I finally did it. I cut up my Downton Abbey Charm squares. I did decide on making a 4 patch variation, but not the one I showed last week.
I used my 4 1/2 inch square die and my 2 1/2 inch die. This is the waste from my cuts.
I can live with that! Those of you with die cutters know that sometimes you have to snip a few threads in the corners. This is especially true if your mat is worn. This started happening while I was cutting these. I tend to not replace the mats as often as I should! I decided to try turning my mat so the the wear lines were not parallel to my cuts like this.
Worked like a charm! Hardly any threads needed snipping afterwards. This will extend the useful life of my mats for sure. Here are my pieces all cut.
That pile of uncut charms at the top were pulled for a baby quilt. And if you read this far, you probably wonder where I am headed with these. Here is a finished block.
I heard that collective groan! I was a bit underwhelmed too. But I knew I needed to trust the process so I made a few more blocks.
That’s better! I can’t say I am in love with this just yet but I am going to forge ahead. One of the issues I hadn’t thought through, is that there are lots of repeats in these charm packs. Most have as many as 5 charms of the same print. And I don’t feel the different lines flow that well together.
I will be piecing the rest of these as leaders/enders.
There will be a total of 30 blocks in this quilt. I may fall in love with it yet.
Linking up with Patchwork Times, Cooking Up Quilts, Hug A Bit Quilts
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It looks great. I wasn’t groaning, just puzzled by the first block, but when they go together it’s super!
I also finally started working with my Downton Abbey fabrics. Your quilt top is looking very nice already. It will be a beautiful quilt!
-Soma
I think it looks great. Love the design!! Way to go.
Beautifully done!
I love the way your quilt is coming together. You’re right that is very little waste.
They do recommend on the mats to rotate and flip them over, I saw someone using them on the Accuquilt site one time and it was opaque from use, they say you can use and use them and so far I haven’t had any problems with a too worn one. I don’t use precuts because of my studio easy cutting, so I haven’t known that they often have a lot of repeats in a package. Very interesting top, it will be beautiful when done, as always!
Maybe when you add more blocks and stand back from the design wall you’ll be happier with the flow of the pattern? And I’m with Jasmine on the pinked edges – they complicate accurate measuring and piecing but there is something so alluring about pre-cuts…
This is a great idea for the pre-cuts. I have a hard time with the pinked edges.
The fabrics are awesome, you’re a very talented quilter !
So come on Katy ! I’m sure the result is going to be gorgeous !
It is coming along nicely. I think as this grows it will grow on you. Plus, you will no doubt have some great quilting that will add to it. What type of die cutter do you have? And how do you decide what dies you definitely need. And, then, do you use those dies? I keep thinking about getting one of the AccuQuilt machines.
I love it!! Keep going…it will be a DDG quilt!