Friday, October 23, 2015

Back in September of 2013 I started a Block of the Month called Celtic Crystals from one of our local quilt shops. When I posted about the first block, what I didn’t tell you was that it didn’t finish at the correct size; it was about half-an-inch too small. The individual blocks are named after different types of crystals and the centre block (which looks difficult) is “an intricate Celtic” design.

I have been thinking about taking the project to the Texada Retreat; it is one of the five items remaining on my list of Guild UFOs. Today I dug it out of its bin, took the block apart and restitched it. It now comes out at the correct size, and it wasn’t even that difficult.

Since I had such good luck with Block 1 I went to work on Block 2A. That also went together well so after lunch I proceeded to Block 2B. That one didn’t go so well. I had a hard time getting my flying geese units to be the correct size and still have the points match. In the end, after a couple of redos, I was satisfied with segments that were the right size and points that were unmatched to more or less the same degree.

I don’t generally like sewing with batiks, but I have to say it was nice not having to bother about right and wrong sides. And the colours are fabulous. The fabric for the rest of the blocks has to be pre-washed; I had worried about washing more than a block at a time but after doing three blocks I don’t think it will be a problem. The directions are detailed as to what colour to use, and I suspect I’ve used most of the colours at least once. I hope to have all the fabric pre-washed and the remaining blocks cut before heading to the retreat next month.