Never Assume

You know what they say about assumptions ... well I proved it true this week.  

I had seen a free pattern in American Patchwork and Quilting that I thought would be easy for comfort or encouragement quilts.  Since Devo was cancelled on Tuesday, I decided to devote my day to sewing anyway so I headed down to the studio to give the pattern a try.

The pattern calls for 3-1/2" strips and squares, but since I have so many 2-1/2" inch strips and squares I decided to convert the pattern.  I picked a background fabric and some coordinating charm squares that could easily be cut into four 2-1/2" squares.  I made a couple of sample blocks and they were just awful! Certainly not picture-worthy; you'll just have to take my word for it.

Then, as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw a stack of bright squares that would work in this pattern so I set about cutting 2-1/2" strips of a an older background with lots of bright colors.  I stitched enough squares into a strip of threes to make 13 blocks and cut the appropriate number of background pieces.

Once I started combining squares with strips I saw a slight discrepancy in the size between the bright squares and the newly-cut background which I figured I could accommodate in the seams.  Then I realized the error of my assumptions:  The bright squares are 2-5/8" !!!

No way can I accommodate that in the seam when every block has three of those squares right through the center of the block.  

I threw in the towel and poured a glass of wine!  The seam ripper will be busy today.

I know it's been a while since I posted.  I am well and  I've done quite a bit of sewing; it's just a matter of getting the photos into the blog.  I have found a work-around until I have the chance to clean out the cloud. It will be high priority come November!