Friday, October 31, 2008

Another Dilemma

In my quest to finish things, I thought I would work on one of the many small kits that I have collected. This is a kit for a baby quilt that I 'won' on eBay a while back. All the fabric is precut and there was a sample block included with the instructions. The finished size according to the instructions is 30" x 43".

Here's my problem. Take a look at the PINK sample block. Besides being badly out of square, you notice that the white square has had the center corner chopped off. Also the top right of the block looks like it was trimmed and the diagonal line is nowhere near the corner in order to get a nice match with the next block. Some of this is due to trimming but the center point of the white square is due to that square being too large or the triangles on either side being cut too small.

I made the green and purple block using some scraps. Since I can't make the small triangles larger, I cut the center white square down by 1/4" from the size that is in the kit so that the triangles that are sewn to either side will meet in the center to give a good point on the white square. The large triangle is then quite oversized and had to be trimmed down, which I did after the block was sewn. 

I believe the original block size was meant to be 4 1/2" unfinished (possibly). After trimming, the maximum size I can get is about 4 3/8" which really is not so far off.

My dilemma is this - Is it more important to get that nice join on the white, recut the 50 some white squares in the kit and loose some of the finished size of the quilt, OR should I sew the block with the white square the size it is which will chop off the center corner of the white square as in the 'kit sample" but will result in a larger finished quilt.? What would you do?

6 comments:

  1. Cut down the white square. I'm afraid that you might find that they aren't all really square after all :-( anyway... and it's better to start with the right sizes and shapes rather than try to make do. This is supposed to be fun, remember? Cutting down may be boring, but being bored is not the same as being frustrated.

    As for size, unless you're making this to fit a specific place and the world may very well come to a screeching halt if it does not do so, why worry about the size?

    If all of the blocks are the same size (and if they're all smaller than they were originally planned to be), then the only thing you need to worry about is cutting the border bits a little shorter.

    Remember: It's a baby quilt. It will be puked on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Edna ..

    This is why I don't buy kits .. I ran into this with a joann BOM (which is what started me quilting - amazing i stuck with it!!) and what i ended up doing was recutting them all to the right size

    I think you would be happier with them all looking right and smaller, than off kilter and you not being happy, even tho it will be the right size .. you can always make a wider border, more borders to off set that ..

    you could leave it offkilter and do a wonky quilt tho?

    just a thought .. but it's all going to depend on how YOU want it to look .. wonky or right .. size can be fixed later

    **Waves to T above her ;)

    grace

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wouldn't chop off the corner on the white square... it doesn't look right. :-) The block you made looks much nicer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Make your corners neat, you'll be happier! My golden rule is 'Can I live with it?' If the answer is no, I put it aside to fix it. If the answer is yes, I leave it. Most times the answer is 'no' and although I should fix it right away, I don't always. That's why I have a whole bucket full of almost finished projects :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. My father always said "anything worth doing is worth doing correctly." Maybe that's where I inherited my anal tendencies. LOL! I bet you can guess I'd go with cutting them down. Me no like choppies on my corners. Teehehehe. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. First of all I hope you got in contact with the seller you 'won' it from to tell them how disappointed you are.
    Then I suppose I would probably cut them all down to make them fit right, if not then your eye will always seek out those lopped off corners.

    ReplyDelete

I enjoy hearing what you have to say and try to respond to any questions. Please be sure I have a way to contact you. If you are set to 'no-reply' I have no way to respond. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts!!