as you read in a previous post
It was October 5th of last year, when I started a quilt called “And So It Crows” by Karen Walker. As it happened, I bit off more than I could chew, as they say. I got the first row of flowers done and then worked on the center crows and nothing, and I do mean NOTHING was matching up.
Sigh
So I plunked the rest of what I had redone onto the board and left it there. For a very long time. You see, the process of working on this was so frustrating to me that I just had to set it aside till I could work on it with confidence.
Between then and now I worked on many smaller projects involving points that aren’t to be lost in the seams involving hundreds of one inch blocks. and then all of a sudden I felt ready to tackle the crows once more. Points you may ask? See all those flower petals, beaks, wing and tail feathers below.
And now I am here
There are only 164, 2.5 inch squares to be made and sewn together for the border. Much easier than the 1 inch half square triangles and squares for all the birds and flowers… so…
Coming right up!
~*~
For those who are counting the one inch blocks, there are: 160 for flowers plus 102 for birds which equals 262 one inch blocks. That’s a’lotta little blocks
AND, for those eagle-eyed people who always see the mistakes, there are two, one was replicated tidily throughout the piece, and I will leave it. And one is going to drive me round the bend and I don’t think I can finish without fixing it. I didn’t even notice it til I put it up here in this post.
Life on the Farmlet 
I couldn’t see the mistake and even if I could I wouldn’t notice it. Good work.
Thank you, Tom! 🙂
I think it is lovely
Thank you, Lori! 🙂
I think I might have found one of the oopsies — maybe the sunflower in the upper left corner? If that’s it, I’m surprised I found it. I certainly wouldn’t have seen it if you hadn’t invited us to give the quilt a little inspection. I especially like the birds. I saw hundreds and hundreds of grackels yesterday afternoon, all facing into a strong north wind, and they looked just like the birds on your quilt.
Eagle eye!
Regarding grackles; I just read that it is illegal to kill them as they are migratory birds and protected under the migratory bird act. Wasn’t thinking of doing so, but was surprised that anyone would want to. Are they as bad as starlings or something? First time I saw one was in Costa Rica near Monte Verde. Recently I saw one in my own yard but didn’t know what it was at the time.
Linda, now that you and Kate have found it I am definitely fixing it. 😉
I love grackles myself, but they can show up by the thousands. Tens of thousands, perhaps. It’s a sight to behold.
Ah. Like the Starlings here.
Bottom edge of top left sunflower, but why did you make me look for it? I’d never have notice otherwise, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have pointed it out. I’m glad you’ve reached this point without pulling out your hair and with your sanity intact, and may I say what fun this quilt is?
Kate, I loved this quilt at first sight. I just never imagined how frustrating all that piece work would be in the birds and blooms. Working on all the mini quilts helped some, and then I took another class on Blueprint/Craftsy and suddenly realized I was ready to tackle it again.
As I told Linda above, since you two could locate it I will be fixing it since it is on the edge and not boxed in like the rest. I know, I know… 🙃
You must do what satisfies your soul, but I had to look quite hard….
Mistakes? I’m just in awe of all those points – they are my own piecing nightmare 😱
Lynn, I hear you, but we just can’t get away from them. They are in everything! Do you know the trick about sticking a pin through the point corner(s) to line them up? 📍
I do know the trick and I think I’ve tried them all. I’m not saying I never achieve a good point but it doesn’t come easy. Pesky points are the reason I like foundation paper piecing – it makes me look as if I know what I’m doing. 🙂
Stunning! Very worth the wait. Your eagle eyes and the hours you’ve spent on this might find the mistakes but it looks perfect.
Annie, thank you! There is a saying in quilt land: Finished is better than perfect.
I have a hard time with that concept, but I am working on it. 😬
I definitely like that, “Finished is always better…” ‘cause I truly don’t believe that there is such a thing as ‘perfection’ ; )
It’s just beautiful, and what a conversation piece truly… we can all relate to crows and their love of tasty sunflower seeds! I know you’ll do what you must to have peace of mind about your so-called mistakes, but to me there are no mistakes. Even in nature, there are oddities, mutations, handicaps and peculiar sights and they all have a place or a reason. If I see a plant or wildlife that is “different” I love it all the more. 🙂
Thank you, Lori. I almost hate to admit it, but my OCD won out on that block. It is fixed. The little one, that should have been a bit bigger, stayed! Your comment on nature’s oddities immediately brought to mind Steve’s photos of fasciation. I agree with you that nature produces some amazing variations and all are worth taking time to observe. My reason for such fastidiousness on this quilt is that it will be going on Etsy when I am finished. 😉
Finished is better. And I like a bit of imperfection myself
Gill, always better! I have several “Flimseys” as some call them (unquilted) that I am going to give in and send out for professional quilting. I just need to move them out. Bob says we need to recoup, I say I need more space…
🐿
Lynda, I think you did a great job. Have you decided how you’re going to quilt it?
