At long last, I have learned the value of sewing a scant 1/4 inch seam. To wit, pictured here is a practically perfect 12 1/2 inch block, made from some fabric I have in my stash. I am such a sucker for these Batiks and had this fabric left over from a quilt I made for my best skating buddy. I absolutely adore the colors.
I have been trying very hard on the current project to stick to a "scant" rather than "full" 1/4 inch seam allowance - and it is working. To "scant" or "not to scant" has probably been debated by quilters forever, but I am now convinced of the value of a "scant" allowance.
I picked this fabric from my stash because my physician, who will be the recipient of this project, recently started her own online gem business. I wanted colors that reflect those of colored gem stones.
The nice part of this block is that I had made an Ohio Star for the wall-hanging. I didn't like it - and it turned out to be too large because I was using a seam allowance even less than scant. This block came out of a book we are using for the Cabin Fever BOM. I made it thinking it would work well for this sampler piece. Voila! It's ideal and looks beautiful with the other three blocks.
As I am not skating this week, I will finish this piece and start on the "Raider Nation" quilt I am making for one of my very dearest friend's 9 year-old son. Should be lots of fun. I have acquired all the fabric and even Dear Husband thinks it will be very nice (I used him as the acid test about the "guy" nature of the fabric; he gave all a big thumbs up).
Off to read, perchance to nap. Blogging is so tiring. :)
This is one of the best aspects of quilting that inspires me. Fabric can be used in endless ways. Actually, this heart was very easy to make. I whipped it out in an hour. And, it was fun. My doctor's business is buying gemstones, designing and making jewelry. Very cool. I hope she isn't planning for an early retirement however. I've seen her for 25 years and would be lost without her.
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