Squaring Up Blocks

This week has been a bit of a stand still.  I started to square up the star blocks.  I know some people don't take the time to do this but I am not that great at piecing yet.  I feel it is better to square up the blocks a lose some size than have a wonky quilt top.  I started with 5 inch squares so theoretically the star block should be 14 inches before setting to finish at 13 1/2 inches. A good size block.

When I started squaring up the blocks, I started with the ones on top of the pile. So the last of the blocks that I pieced.  I set my ruler on them measured them out and basically they were coming up at 14 inches.  Oh a corner here and there wasn't quite at 14 inches but they were close, less than 1/16th of an inch off. I figured I could fudge that a little bit in the seam allowance.  I worked on a few blocks each night. After  three nights I got to the earlier blocks. Guess what! They were not that close. I had sections that were as much as 1/8th of an inch off. No way I could fudge that much on the seam allowance. There just wouldn't be enough seam to hold well. I don't want the seams to pull out with use. And truthfully there were a couple that were 3/16 ths of an inch off. So I need to go back and trim all of the blocks down.

So this week I will be trimming the blocks down to 13 1/2 inches. That gives me a good 1/4 inch seam allowance and a stronger quilt top. That means the finished size will be 13 inches. It still gives me a good sized quilt. At least trimming them down won't cut off any points or design features of the block. I will need to take more care on future blocks. One thing I am going to watch for is the size of my pre-cuts. I still think some of my problem has to do with the differing sizes of the pre-cuts and my yardage cuts. 

On the bright side, this week was our monthly Relief Society activity. We had a good time making Hershey Kiss Rose Buds and rubber stamping valentines.  It was a nice creative afternoon with other women.  I enjoy crafting and sewing with other women. I just wish they were more into quilting. I would love to get a group of women quilting each month. I guess I really need to find a guild to join. The problem is there aren't any closer than Tallahassee, FL and Havana, FL. That is 45 minutes to an hour away. To top it off, they generally meet on a week night. With my work schedule that is a difficult thing to keep up.  I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and plan to do it anyway. I could really use some experienced quilters advice now and again. As well as inspiration and encouragement. Hopefully we get a third supervisor at work so I can count on going to meetings.

So this week's plans:

1. Square up the star blocks
2. Cut the sashing for the star quilt
3. Sew star points on the sashing
4. Work on assembling the start quilt top
5. Find the fabric for the borders and back for the Christmas Lemonade quilt
6. Put borders on the Christmas Lemonade quilt
7. Make the back for the Christmas Lemonade Quilt
8. Get the Christmas Lemonade quilt on Millie

I know that sounds like a lot and truthfully it is. I am trying to have more things planned than I can do to keep me from procrastinating.  And I probably won't do them in the order listed. Sometimes I just have to do things that I am in the mood to do. I may not feel like cutting one day or piecing another day. One of the reasons I have more than one project going at a time is I need to work on something but am not in the mood to do what the current project needs done. 

Plus I really want to get a quilt on Millie and do some quilting. I find that I am getting eager to do some custom quilting instead of just Panto-graphs. I still need lot of work on Pantos but I want to do some ruler work and some custom work. I may be silly to move on before perfecting Pantos but if I don't I will get bored and that is never good.

How are your projects going? What are your plans for this week. Do you ever over plan?