I purchased a charm pack at a quilt show last year, brought it home, and forgot about it. I had also purchased two 1/2 metre cuts to go with it. The line was called Lovely by Sandy Gervais for Moda. If you click on Sandy's name you can "meet the designer". I am a huge fan of the patterns that Sandy designs. One of my jackets was from a line called Frolic.
Anyway, to get back to what I'm suppose to be writing about. I dug the charm pack out and gave it a
"thunk".
Awhile ago I did a Lil Twister workshop and I figured this was perfect for it. There were 42 charms, so I took 2 out...............solids in a creamy/white tone.............and then decided to do a 5 across, 8 down layout. I added the cream for the border of the blocks and set to sewing it together and taking it apart and then sewing it back together.
I've made the same mistake with the cream fabric before. It is a tone-on-tone and if you aren't sitting in the right light, you don't see the right side from the wrong side.
I laid this out in a specific way. I wanted the cream tone on tones to be towards the centre and not on any of the outside rows. I learned from the first Lil Twister I made that it doesn't work out well............with a cream print against a cream border. Before I started each row, I numbered the blocks with a little piece of masking tape. I always have the first number on the left hand side of the flannel board. If you pick them up in numerical order you shouldn't make a mistake when sewing them together.
I sewed all the rows together and pressed the first row to one side and the next row in the opposite direction. I wanted the seams to butt up against one another. Once the whole piece was sewn together I set about cutting it apart with the ruler.
I think this is the greatest technique and by golly, I remembered how to do it. I wasn't too sure of myself but I know the girls at the store are only a phone call away if I need them. I'm patting myself on the back with this one. 
As I cut each row, I very carefully laid each piece in the order I would be sewing them. Did I make a mistake? Do the people in China eat rice? Of course I did. What is a day without a seam ripper in your hand. The person who invented this wonderful tool and I couldn't find out who, should be given something outstanding for their brilliance. I don't know of any sewer that doesn't appreciate this device.
I took me an afternoon to take it apart and sew it back together. Well an afternoon and an evening. Then I went on EQ to figure out if I had enough fabric for the borders. I did. These are different and something I wanted to try.
I have a few tips for this so I'm going to continue tomorrow.
See you then.
Two bits of family news....................
Our son-in-law Paul celebrated his birthday yesterday. He turned 45. It doesn't seem possible for Karl and I to have children/children-in-law this old. It just has to be wrong.Our granddaughter Morgan was awarded her blue belt in Tae-kwon-do on Friday night. The progression is white, yellow, orange, blue, green, red, etc. She has only been taking lessons since September so she has done very well.