A little friendly advice. When you’re looking at the points as the maker of course you’ll spot mistakes but other people see your quilt from a different perspective. Unless you’re entering the quilt into a contest or asking people to play a game of spot the mistake no one is going to be looking for errors. People normally look at the overall design and not the individual pieces that created the design. Perfect quilts are an invention of modern times and not in the history of making them from scraps of fabric to keep someone warm.
Thank you, Anita! I don’t know. I’d like to quilt it myself, but I am not ready for FMQ. I am down to this idea: Stitch in the ditch to stabilize, echo around the flowers and crows, then fill the rest with a simple diagonal crosshatch (diamonds?). Not even sure if that is what it is called, but the old timey quilts most often have that evenly squared diagonal pattern in the background. I wish you still had your long armer! Your work is/was divine! ❤
Thanks Lynda I still have the machine and I still quilt some. Just not for local people. I’ve been in a kind of fog since I moved to this house. I believe its because I rarely get any sunshine. The way the house is oriented and those 5 story warehouses next to my property keep the house shaded from the sun year round. Sunshine keeps the depression at bay.
Old time quilts had lots of straight lines because it is the easiest one for hand quilting. Curve designs like feathers were difficult to create. Its just the opposite when using a machine where curve lines are the easiest and straight ones difficult.
Its hard to tell the size of the piece from a photo. Your idea for the diamond cross hatching in the back ground is good. Then echos inside the pieces as well as the outside. Those plus the stitch in the ditch will make the center area kind of puff up to look dimensional. Maybe two echos inside the leaves and the center of the flowers if they are large enough.. I hope that makes sense.
BTW do you know about Lori Kennedy and her blog The Inbox Jaunt? She is great at teaching free motion designs for domestic machine quilting. http://theinboxjaunt.com/
Thank you for the quilting suggestions, Anita! I will draw them out on my overhead projector sheets to preview them. I have hundreds of them from my teaching days, and they are cleanable so I can use them over and over! Leaves yes, flower centers – not sure. Yes to Lori Kennedy! I have watched and participated on her Blueprint/Craftsy classes. I have trouble with her website however. She has some sort of site security that keeps locking me out. :(((((
Getting ready to sew on those block borders today!
Took me searching twice before I found the one “that’ll drive you nuts” (as to the even sprinkles throughout, that’s a tidy balance, so do they really matter?
Honestly Lynda, we always used to say there had to be something in every quilt to keep people busy, so one square being off is like a signature. A quilting “Where’s Waldo”, if you like; ) (Too bad the oops didn’t happen on a square with the light floral, hey?:/)
Deb, fixed it. Had to! The other more generalized mistake has to do with the leaves. Not going to bother with that. Nope. Not worth my time. I still would have noticed it and fixed it even in a lighter block. Just had to be done… 😎
Now if it had happened in the center of the quilt, well, I think I would have had to just leave it. To many chances for damage to the quilt as a whole.
I couldn’t find it either. I can understand why you want to fix it – I do that with my photography as well. No one’s realistically going to notice it, but that’s ALL I see when I look at it.
I’m glad you wrapped your head around it and finished it. It’s a nice quilt and worth the effort (even if you never do one that complex again!).
Nancy
Nancy, it was, for me, an exacting composition and I am so glad to say it is now complete and partially repaired. I only fixed the one block because it was so near the edge. And to think it looked so simple and easy to do… 😉 You can be assured that I will get myself into another complex quilting project again, but with each complex design challenge comes more skill and more ease as I go. 🙂
That’s why it’s called a learning curve 🙂
Ha-ha-ha! You’ve been gazing into your crystal ball. Funnily enough, the next project does feature many curved seams! Lots of them…
I see a petal issue, top left flower.
You have a good eye, Pam. 😀
By the way, this is an amazing quilt! Kudos to you! Love and miss you guys!
We miss you both too! ❤ Have you seen the finished quilt top with the borders on it?