Month One Ruffled Roses

[Pam D.]

Dorothy, I was the same as you until a couple of days ago. I felt that I could learn so much doing this quilt, along with being seduced by everyones fabric selections and finished 1st blocks. Lol. :-)

JoJo, great job!!! Its beautiful!!!

[Pam D.]

You are so right Pam, I have learned so much doing the other two BOM's and you feel you have help at hand if things are not going just right ie- the lovely Margo also other quilters have given me such good advice. The instructions and the tutorials are just great. This one is going to have to be made from my stash fabric cupboards bursting at the seams. :0) Dorothy Suffolk England

[Pam D.]

JoJo,

All I can say is WOW. My mouth dropped open when I saw your block. It is gorgeous. I'm enjoying this months project so very much. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your quilt as you go along.
SueW
UpstateNY(near Plattsburgh)

[Pam D.]

I can't start on it yet because I did not get Zach cross stich stocking done and he wined about so I have to finsh 2010 and then start 2011

[Margo C.]

OHMYGOSH! JoJo, I love what you have done! And thanks for sharing your photo with us!

[Marti O.]

I'm still waiting on my fabric and am trying to decide which method of applique to use. The thoughts of doing something by hand are appealing since I mostly use the machine but I want to try Margo's method as well (I do have another applique project in progress). I'm reading through the posts trying to decide. Can't wait to get my order but with the 7 inches of snow we got here in the South yesterday, it may be a couple more days.

Marti

[Marti O.]

JoJo, it is just fantastic. I love the white berries....and as I said before, I love the way you did the leaves. I can hardly wait to see what you do with the rest of your quilt. I am still working on mine. I'm really enjoying doing it. If life would stop getting in the way of my sewing, I would have it finished by now.

[Constance G.]

JoJo,
Your Christmas center block is exquisite! The design is lovely...you are so creative! I'm excited to see where you'll go with the rest of the quilt.

[Constance G.]

Did I read a comment about using a "scant" quarter inch seam instead of a normal quarter inch seam? If so, where did it say that? If that is true, is the entire Ruffled Roses pattern set up for a "scant" quarter inch seam? I only ask because my sewing machine has two settings for a quarter inch seam, and I want to make sure I start using the correct one. Thank you

[Margo C.]

Janice you might want to try my test!! http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569415726bHNKHF

Try the test and see what works best on your machine. Remember that it doesn't really matter what your seam allowance is! What is more important is what your block measures after the seams are stitched!! That can even be affected by the thickness of your thread as well as the thickness of your fabric!

Try it with a finely woven fabric like a batik, and use a fine thread (I especially like piecing with MasterPiece by Superior) to take your measurements. Then try it with a thicker thread like King Tut. See if there is a difference! You may need to switch to a "scant" quarter inch seam allowance!

With as many little pieces as Sue tends to have in her designs, it is extremely important to measure your finished blocks as you go, and make corrections to get the right size.

[Margo C.]

I am a terrible machine piecing person....so I will make sure I keep measuring. Thank you Margo,

[Jo H.]

Thanks so much for all the compliments. It definitely stretched my skills making this block, but 2011 is my year of trying new techniques and not allowing the fear of not totally understanding a technique to keep me from trying it. I've always felt I should completely understand a technique before ever doing it on a 'real' project. This meant I rarely tried new techniques, which is not good.

The center of the poinsettia was going to be 1/4 inch circles but it ended up not looking that good so instead I put a random amount of french knots using 6 strands of floss. I like it much better.

I learned a lot about border fabric and what to look for after the fact! My border fabric was a quandary because I could match the stripes or I could match the interior designs -- but not BOTH. It was frustrating that I could not match both the stripes AND the interior designs in a yard and a half of fabric! Plus, add in that this fabric was designed to be very free-form -- meaning that the stripes are not uniform in size (the same stripes were both thick and thin), and I made it much more difficult on myself by using it. In the end, I decided that it was more important to match the stripes as much as possible and allow the interior designs to fall where they may. My left brain isn't that happy with the compromise, but I can live with it.

Originally, I was going to use black fabric for the heart, but that was the fabric that was ruined after I washed it. The blue fabric has been in my stash for years and kind of just jumped out at me when I was trying to choose alternates. I think it made it happier looking.

Other firsts was the piping. Margo's instructions were right on and I even sewed from the back to add on the setting triangles which was soooooo weird feeling, but it did allow me to perfectly sew by following the thread that was used to sew the piping on.

[Dawn S.]

Jo Jo,

I love what you did with your center medallion! And, I really like the addition of the mistletoe! All tie up with a big red bow - very nice! I'm STILL working on designing a flower to replace one I didn't care for. Since it is also the flower that I'm chosing for the joint of each swag, I need to like it, and I don't want it to be too difficult. There's 24 of them in that border!

Dawn

[karen f.]

It's beautiful Jo Jo! Your fabrics area stupendous together.

[Robin G.]

JoJo, It's absolutely gorgeous!!!! I love the blue heart -- it makes the block sing! I'll have to remember that. And the leaves around your poinsettia are wonderful -- what fun fabrics you've used! And your corner miters look perfect! You should be very proud of this! Big hugs, Robin