Friday, March 11, 2011

St. Jacobs Block Challenge

Have you ever tried to make a block for a challenge and found yourself with a bigger challenge than you bargained for?!? I wanted to make a block for the St. Jacobs Block Challenge- click here and scroll down. You pick up a paint chip and make a 9" block in the colours of your paint chip. I picked pink, since I had a lot of pink in my stash. But can you believe, not one single piece was the right colour?!?!? So I went shopping and bought 3 fat quarters and started sewing. My first block attempt was Washington Star. Even after fiddling around with the printer settings, I couldn't get this pattern to print out properly.

Can you see that the 3 sections were different lengths!  I did my best to sew the block but it was still too small...and one section was even upside down according to the pattern!
So I abandoned the paper piecing idea, and went for something a little easier...






I tried to piece a block called Another 9 Patch Star. 
What happened this time?
Well, it was a 12" block that I had to resize to 9".
First, I sewed the wrong layout (on the left). That took a while to fix!
Once I had the correct layout, I  discovered that my resizing attempts resulted in the wrong sized block!  
So now I had made 2 blocks that were the wrong size!




 I added a couple of borders and also made a quick (easy) 2nd block (called Alabama) to boost my sagging sewing self esteem!
My paint chip is in the middle of my 2 blocks which finally measured 9". The colours vary in these photographs because it has been so dark here, with rain and snow every day, which makes it difficult to take photos. 
The block challenge is viewer's choice, so if you live near St. Jacobs and want to go see the wonderful blocks they received and vote for your favorite,  the blocks will be on display at The Mill from March 12th - 26th. I'll post a photo of all the blocks as soon as I can get over there.
To see a photo of the blocks from the challenge 2 years ago, click here.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I give you an A for effort sweet friend. Look how many orphan blocks you now have in this colorway ... perhaps you can join them in a creative way and have a new quiltlet. :)

Appalachian Mercantile said...

We quilters have all had 'those' days! I'm sure you will think of something fun to do with all of those extra blocks! LOL

Gail said...

You have loads of patience and the blocks look great.

sally said...

Beautfiful Blocks Kathy!! If you persevere long enough they will turn out!!

Heather said...

That's quite the story. I'll try and remember to go check the blocks.

Kate said...

Beautiful colors, you did a great job of matching the paint chips. The blocks are all pretty. Resizing is always tricky. I've been known to cut it out in paper and try it before I touch my fabric.

Helen in the UK said...

Wonderful blocks!! I really like the paper-pieced one too ... shame your printer wouldn't co-operate with the pattern :)