Upon measuring, I found some of the pieces to be short along the square (no seam) sides. This happened because the fabric slipped or stretched during cutting. Accuquilt recommends you alight the long grain of the fabric with the die because that is the least stretchy. I wasn't careful about figuring out the grain directions of the solid charm squares -- what a pain, right? --but it seems I should have. Anyway, there is going to be a fair amount of "easing" to line up the units.
I tried several layout options, and wasn't pleased with any symmetrical tile patterns. The colors don't have a lot of umph, and it just came off a bit sleepy. I ended up separating the units into colored centers and neutral centers, then each of those into 8 piles by hue. Finally, I paired hues to make 8 block groups. For the neutral centers the groups are:
- blue and gold
- green and brown
- olive and tan
- red and purple
Then I arranged the units around a central circle, filling with additional Kona snow as necessary.
Some of the blocks don't have a solid circle in the middle.
And some are larger than 4x4. But now I've run out of snow, so this will have to wait for a few days.
If you haven't signed up yet, my Go!Baby giveaway is still open. Hurry for your chance to win a fabric cutter and 3 dies!
Leave it to you to go off the beaten (drunkards) path. Love it!
ReplyDeletelol, love the previous comment. I really love this, at first I didn't know what I was seeing, but it's pretty amazing! Can't wait to see the finished quilt!!
ReplyDeletelove how look your solids!
ReplyDeleteStaggering! Love the direction this is taking.
ReplyDeleteI love where you're going with this!
ReplyDeleteThe solids look neat and I like the way you have arranged them.
ReplyDeleteah, i had that same pulling effect when I was sewing my circles on my red and blue quilt. I was able to ease some of the seam differential by being supercareful about (1) where i took the first stitch and (2) really eagle-eyeing to make sure i was easing in and adhering to the 1/4 inch seam allowance on both pieces.
ReplyDeletei bought the "just curves" foot, and they have some instructions on sewing curves that may give you a few tips... even useful with a standard foot.
http://www.justcurves.biz/ (look in the column on the left for "how to sew with the curve master" for the link to the PDF.
still... i think you're within just a few percent of being right on, even now. i just know you're a perfectionist. ;)