A Little Switcheroo

Hi Everyone,

Okay, this is the post where I make a confession.  If you having been following this blog for a while now, you may have already picked up on this:  I am a bit "anal" when it comes to quilt making.  I can also be a bit of a perfectionist.  I tend to blame it on being in 4-H during my formative years.  The quest for a purple ribbon is strong! 

Can you tell a difference between this:

And this?  (Other than the fact that the photo below is only a corner?)

Probably not.  Here is a closer comparison.  Look at the centers.

 

Yes, the bottom one is pinned, but it is also a tiny bit darker than the one on top.

 

  When they are side-by-side, you can see the difference.  Really.  It is much more noticeable in real life!

 

 

 

When I ordered the medallion print and it arrived, I was a bit surprised/dismayed to discover that the background was French General "faded red" because the FG solid I was using for the block background was a darker red .  I guessed I missed out on that fact in the description.  I decided to try it out and see if I liked it.  I used it on all the large plates and I found that I could live with it.  It wasn't too noticeable.  Then I added the small plates and their centers were the darker red.  The red color was a factor when I auditioned all my FG reds for the small centers, but the one I liked best was the darker one.  As I began to applique the small ones in place, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to live with the faded red medallions.  So I ordered a yard of medallions on the dark red.  That was the third reason that I didn't take this quilt to my retreat.  (I mentioned two reasons in yesterday's post.)  The package containing it actually arrived the evening after I left.  Here are some text messages that I exchanged with my husband that night:

 

Me:  Did I get a package today?

 

Him:  No, but you did.   From UPS.  Some Jolly woman or something like that

 

Me:  ???

 

I swear that I did not mistype that.  That is exactly what he said.  Maybe you can figure out that the package was from Kimberly Jolly at the Fat Quarter Shop.  I did, but I'm not sure about the whole "Did I/ No, you did" thing.  Probably he was taking advantage of my absence by drinking some beer or something.  Around the third day I got another text message that said:  "I hope you are having fun because I'm miserable."  Aaahhhh, it is nice to be appreciated, even if it is said in a guilt trip, ha ha.  Luckily the lawn mower broke Saturday afternoon so shopping for a new one kept him occupied for the rest of the weekend.  He actually went to Walmart on tax-free weekend!  He IS the brave one in this family. 

 

 

At any rate, the fabric arrived and so when I got home from the retreat I began doing this:

 

It wasn't too hard.  Remember how I told you that the machine applique takes a series of straight stitches and then takes a "bite" into the applique?  I just ran my seam ripper under and ripped the "bite" stitches.  That left the straight stitches, but they are so close together that I wasn't going to try to rip them out.  I just made my new centers a tiny bit larger so that it covered them up!  All the ripping and follow-up appliqueing of the new ones only took around 2 hours (I had already prepped the centers the day before when I was still so tired from the retreat that I spent most of the day sitting around watching TV.)  It was worth it.  I think it would have bugged me forever if I hadn't made the switch, and I like this quilt way too much for that!

 

 

This is where I'm at today.  I have attached the red borders and started laying out the rest of the dresdens.  I only have 6 of the medium plates done and need to make 10 more.  Once I have them done, I'll make sure I like the layout of everything and then start appliqueing them and the rest of the small ones. 





This is a close up of a medium one.

You can see that I used the medallion on it, too.  I can't tell if I prefer how this one "just fits" or if I like the extra red around it on the larger ones as shown below.  I really love them both.  I was glad that it worked for both sizes.

 

 

Anyway, that is it for today. 

I hope you have a great day!
JoAnne