Dust off a Quilt Book Blog Hop

/ quiltinggail

First, my appologies for those that tried to access this post earlier.  It completely disappeared! I’m not sure what happened! So, I had to start again!

My book is Quilting & Patchwork, printed in 1979.

Not sure why I even bought it. Likely the only book on quilting I had seen EVER.  I have not made anything from this book, until now.

As I recently went through the book I had a good laugh.  Everything looks very old, but fitting for the late ’70s.

IMG_6238I decided to make the place mats. They looked easy and quick.  Plus, I’d been wanting to make placemats for myself out of some spring-like fabric I had. And February is the perfect time to try to hurry spring along. 

This would be quick and easy! Right?   What’s hard about a square in a square?

The directions started with, “Add ¼” seam allowance to all pattern pieces.”  Then it started to tell me “1. Draw a 13″ square on lightweight cardboard 2. Find the centre of each side …”

Well, I wasn’t about to make cardboard templates.  NO WAY.  That was in the dark ages of quilting … I’d use my ruler and rotary cutter.

But, I had forgotten how you measured for square in a square. And, I dIdn’t  take time to look up. I was flying by the seat of my pants.  And then I was landing on the seat of my pants, not flying!

I know that you need to cut carefully when trimming a square in a square so that you don’t loose the points.  I cut a perfect ¼”.  See the perfect ¼”?IMG_6188

 OH GROAN!!!    I knew I had enough fabric, so I carefully unstitched the piece.  Re-sewed the triangle – And guess what?  I did the same thing AGAIN!  I was SO frustrated with myself!  

My intent was to email Bea and tell her I was going to drop out of the blog hop, but I’d wait until the morning.  In the morning the protect was saying “you can do this.”  SEW, I sat down and worked on it and never did email Bea. Then,  I was super careful when I was trimming the blocks. 

It wasn’t long, and the 4 placemat tops were done. The directions suggested an envelope technique.  I haven’t had a lot of success with this technique in the past, but I thought I’d give it another try.  And then I could bypass the binding.  I did add Hobbs Batting 80/20 to give it a bit of body.  Enveloping worked like a charm.

I stitched in the ditch And the placemats were done!

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I put the placemats on the table and added some china.  I never use my china and I had to dust it off as well!

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Make sure that you visit the other blogs that have joined in the blog hop. 

Screen Shot 2020-03-02 at 2.32.17 PM.pngMarch 2

March 3

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March 5

March 6

One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail 

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26 thoughts on “Dust off a Quilt Book Blog Hop”

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  3. I love that flower fabric–such cheery place mats! I had to laugh at the perfect 1/4 inch comment–it IS perfect! I’m so sorry, I’ve done that as well. Way to persevere through the frustration and end up with a beautiful place setting! I think you are ready for a picnic!

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  5. Pingback: Yesterday was, Today is | Quilting Gail

  7. Sweet place mats. Just right for Spring. I had to do a double take and figure out how you cut it wrong and then I saw it. Good thing you had enough fabric to overcome that twice! I’m still hit and miss with that envelope trick. Why are some of the easiest things the hardest to do? Thanks for sharing your book. It’s a new one to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi,
      My book might be a “new” one to you, but I’ve had it for over 40 years! So, NOT new to me!
      One thing that probably helped with the envelope is that I sprayed the fabric with Terial Magic and it was super stiff – so it kept itself in place!
      Happy Quilting! 🙂

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  8. Great looking placemats! I ran into some difficulty with my old book. It said 4 x 10 +SA, and the first parts I cut out I forgot the seam allowance!

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  9. Very nice “perfect 1/4″ seam” lol!!!
    What a great idea for a challenge though. Dust off a book. I bought a couple books on impulse…i use them more like I would a magazine – once read, their usefulness is done. 😦
    Lovely placemats Gail!

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    • Thanks, Terry!
      Yes, I know what you mean about looking at books and then they’re done. But I keep them! You never know!
      With so much eye candy on the Internet, I no longer buy books or magazines … unless I REALLY want them!
      Happy Quilting, Cuz!

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  10. Hi Gail! Gosh . . . you took us down a path. Was she going to get there? Even after seeing the photos first thing this morning, I had no idea where the path led but you got us there. Ahh, I have been down the wrong cutting path just as recently as this weekend. Great job! ~smile~ Roseanne

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Roseanne,
      Yup, even I didn’t think I’d finish those placemats … but determination, a seam ripper, and ultra careful cutting made for success in the end!
      Happy Quilting! And may there be no more wrong cutting in your future! 🙂

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  11. Some of those old books would have me giving up quilting before I started. Ha ha. Fortunately, I am as tenacious as you are and just say “I know I can do this.” And when I believe it long enough I can.

    Your placemats look great. Good Job

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  13. It seems like these place mats had a life of their own, from being ornery in the making to making the post disappear. I am glad you persevered in both place mat making and posting as they are very pretty. I love the positive and negative versions.

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