!