The Block that Would Not Be Made

Have you ever sewn a block that just refused to cooperate? No matter how much time you spend, how you whisper to it, or threaten it with the seam-ripper, it just will not become a cooperative part of a quilt?

I have spent the last three days sewing one 12 1/2 inch block.

Terrie in the Bee Unique Bee Knotty Bee mailed a darling novelty print featuring snowmen, a red print, and a white on white fabric for the background. She asked that we make her a traditional block which features a snowman.  Simple enough.

Terrie is a hard-working mother of seven (how does this woman have time to quilt, let alone administrate several bees on Flickr?) and I wanted to make something nice for her. I picked out a block pattern, cut out the pieces and spent an entire afternoon sewing it together. I was using a low steam iron to press it so I could photograph it for Flickr and ….. oh, no. The red print started bleeding out into the white background. I lifted the iron as soon as I saw it, but too late. The block was ruined.

I dabbed Oxi-Clean on the bleed with Q-Tips and left it overnight, but when I rinsed it out in the morning it left a pink stain on the right side of the block. Back to the drawing board.

The snowman I picked was unpacking a box of Christmas decorations. So I thought it would be fun to put him in a house that he could decorate. (This is where my creative side leads and my brain goes along for the ride.) So I sewed up a block with the snowman inside decorating.

I went to Flickr to upload it to the group and stopped to read Terrie’s instructions again. Uh-oh. She wanted a traditional block. This isn’t going to fit in at all. Back to the drawing board.

Today I found another block and decided to keep it simple and get this block sewn. I cut out all the pieces but found that the snowman was too small for the center. I spent some time sewing extra pieces of fabric on the snowman center until it was big enough. Fabric was cut, seams were sewn and the block emerged.

Thank goodness. I like the way this block turned out. Maybe the block knew more than I gave it credit for?

Until next time,
    Joan

3 thoughts on “The Block that Would Not Be Made”

  1. Good Grief!! What an ordeal. That first block was lovely! The second block made me smile! The third block is wonderful, too!
    I goofed on my snowman block, too. I picked out the block I wanted to make, fussy cut out the snowman, and then realized I should have cut him out on point for the block to work……so then I was left desperately trying to find a pattern with a square center block of the proper dimensions. Oooops!

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