Lessons Learned At And As A Result of Quilt Camp

ME corrected the measurements of the blocks in the wonderful mini-wall hanging she made and I posted yesterday.  The blocks finish at 1.5"!

The quilt I worked on at Quilt Camp is from the book More Loose Change and is called "Liquid Assets".   I don't have a picture of it yet, but for those of you who are familiar with the book, you know it is pictured made with aqua and green and has portholes with fish fabrics showing.  That is pretty much the way I made it except for changing the color of the rim around the portholes and the borders. 

I had to have a discussion with the other camp attendees about the direction of focal elements in borders.  You see, if I had a directional fabric, I had always put the borders on so the figures were in the right way when seen hanging over the edge of the bed.  Hmm.  Okay, let's say my border fabric had horses galloping the surf.  My side borders would have had the hooves of the horses galloping on the floor if that side happened to drag on the bedroom floor.  Every other person would have the border running from the bottom to the top so if the quilt were hanging on a wall the heads of the horses on the left hand side would be up towards the ceiling and the hooves toward the floor (mine would be heads toward the center of the quilt and hooves on the west).  Once it was explained that the entire orientation of the quilt should be in one direction, I got it.  Peculiar, isn't it, that I never saw it that way before?   I always wanted to walk into a bedroom with the quilt's border looking logical from the floor up.  Oh well, that was just the beginning of the border issue.

My fabric for the borders of the Liquid Assets quilt, is directional - fish swimming in the ocean - so I had to change the way I intended to cut the fabric.  The sides would be cut from the length of the material and the top and bottom from the width. 

At the very end of the last day, I felt I had enough time left to both cut and sew on those borders.  Up I got and went to the cutting board.  No sooner I had lined up my fabric and made the first cut, than someone came over for a chat.  Now, did I politely say, "I'm in the midst of cutting.  Can we hold our thoughts until I'm through?  I'd really like to chat, but I'm afraid I'll make a mistake if I do."  No, I didn't.  Did I make a mistake?  Yes.  I cut all my fabric from the length.  I forgot that I had to cut the last two borders from the width. 

Did I mention the border fabric is at least three years old if not more?  It is.  Have I searched on line for more?  I have.  Did I find any?  No.  What can I do?

I'll tell you.  First, I won't piece the border from the 5.5" wide border strips I have (it did cross my mind).   ME gave me some of her Kona cotton, and I have two new strips of solid black fabric (the fish fabric is multi-colored fish on black) for the top and bottom of the quilt.  That could be horrid except . . . . Tonight I fussy cut fish and sea turtles from the incorrectly cut borders.  Tomorrow I will machine applique them on the top and bottom borders in such a way that it will be clear it has been done as a deliberate design element, and "Bob's your uncle."

I'll find a way to take a picture when it's finished to show you how it turns out.

What important lessons have I learned? 

1. Never, ever talk while cutting.  I won't always have recourse to extra fabric!
2. If I make a mistake, don't throw in the towel.  Let the creative spirit loose and find an alternative to the problem.  It could even be better than the original plan.
3. Be very grateful for quilters willing to share their knowledge (the explanation of border orientation) and best friends willing to share Kona cotton!!!
4. Oh, quilters will also dig up extra herbs for you (thanks for the tarragon, P.)!