On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 23:12:14 GMT, "Mystified One"
wrote:

When doing alphabet blocks, I can't make the set of 26 come out even. No
matter how hard I try, I end up with one left or one blank space.

I even tried figuring out how to make the blocks with alternating blocks, no
luck.

I've already got the ABC blocks, so I can't combine two at the end. They're
redwork 8-inch blocks that I bought on ebay. Doing alternating blocks that
are red and white would be ideal, I think, but I can't get them to come out
even.

I'm curious how anyone else has done these, if they have. If not, how would
you make them come out even?


You can't.

13 is a prime number, half of 26 is 13, no matter what you do you
cannot get it to come out even for more than two rows. When
embroidering a sampler, or doing calligraphy, you can only get it to
come out even because certain letters take up more or less space than
others. When all the letters take up the same amount of space, it
simply cannot be done.

I would suggest making up some blocks to either intersperse with the
alphabet blocks or to tack on at the beginning or end. Or some
combination thereof.
One way I have seen it done is thusly:

26 divided by 4 is 6 remainder 2, so you could have 6 rows of 4 blocks
and one row of 2. Take one block from the first row, rotate the rest
and have a row of three, 5 rows of 4, and a row of three. Then at the
beginning add one block, and at the end add one block, generally a
stack of three embroidered alphabet blocks with ABC at the begging and
XYZ at the end. Make up the width and length with borders and there
you go.

NightMist



--
"It's such a gamble when you get a face"
- Richard Hell