Fussing and Finagling

 I know I can sometimes make it LOOK easy, but it really isn't.

This is the left side of the fourth "row" up from the bottom of the Green Birds Quilt. (Thanks for all the great suggestions for titles by the way. I haven't chosen one yet.)

So yeah, ok, I have to add some fabric to the tops and sides of the blocks and then join them together so they are straight and square. Not so easy.

Anyway, I added the olive-y fabric to the bottom of the brown bird on the left and stuck it up on the wall and immediately had second thoughts.

I ignored them and went to work on the birds on the right side of the row. The great debate there was whether I should sew all five birds together in ONE row or raise the right side, in which case I would need a narrow set in square to get it all to fit the way I wanted. I can do that, no problem, but the size of the set-in square would be less than one inch tall, and that to me was excessively "fiddly."

I try to avoid "cute" and excessively fussy and "fiddly." (One of the students in my class last week told me that using that term, "fiddly," marked me as a native Granite Stater. That was new to me.)

I ended up replacing the offending strip of fabric before I got to the other problem.

So I decided, brilliant me that I am (speaking facetiously), I would trim 1/4" off the top of that three block panel, and then sew the two panels together, and then trim the excess 1/2" or so from the BOTTOM of that same panel.

Well you know damn well it wasn't quite THAT simple. Much fussiness and fiddling ensued. The air turned blue. Yes, I swore. Often and loudly. But I kept my cool and got it done.

AND WHEN I DID GET IT DONE, I put all my tools away and cleaned my worktables. I knew that staying OUT of the studio for the rest of the day would help me keep my sanity.

I haven't sewn that fourth row to the rest of the quilt yet. I have learned to avoid pushing my luck.

The next group will be at the upper right, and before I finish the top I expect to insert at least three set in squares. But one thing at a time, and one block at a time. This would have been much simpler if I had used WOW (white on whites) for the backgrounds of the birds, but been there done that, and I like to push boundaries, so here I am. I am more or less pleased with this.

And oh yeah, see that yellow bird, far left, second row from the bottom? He has WAY too much of that same fabric all around him and that will have to change.