Measure twice.....

Good morning!  I am trying to finish one of my UFOs.  (That means Un-Finished Objects for those of you who do not quilt.)  I am working on a quilt for myself for a change!  My Local Quilt Guild (LQG) has a quilt-in every year.  Each year we participate in a mystery quilt.  *A mystery quilt is when you receive fabric requirements, but you don't know what the pattern looks like until the event begins.*

You didn't know quilters had all these secrets, did you?  Special abbreviations, mystery quilt patterns... All very intriguing! 

I digress, anyway, the mystery quilt pattern was called the 10 minute block.  Very quick as far as quilt patterns are concerned.  Here is a link to the you-tube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbTHlGGKMPM

Here is my version of the 10 minute block.

Look at the upper right corner.  It doesn't quite fit my bed.  Time to add some borders!

 I decided I was going to add 3 borders.  The inner border is a white strip, to tie in the white diamonds.

Still not big enough.  I then added strips of each of the fabrics in the blocks (all the blues).

Excuse the wrinkles! LOL  Still not big enough.  I think one more border should do the trick!  How much do I need to add?  Ugh!  Time for math.  I love math, but let's face it, I hate measuring!  Have you ever heard the saying "Measure twice, cut once"?  Well, I usually follow the wing-it philosophy.  I cut, then fix it later.  Not the best policy, but all that math makes my head hurt!

See what I mean????  Oy!  I have my calculations.  I am trying to get my quilt to measure to a queen size.  I'm ready to cut.  I double check everything.  I measured my fabric.  I should have enough.  I cut my strips, sewed them together, and pinned my border to my quilt.

Ugh!  What happened???? I am a 1/2" short.  I know what you are going to say.... I didn't account for the 1/4" seam allowance.  Oh no!  I've learned my lesson about the tricky seam allowance.  It wasn't that.  Hmmm?

I finally figured it out.  That %$@# selvage!!!  Grrrr.  Now I have to cut another strip to fix it.  Guess who's going back to the fabric store?

Please leave me a comment.  I would love to hear what you have to say!

If you can relate to my stories, or would like to pass my blog along to your friends, DO IT!!!  Also, please visit my Etsy store.  Click on the box, in the top right side of my blog.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you have a creative adventure today!

Anni : )