Measure once and cut twice

No, wait....it's measure twice and cut once. Doh!!! I cut some background blocks onto which I planned to applique four of my Brinton Hall rosettes and applique them I did. When I put the four blocks together to admire my work I realized that two of them were smaller. I quick check revealed that I cut two of the backgrounds 1/2" narrower (the length was fine). As my old Mom would say, dough head! What's a quilt maker to do? Well these blocks are alternated with squares of print fabric so I might just cut some of the print squares a little larger so that I don't have to re-do the blocks. Or I will reverse sew, cut two more background squares and applique the hexagon rosettes for the second time. My mantra is "if it bothers you fix it but if you can live with it, live with it". I like to let a little time pass before I make my decision. It is amazing but the more time that passes, the easier it is to live with the little imperfections. It is kind of like wrinkles. The first one comes as a bit of a shock but after while you learn that you can live with it (and its many neighbours).

I've got four more rosettes made for my Brinton Hall quilt. I adore this fabric and do not want to waste even a scrap of it so what I did was put the fabric on my printer and I made a copy. I cut out hexagons from different parts of the fabric and when I liked what I saw I place the copied fabric and cut out the real fabric being sure to leave a generous seam allowance. I generally use a 3/8" for all of my English paper pieced hexagons.

This is one of my favourite fabrics. I love not only the colour but also the energy of the wavy stripe. I wish there were more of these types of fabrics on the market.

Isn't this one fun? I love the effect of the pale green arches - they look like curve edged star points.

This is hands down one of my favourites. This is yet another wavy print that creates so much visual interest. I think that the turquoise/red colour combination is an absolute classic.

I've also been working on The Meadery. The central medallion is still in the works but I've started on some of the outer components. There will be two large diamonds that will be on either side of the medallion. I'm not sure what I will put in the middle of the diamonds so while I give it a little more thought constructed the first two rounds of diamond hexagons. I'm using my open donut method so this means the diamonds are not stitched closed and they won't be closed until I start adding them to what I put in the middle. So here is the first round. It is a directional print so I was careful with the placement of the hexagons.

This will be the second round and it too is a directional print. The colour looks washed out but it is a lovely creamy yellow - like Cornish clotted cream. Yum!

This is what the two rounds together. There will be at least another three rounds but I've not decided what colours I'll use although I want to stay within the cream and honey family.

I had previously shown you my little hexagon pincushion.

I wasn't 100% satisfied with it so I played around with it and I've made a second pincushion. I'm much happier with the results. I'm going to write up the instructions and I'll share with you how I made it so that you can make your own. Time permitting I'll have it available on Friday. Failing that it will be sometime this weekend.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a new picture of Jinx. He likes to climb a ladder to get on top of the arbor. Here he is sitting atop the ladder. What a guy! I can't believe he has been with us for a year. Where does the time go? The good news is that he is maturing and has (for the most part) stopped stealing my sewing!

I'm linking up with Feline Friday over at Sarah Did It. Who knew that cats like tomato soup? I sure didn't!

That's it for today. Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H