They are just awful - what to do?

I like the way you think, i.e. go shopping. And you know, there are
some lovely template rulers that that need a new home. And fabric --
hmm... I might just have something that would work here. Am trying to
downsize

Prior to your description, I'd never quite understood how those
cattywampus quilt blocks were made but your description is clear as a
bell. I can do that. Thank you for the suggestion. It would hid a
multitude of sins too.

And to keep the blocks is important -- sometimes it's easy to forget
where we came from and these are a bit of my history. You see, I had
teenagers back then, and was broke, and there was this quilt show in
Fort Lauderdale, FL and it was free to attend, and so... anyway, I
bought a couple books and was blessed. There is a certain pleasure from
sticking a sharp needle into fabric that only moms of teenagers can
fully appreciate.

It may take a while, but I'll try for my own version of a cattywampus
quilt. I think any quilt named Cattywampus would surely be loved, and
yes, I name my quilts.

Anyway, thanks again for your ideas ladies. I'm rather relieved to
finally have some plans for these blocks. I'd really thought they were
so perfect so finding them today was rather disheartening. You've
cheered me though and for that I'm grateful.

Thank you and happy stitching.

I .....ummm....didn't think they were that bad.....

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html (takes a while to load)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shazrules/my_photos (same as website but
quicker)

"janice142" wrote in message
oups.com...
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J
janice142 on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/

alas...I'd bet some of that beauooootiful stuff is polyester [maybe even
doubleknit?] It isn't gonna dye methinks.
I think I'd sash them out into the same size, then turn them into the centre
of star blocks. Focussing on their idosyncracies that way would make them
fun and funky rather than...shall we say "cosmetically challenged?"

--
Kim Graham
http://members.shaw.ca/kigraham
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
THE WORD IN PATCHWORK

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when
I first started. They are AWFUL.
http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg
What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

The main problem is the choice of colours, lots of things that don't
work together.

Overdye them all intense green. The resulting variations will
harmonize reasonably well. If your blocks are too uneven in size
you can fudge the discrepancies if you sash them (plain saturated
red or blue, say). If they're near enough the right size or can
be trimmed to the same size, assemble a top first.

If they're undyable synthetics you're stuck, but at least you've
learned a lot of block types.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk
==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660
4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554
975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739
557

Sharon Harper wrote:

I .....ummm....didn't think they were that bad.....

I really like the blue, red, and white one in the bottom left corner.

--
SML

Make them into pet blankies and donate to the shelter.

L
"janice142" wrote in message
oups.com...
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J
janice142 on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/

Janice, these really aren't all that bad. Some others have given some
really good suggestions. I think that sashing them all the same size, and
being able to use them is just brilliant. However, if it doesn't fit in
anywhere, I'm really loving that brown block in the top right corner! It
just goes perfectly with my long-time-not-yet-finished-80's-UFO! Seriously.
Let's talk!

Vickie in Cleveland

"janice wrote...
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.


http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg


What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

janice

And, Janice, would you believe ...
I have on my table right now, just behind me, drawings that I did
yesterday to get templates of wedges to angle the blocks I am about to
make for a cot quilt tip one way and then the other - cattywampus
(glorious word!)
g
..
In message .com,
janice142 writes
I like the way you think, i.e. go shopping. And you know, there are
some lovely template rulers that that need a new home. And fabric --
hmm... I might just have something that would work here. Am trying to
downsize

Prior to your description, I'd never quite understood how those
cattywampus quilt blocks were made but your description is clear as a
bell. I can do that. Thank you for the suggestion. It would hid a
multitude of sins too.

And to keep the blocks is important -- sometimes it's easy to forget
where we came from and these are a bit of my history. You see, I had
teenagers back then, and was broke, and there was this quilt show in
Fort Lauderdale, FL and it was free to attend, and so... anyway, I
bought a couple books and was blessed. There is a certain pleasure from
sticking a sharp needle into fabric that only moms of teenagers can
fully appreciate.

It may take a while, but I'll try for my own version of a cattywampus
quilt. I think any quilt named Cattywampus would surely be loved, and
yes, I name my quilts.

Anyway, thanks again for your ideas ladies. I'm rather relieved to
finally have some plans for these blocks. I'd really thought they were
so perfect so finding them today was rather disheartening. You've
cheered me though and for that I'm grateful.

Thank you and happy stitching.


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Janice look on the bright side.. we *all* feel that way about our blocks

heck I'm sure when one of my quilts come home from their travels I will look
at them and shudder at the sight of them wondering where I got the guts from
to allow them out of my house in the first place lol and no I don't have
pics to share ... they are still under wraps

--
Jessamy
In The Netherlands
Take out: so much quilting to reply.
Time to accept, time to grow, time to take things slow
www.geocities.com/jess_ayad
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jes...pson/my_photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I like the way you think, i.e. go shopping. And you know, there are
some lovely template rulers that that need a new home. And fabric --
hmm... I might just have something that would work here. Am trying to
downsize

Prior to your description, I'd never quite understood how those
cattywampus quilt blocks were made but your description is clear as a
bell. I can do that. Thank you for the suggestion. It would hid a
multitude of sins too.

And to keep the blocks is important -- sometimes it's easy to forget
where we came from and these are a bit of my history. You see, I had
teenagers back then, and was broke, and there was this quilt show in
Fort Lauderdale, FL and it was free to attend, and so... anyway, I
bought a couple books and was blessed. There is a certain pleasure from
sticking a sharp needle into fabric that only moms of teenagers can
fully appreciate.

It may take a while, but I'll try for my own version of a cattywampus
quilt. I think any quilt named Cattywampus would surely be loved, and
yes, I name my quilts.

Anyway, thanks again for your ideas ladies. I'm rather relieved to
finally have some plans for these blocks. I'd really thought they were
so perfect so finding them today was rather disheartening. You've
cheered me though and for that I'm grateful.

Thank you and happy stitching.

janice142 wrote:

So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J
janice142 on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/


Sash them together and use them as backing

Sew them up into little quilts for the local animal shelter...

Send them to the animal quilt lady!

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

I'm glad you can now look at those blocks and see them for what they are -
the beginning of your life as a quilter - instead of seeing them as "awful"
blocks. Enjoy the process of making this quilt!

--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
un-STUFF email address to reply




"janice142" wrote in message
oups.com...
I like the way you think, i.e. go shopping. And you know, there are
some lovely template rulers that that need a new home. And fabric --
hmm... I might just have something that would work here. Am trying to
downsize

Prior to your description, I'd never quite understood how those
cattywampus quilt blocks were made but your description is clear as a
bell. I can do that. Thank you for the suggestion. It would hid a
multitude of sins too.

And to keep the blocks is important -- sometimes it's easy to forget
where we came from and these are a bit of my history. You see, I had
teenagers back then, and was broke, and there was this quilt show in
Fort Lauderdale, FL and it was free to attend, and so... anyway, I
bought a couple books and was blessed. There is a certain pleasure from
sticking a sharp needle into fabric that only moms of teenagers can
fully appreciate.

It may take a while, but I'll try for my own version of a cattywampus
quilt. I think any quilt named Cattywampus would surely be loved, and
yes, I name my quilts.

Anyway, thanks again for your ideas ladies. I'm rather relieved to
finally have some plans for these blocks. I'd really thought they were
so perfect so finding them today was rather disheartening. You've
cheered me though and for that I'm grateful.

Thank you and happy stitching.