Easy Street

Back in March 2023, I dove into Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street pattern (from her More Adventures With Leaders and Enders book), excited to use up some of my colorful scrap stash. I happily cut out and assembled all the block components. But, in a classic crafting twist, when I checked the original pattern, I realized I'd made a little goof—I had set the block size too large in my planning. Usually, I transfer patterns into Electric Quilt to test out fabric choices, which I had done here, but this time there was user error. (Sadly, this is not the first time I've made this mistake.) Maybe, someday, I'll learn to double-check the proper block sizes before I cut everything out.

By the time I spotted the mistake, all the pieces were already cut and sewn. Looking over the components, I realized I could cut them all down to resize them to the correct dimensions, although it would mean quite a bit more work. At the time, I wasn't quite ready to decide, so I dropped everything into a project tub and stashed it on the shelf.

Now, feeling overwhelmed by the election, I'm ready to immerse myself in a project, I've decided to forge ahead and finish this quilt. I can't quite bring myself to waste all the fabric from cutting down these pieces so I think I'll go ahead and assemble the quilt as is. It'll be a larger than planned, but I'm embracing the done is better than perfect motto.

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Nine Patch Twirl

My husband left his full-time job with Intel last month and has been going full blast ever since helping out with canvassing and phone calls to encourage folks to vote this cycle. I am definitely more shy talking politics with people I don't know, but I've been helping out with writing letters. Other than these efforts, watching what is going on in the world is stressing me out so I've decided to go hide in my sewing room until the election.

Late last month, I decided to find a new scrappy pattern. I just wanted to try something new. The threaders on both of my regular sewing machines weren't working so I took the opportunity to bring them in for service. While they were there, I thought I would try sewing with my Pfaff Grand Quilter. I struggled to get the tension set properly, and I just didn't have the patience to figure out the correct settings. 

I spent one day sewing together this Nine Patch Twirl pattern, designed by Carolyn S. Vagts (from the Nine Patch Panache book). It is an easy and quick pattern. You make a pile of nine patches, cut them into quarters and then shuffle them into the final setting. 

The process was straightforward, but my choice of fabrics—a clearance batch of Flowerhouse Wildflowers fabrics by Debbie Beaves—didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. After assembling the blocks and laying them out, I realized the dark blues in the mix just aren't working for me. I suspect I would be happier if I'd stuck to just the light and medium fabrics. To be clear, the fabrics are pretty, I just didn't like how I laid them out.

Rather than unpick or redo the project, I've decided to finish quilting it as is and donate it. It might not be to my taste, but I'm sure it will bring comfort and joy to someone else.

Linking up with:
Design Wall Monday
Monday Sew & Tell
Monday Musings