Sunday, January 11, 2009

Week 2 - Let's Call it Footstool!

I just completed the block for week 2. Because it was another 10in. block, I decided to use batiks again. I have no idea why. Maybe I will make an all batik quilt with the 10in. blocks - eventually.
I had a lot of trouble with the hourglass pieces in the centre of the block. The instructions on Quilter's Cache are not the greatest for constructing these little triangle pieces. Julie from floribunda shows how to do it much better in a little tutorial she came up with on this blog. I used this method too. It is much easier and there is much less stretching. But I still did not like the little hourglass pieces. They were very tedious and no matter how hard I tried to be exact, inevitably one of the blocks did not cooperate. I know! I'm a perfectionist - what else can I say?

Then to make matters worse, I ran out of fabric so I used something similar in colour, but that didn't look quite right. So I made a second block. The second block was not much easier. The hourglass pieces still gave me trouble and I doubt if I would ever make this block again. Oh. What's that? Yeah, I did make it again, didn't I? Oh, well. I liked the colours I was working with, I guess.


The pattern is called Footstool on the Quilter's Cache. I don't know why it is called that. It doesn't look anything like a footstool. Maybe it got that name from the husband of the first woman who ever tried to construct this block and threw a footstool through a window in aggravation!

6 comments:

Donna said...

your reasoning about the name made me smile... the hourglass blocks were pretty tiny weren't they? :-)

Unknown said...

I hear ya sister...her instructions can be hard to decipher.

You did a wonderful job though and they are gorgeous blocks.

My interpretation is that the 3 triangles feet are sitting upon the stools...hence the name foot stool, but your is much better.

Marlene

Anonymous said...

LOL re the naming of the block. I like how your first block turned out. I would have guessed you planned it that way, as opposed to running out of fabric.

Jeanne said...

Haha, I just noticed that I was calling mine Step Stool! It was late last night when I posted that. I fixed it :)
Jeanne

Carol E. said...

I love your colors, and your blocks are perfect. I can't see any flaws or any reason why one was not acceptable and you "had to" make a second one. I hope you are able to enjoy these blocks, even though you are a perfectionist and they seem flawed to you. They are AWESOME.

em's scrapbag said...

Love your reasoning on the name. Makes total sense to me. Your blocks are lovely I reallly like the jewel tones.