1/21/16

Cardinal Sin

This morning I feel as if I have a new lease on life. Section 3 of the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt is finished! (Taking a bow.) Yesterday I finished the last block, this cardinal:


It became a cardinal sin when I fudged a little to fix this error in the pattern instructions. The same error appeared in the bluebird block, but the corrections to the pattern only mentioned that one. When my piece came up 3/8 of an inch short, I realized the same error had been repeated in both birds. And, frankly, I was so sick of working on this that I decided to just add a little piece of fabric to bring it to the right length and call it good. You didn't notice, did you? Now would be a good time to say no.


Of course, the Quilt Police of my brain kept hassling me all evening about it. I've considered going back and fixing it, but then decided I'd let it sit until I start working on Section 4 (probably in April sometime). If it's still bothering me, maybe I'll fix it then. It's such a tiny little piece that I doubt anyone would notice it, especially after it's quilted. On the other hand, my eyes have a way of going directly to a spot like that, and so I have to decide if I'll ever be happy with it. Time will tell.

So here are all of the blocks of Section 3. Remember that two of the roses are just partials to be sewn together when the whole quilt is pieced together.


This morning I stitched up the whole left side of the latest Gingerbread Square block.


Now I've moved my hope and I'm ready to start again tomorrow.



This morning I have an early doctor's appointment for my annual physical. That means I'm fasting for a blood draw, and I haven't had my coffee yet. If my writing seems disjointed or crabby, now you know why. I'm wondering if anyone else has been having trouble posting pictures to Blogger. Lately I get a "broken link" sort of image half the time when I try to post them. And for this post, the embroidery images appear blurred even though the original photo is sharp. I don't get it, but it's frustrating, especially so when I haven't had my coffee.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Stitches in Bloom quilt show at the Oregon Garden. I've had quilts in the show the past two years, but didn't enter this year. As I've mentioned a few times, we're getting ready to take off on a trip, and we were supposed to be leaving tomorrow. Then, Mike decided he needed an extra week to finish certain tasks at work, and so we postponed our trip for a week. When I saw another notification about the show yesterday, I realized that now I can go. It's a small show, but there are always lots of good quilts and a few good vendors, and so I'm kind of excited that I'll get to attend after all.

This morning I have grocery shopping after my doctor's appointment, but then I should have most of the day to sew. For sure, I'll make my block for this month's Block Lotto, but then I'm hoping to get started on the third block for It's Raining Cats and Dogs. I last worked on this quilt way back in April of last year when I made this block:


Prior to the last block, I hadn't worked on it since December of 2013. It seems I can only work on this quilt about once per year, but I'm hoping to get it into the line-up more regularly as I finish off some of my oldest projects.

14 comments:

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Good work on all those little bits and blocks. If something bugs you now, you know it will later. Nice you will get to the show and look forward to seeing it thru your eyes.

Calicojoan said...

Interesting...I bought a kit of the cardinal block at a shop in New Mexico. The instructions were wrong and we fought putting it together. I didn't know that it was part of a quilt. I will have to take a look at the entire quilt, and quit blaming the shop for the poor directions! LOL!!!

Teresa in Music City said...

If we were to place bets right now, I'd place my money on you going back and fixing it. That's probably because I have a few friends that absolutely can't leave even a little something like that - it drives them crazy. I admit to being a little that way, although if it's small enough and I'm probably the only one who would ever notice it, I'm good. I look at your "cardinal sin" as just doing a little more of what we do all the time, cut up fabric and sew it back together into smaller pieces. Looks fine to me!

crazy quilter said...

I think your block looks wonderful, but you should just decide if it bugs you too much... I personally would leave it ! Looks great to me.

Brown Family said...

I hate it when I patch an error, but I usually take my quilting mentors advise and "Get over it". By the time time you finish the quilt, you will not remember where all the little oops's are!

Dana Gaffney said...

Let me say it loud and clear NO, it's tiny and no one will ever notice it except of course you. I like secret little things like that in my quilts, they make it all mine.

liniecat said...

Sounds like Maggies not going to be intimidated any longer lol I suspect she may come out as top cat! Wonder if her ear is from having been trapped and neutered previously, cats protection league do that over here when they release freaks back in the wild. They clip on ear so folks know if they trap a cat again, it's already been neutered.
Couldn't you send another little appliqué tendril above and beyond Cardinal to cover the infill, if you really can't live with it?
Or even devise a butterfly to overlay it?

Kate said...

If it's going to be a quilt you enter into competition, then you should definitely fix it, but otherwise, I'd be tempted to just let it go. As you said, it won't show up well once it's quilted. Hope you get to do some fun stitching today.

SJSM said...

Ya mean it wasn't supposed to look like that? I agree with Kate. Otherwise lineacat advice of a tendril may work. Of course, that might be more work to cover the line just so, and fixing it might be easier. The quilt will be stunning once you finish it.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I didn't notice until the 2nd picture (which is probably bigger than the block is). Looks great to me (hey, it works, doesn't it).

Danette said...

I commit cardinal sins such as this, too. If it was me, I probably would leave it. Only quilters would know (if they looked real close). Is the Quiltmaker's garden quilt a sew-along? I just love those blocks and I love gardens & birds, etc. Just beautiful!

Claire said...

I was going to go to Stitches in Bloom, but Parks and Rec cancelled the van trip due to low enrollment. :-( I'd never change that block small piece; quilting will hide all.
Yea Smitty and Oh Maggie, girl, you have a lot to learn.

Barb H said...

Clap, clap, clap as you take your bow. Great finish on Section 3 of the garden quilt. Never noticed the "fix" And like you, in my quilts, I'm the only one ever who will notice the flaw or mistake. We should both take Brown Family's advice and get over it. :)

quiltzyx said...

That little addition is just another design choice.

Love your Gingerbread block! Fun with crayons & thread!!