Snow Day Doll Quilt Rant (beware!)

Hi! Today's snow storm has turned to icy rain! A good day to stay indoors and sew.

I very much admire Ann Champion's quilting blog. Her own work is stunningly perfect and every week she also shares a quilt top from her "quilt cupboard" collection, with photos and historical details. Ann recently began making a repro antique doll quilt, inspired by Lori at Humble Quilts blog.

I loved the idea and thought it would be such a wonderful way to preserve and showcase a collection of antique indigo calico prints that a quilt dealer friend gifted to me. [a few modern ones are in the stack too.]

and a collection of  white ground antique calicos and shirtings from a Cape Cod friend...

I also love cheddar fabrics and have been doling this favorite [second from right] out in bits and pieces.(Why did I only buy a half yard? ) And lastly I thought, "Oh what a fun snow days project! And I can hand quilt it on the beach next summer."

Whatever was I thinking? I have at least three other full sized quilts in work! I totally ignored the fact that Ann and Lori, the woman posting the quilt-along, are very expert quilters who turn out 100% perfection. And here I am, the princess of randomness. And of course any issues and snags in construction are totally to be laid at my door, not Lori's!

This tiny creation is HARD! For one thing I am not used to following someone else's plans. And I don't rotary cut---all those years as a clothing designer, scissors in hand. I find the cut a 3 1/8" square into 4 triangular quarters type info to be very inaccurate....And the method used is not the way I'd go about doing something with lots of tiny points to get perfect. I'd make a pattern! Then I'd work from the center out.

The directions are for the outer parts first...I got these babies together only by copying a correct one at all times. See? I keep the good one right on my machine bed at all times.....

and the Flying Geese bits (so tiny)...

 Well, they just did not go together as planned. I recut half the  precious indigo triangles and 3/4s of the cheddar. I didn't trim yet, below, because I am still afraid my points aren't right.

I hope it turns out and I don't give up!
As I was re-sewing the Flying Geese segments today I thought back to the last time I made a quilt (or, lol,, did NOT!) using someone else's design. A friend and I made a Block of the Month together....It had eight pieced blocks and 4 appliqued blocks (to work on while we waited for the pieced blocks to arrive?).  When all my pieced blocks were done they varied in size from 10" to 12". I was so upset.No two measured remotely the same. And because they were made a month apart each time I stupidly nevr compared them, dumb, dumb---I know! My friend (another clothing designer) said hers were perfect and I asked her how? She was like, Oh well, I made my own patterns, didn't you? I didn't use those rotary instructions, too inaccurate. Her quilt is finished. Mine needs almost all the pieced blocks remade. (sigh). In my defense the BOM vendor later published corrections; my cutting wasn't THAT bad!
So....well, we'll see how it goes. Just don't expect perfection here at the beach! I think the little flaws and foibles add to the charm, don't you? [hopeful grin!]

love

   lizzy

gone to the beach....