These Geese Flew South

This week I’ve been working on a Father’s Day gift for my roommate. I found the pattern and the quilt kit in a Keepsake Quilting catalog in January. I was instantly in love with the muted creme and black color palette. As luck would have it, black is my roommate’s favorite color and my family room is in desperate need of a wall quilt to hang from the black wall quilt hanger I bought at a garage sale last summer. So, I bought the kit — something that I have been reluctant to do– because,  let’s face it: sometimes I make little  <ahem> mistakes that require repeat visits to my favorite quilt shop(s). But I overcame my fears and purchased the Paddlewheel kit featuring RJR fabrics by A Project House 360. The fabric was as sophisticated as I had hoped and the pattern steps seemed manageable and well-written.

IMG_1384[1]

Paddlewheel quilt pattern by A Project House 360

Over a couple of  late night after the roommate went to bed, I cut out all the patchwork. So far so good, right? I stashed the pieces away in a project box, hoping that I could sew it all together on a planned quilting retreat. Unfortunately, I had to cancel that event, so I was left all alone to sew it up. That’s when disaster struck.

Some of my geese have laid an egg. You know how pattern directions for triangles instruct the quilter to draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of the fabric, sew along that line, then trim and iron? Well, I did that, and my geese have lost their way. This morning after I trimmed my geese, I found most of the blocks will have to be remade. See below.

IMG_1381[1]

Geese and gap

The part that’s irritating is that as I worked on this pattern the night before last, I realized that if  I drew that line as instructed and then sewed one thread to the right of that drawn  line, my geese come out perfectly. See Exhibit A below.

 

IMG_1382[1]

Exhibit A. lined up geese.

I had discovered the error of my ways and then completely forgot about it and ruined my fabric. But the quilt does not come with extra fabric to cover my error.

I’ll call Keepsake Quilting’s customer support line tomorrow and keep my credit card handy. I’m thinking this Father’s day gift is going to have to turn into a birthday gift.

Anyone have some flying geese techniques or tips that could help me do the right thing if I can, in fact, obtain some replacement fabric?

7 thoughts on “These Geese Flew South”

  1. Gray Barn Designs says:
    Reply

    If you can’t find replacement fabric, maybe you could even out the edges of the flying geese unit and adjust your other blocks to make them just a bit smaller so your flying geese blocks will fit. I like the pattern and your color palette.

    • sandradny says:
      Reply

      Great news! Keepsake Quilting does not charge for replacement fabric for kits! I will certainly be a repeat customers — what great service!

      • tierneycreates says:

        Oh that is great news on the replacement fabric. I was feeling your pain on the flying geese. I did recently get a set of Bloc Loc Rulers which are supposed to be excellent for flying geese (one of my arch nemesis in quilting). Hope it all comes out for you!

  2. sandradny says:
    Reply

    @Tierneycreates: When you try the Bloc Loc Rulers, let me know if it works — a tool that works could seriously save me some cash from repurchased fabric. Plus, with my scrap addiction, I end up tearing all the bad geese apart so I can salvage the scraps. I need help! LOL!

  3. Pingback: Somebody’s in Trouble – Gray Barn Designs
  4. Pingback: Geese Almost Cooked – Gray Barn Designs
  5. Pingback: Traditional Stuffing – Gray Barn Designs

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.