Tuesday, February 22, 2011

ALARMING CONDITIONS MIX UP

This block called “Alarming Conditions” is from the Civil War Diary Quilt book and CD.  I color-coded my foundation pattern according to the photo from the CD.  I didn’t notice anything amiss then.  After two hours of working on this block, when it came time to be pressed, I noticed that one triangle between the star points didn’t match the others.  I looked at the CD block photograph again and that’s the way it looked as well.  It bugged me.

Alarming Conditions

When I looked at the other “Alarming Conditions” block photographs on the Yahoo Civil War Diary Group, I noticed everyone else had that small triangle in their dark fabric instead of the light.  It really bugged me.

I wasn’t making another block to make it right.  No way.  So I decided to try something I’ve never done before.  I traced the triangle shape onto Steam-A-Seam Lite fusible web, then ironed it onto a scrap of the purple fabric, peeled off the paper from the back and fused the shape over the section I wanted to fix.  After using a small zig-zag stitch with invisible thread around the perimeter of the block, the problem was fixed.  You can barely tell, although the photograph shows is more prominently than it looks in person. 

Alarming Conditions fixed

I am no longer bugged.  It’s amazing what you learn when you screw up something.  There’s usually a way to fix it if you step back from the project and think about it calmly.

Now it’s one of my favorite blocks of the Civil War Diary Quilt that I’ve made thus far.  You can see photographs of all my completed CWD blocks, and some CWD blocks from others, on Civil War Diary flickr group.

I’m in love with the coral design in this purple fabric.  I need more colorways.  As they say, quilters aren't greedy, they're just materialistic.

Until next time,
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5 comments:

  1. Donna, very pretty block and a great fix! I have made that quilt and the CD does have some quirks in it.

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  2. The block WAS called 'alarming conditions', and that is exactly what transpired!!!LOL What a great idea to fix the 'alarming' problem, I stared at the first pic for a while, and didn't notice it, until I moved down to the next pic, you could have knocked me over with a feather! weird how the eye can trick you! It's a great block, I love intricate blocks and to challenge myself with tiny bits of fabric, it's so great when they work out right!!!

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  3. Good idea to save the block!!! And you know what the Amish quilters say: only God is perfekt....
    Great block and you have to look very very closely to discover the little trick!!
    Greetings from Regina

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  4. What a great idea!! I can't tell by looking at the photo either.

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  5. It looks great, but maybe the triangle was what caused the name. LOL

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