Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I Have A Question Or Two

I'm Debra from Indiana and here goes, I'm a very new quilters and have a few questions. Is it ok to use starch on the fabrics for the bee? Some times the fabric seems so soft and I can sew it easier if it is stiffer. Is it acceptable for the quilt block to be sent and let the owner square it up? The reason I ask is when I received this fabric I looked and looked at it and every time it tried to cut it I got worried. Could I get more on Ebay or Etsy if I screwed it up? Is the rotary cutter (who is not my friend by the way) going to slip when I'm on my last step. I didn't think this bee would be so nervewracking when I signed up but I am hoping to learn alot along the way. Thanks for your help! My block will be in the mail tomorrow but no pic because the Hubs has my camera in Georgia and is currently snowed in.

5 comments:

Staci said...

Debra, stop fretting! And then go read this post: http://theconfusedquilter.blogspot.com/2011/01/sometimes-i-make-block-and-sometimes-i.html

I've already done the worst anyone can do!

After I posted this LInda wrote me a kind letter, she is very nice person! Yes, you can starch, I often do, and Linda mentioned she does as well. If you are more comfortable letting the block recipient square the block, then do so. Personally, I would rather square my own blocks with my own ruler to make sure they are all the same.

I did buy more fabric when I messed up so badly, but Linda chewed on me a bit for that and said I should have contacted her first, since she had a bit more she could have sent.

So, let me say to you, what a whole bunch of people have been saying to me: Try to calm down, it is only a little bit of fabric in the grand scheme of things, IF YOU DO GOOF, THE SUN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AND SET SINCE IT ISN'T THE END OF THE WORLD, and remember the Bee is for making friends and having fun, the actual quilting is secondary.

So, Linda, Did I finally get it right??

Linda G. (Stray Stitches) said...

First, Staci, you did finally get it right!
Debra - if your have read Staci's comment there is nothing more to add. But please remember - this Bee was not created to cause stress, it was most definitely created to have fun, meet new friends and exploring the world of quilting. I have been so happy to see all of the communication going on in this blog. There are so many out there where nothing is shared and no comments are made. How boring is that.
So, Debra, quit stressing. Take a deep breath, use all of the starch you need and create. Nobody expects perfection, especially me - because, I myself, am far from perfect. It's the flaws that make us all unique.

Charlene S said...

I am sure glad Staci got it right! Otherwise, I am in big trouble b/c I am by far not a perfect piecer. Debra, please have fun because I think most of the quilters in this group were beginners not too long ago. Use this to learn not stress.

Vesuviusmama said...

Ditto what they all said. I sent mine in "un-squared-up" because I would rather square all my blocks up myself, too. Also (ahem) when my block gets squared up, I'm pretty sure some points are going to get cut off, and I thought I'd let the recipient decide which points would meet the rotary cutter. There may be a few of us out there who can make perfect blocks, but I'm not among them!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the advice. Time to relax and enjoy myself!