Time to Get Things Working Right

You probably noticed that I changed my blog theme...again.  The "new" one was so pretty, but drove me crazy - I didn't like working with it.    This one is not as dramatic, but it suits me much better.  I'll keep it for awhile until I get restless again.

My new project was moving right along until the directions got ultra complex and I got so confused.  I see now why Judy Niemeyer hires people and trains them to teach her classes.  There were two booklets of directions for this pattern.  The first was a dozen pages of general directions, which I skimped on (bad move).  There was an extra pattern piece with no explanation of what it was for so I sat down and read through everything - carefully this time.  Apparently it was a way to cut one part of the pattern to sew without foundation piecing.  If it is something else, I will eventually figure it out!

In another place I was told to cut through the middle of a foundation piece when initially cutting it.  Later, it was insane trying to foundation piece it.  One piece ended up having no seam allowance marked.  I have now scanned the whole pattern and can print more pieces if I need them.  I'll do that piece my way!  You can't beat experience.  I am thankful for all the many hours of foundation piecing I have done over the years.  Whether the directions are clear or not, I can eventually figure them out.

I made an annoying miscalculation in a color gradation.  That was my own fault!  What to do?  Below is an extra piece I began to put together before figuring out that I didn't need as many as I thought.  However it is a perfect demonstration of a piece gone wrong in the gradation.  It looked fine in a stack of large pieces of fabric, but it created a sharp demarcation between light and medium dark that looked terribly wrong to me in the strip of small pieces.  It sat behind my machine and just glared at me.

The offending piece is the paisley 3rd from right.

 I had 24 of these graded strips all sewn together so I pondered.

I looked again.

I strongly disliked it.

I pondered some more.

I tried to use paint to darken the piece.

Yuuuuuk!

I finally used an Inktense pencil to color lightly on the left side of the of the offending piece.  Then I used water to blend the color across the piece like painting in watercolor.  Heat set and hope it holds.  It blends perfectly now!  I also washed the test piece with soap and water and it maintained its new look.

Can you see how well the paisley blends now? Compare with the previous image.

Thank goodness I didn't have to do these strips all over again.  This is a project from my stash although I did have to purchase the background fabric.  I have lots of whites, but not enough of any of them so I got a pretty white-on-white.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you gentleness as you blend your life.