Now comes the thinking part... when I started quilting and followed printed patterns, there was always someone else thinking about how to press the seams so that everything would butt together nicely in the assembly. All I had to do was follow the pattern and pressing instructions. I'm on my own now. Pressing towards the sashing strips as I go was easy enough to figure out. The four patches took a little more thinking and visually postioning a handful of four-patches (and a strong cup of coffee).
I never got into the habit of clipping my four-patch seams, which means I had to figure out how to lay them so that the four-patch seams in the block corners lie in such a way that when I sew two blocks together side to side, the four patch seams butt up, and when I sew the block rows together, everything butts up again top and bottom.
Once I had a visual plan in my mind of how to lay the seams and how to press the components after I join them, I sorted through 120 four patches and laid them out with seams going in the directions I need them to, then placed them with the rest of the block components. Assuming there was enough caffein to get all the brain cells firing, it's all ready for a frustration-free chain-piecing session tomorrow.
Now, the bad news... Here's a pic of the four-patch box after I took all the sixteen-patches and four-patches I needed out of it. Clearly, I've got the concept of sewing Leaders n' Enders well enough. I just don't have the concept of when to stop sewing them figured out. This is what happens when you're distracted and sew without a plan.
What am I going to do with them all? Another Sunny Lanes quilt? A scrappy Irish chain? A double four patch? I wonder how many of these little blocks I could use up in a pieced border on the Shady Lanes.
Four patches are so versatile you shouldn't have any problem finding another use for them. They are often units of other blocks so can be used alone or as part of another block.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, they'll wind up someplace happy!