Nuts. Laid out an entire twin top. Such a simple pattern, I paired the blocks and stacked them in such a way that I was *sure* I would remember which seam I was sewing on. Forgot how easily I get distracted and sometimes don't get back to my projects for a week or 2... Now I've got this pile of beautifully laid out blocks stacked neatly by my machine and I'll be darned if I have a clue which side of the block I need to sew. Nuts.
-- Loren in Seattle
Loren, i know exactly how you feel. I do this constantly, even when it's just a single block i'm sewing. I get easily distracted, too. post-it's are a good idea, in fact, i should buy stock in them...lol. Hugs to you, and hope you'll get that quilt done soon so we can see it!
I happened to read about an interesting marking trick in DH's woodworking magazine that would also work here.
In woodworking, one can also encounter the problem of not being able to sort out the "piecing" order, especially if the same type of mark is used throughout. The solution is to draw a triangle across the joint. Unlike a straight line, it's not reversible, so pieces will always match in the proper direction IF you always make them point in the same direction. In woodworking, that direction is the front or the top of the piece. In quilting, it could be toward the right of the piece for horizontal rows, or the top of the piece for vertical rows.
Nurse Ratched (remove "cuckoo" from address to reply) We'll all get back to normal if we put our nation first, But the trouble with "normal" is, it always gets worse. ~Bruce Cockburn
I'll be there just in a minute, rolled up newspaper in hand to SMACK! Anyone who can stack and remember is very smart and focused and I am happy for them. I am not on the list. I have to safety pin a label on every @#$! block AND write me a note that says A-1 to A-2 or whatever the plan is for the next step. The time it takes to securely attach notes and plans is very small compared to the aggravation of trying to figure out where I was and where I was going. And then there's ripping stitches if I figure wrong. If I expect life to get really crazy, I even follow the suggestion of hinging the blocks together with yet more safety pins. Can we have Margaritas after the smacking? Polly
This is what pins are for. When I'm making stacks of paired blocks I pin each pair together with a single pin in the seam to be sewed. That, of course, is when I remember to do it .
Betty in CT who has also said "nuts" many times
I use 2 safety pins to mark my rows. One in the upper right corner, and the other on the left side in the middle of the block. I have a printed diagram of my layout (either a digi pic or from EQ5) and I mark on there where the pins go for each row. I can pick up each block and figure out its orientation to the layout, and know which ones to sew together. Took me miles of unstitching to figure this out! :-)
Am going to have to experiment with this concept. The blocks are so simple that it really wasn't supposed to be rocket science... Smack me upside the head and remind me to buy more pins next time I am at the store.
Loren in Seattle
I use the little removable labels to mark blocks. Works great.
MUSH ALERT!
Butterfly (well--that's what the Kidlets always say when....oh never m> Too late on the margaritas, just had one. Kids are out of town for 2 weeks
I figure that if I was once organised enough (very rare) to stack things, then I MUST have meant to sew the side next to the feed dogs. Sometimes I get a VERY interesting (???) design and casually decide that I have invented a new block.
I used a digital to make sure I sewed my PP stars top . Laid out every block and had quilters from my Wed AM group working on it too. Of course, I ended up with some in the wrong place. So even looking at the design doesn't always work. :-) :-) :-) Looks OK anyhow and the wedding recipients won't know or care.
Mim
PS what did you decide to do???
Lay them all out again... Quicker than sewing it wrong and frogging fer hoursanhoursanhoursanhoursanhoursanhous...
Best of luck!
BTDT! It's so frustrating, isn't it? Now I label the essential blocks (top left, etc.) and then clip pairs together on the side to be sewn with a big clamp. I remove just one pair at a time from the clamp, so I always know which seam is the one to be sewn. It works for me. Good luck!
Whenever I make a stack of blocks to sew, I always put a pin in the side that is the sewing side. I usually don't pin my blocks, but this pinning method keeps me from sewing the wrong side.
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