Trials and tribulations

This should have been a quick and simple border on my mini medallion. Just strips of alternating squares. Easy peasy, right? I knew right away I wanted to pair up the gold Netorious print from Cotton + Steel and teal and gold from Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics collection because they looked so nice together where I used them in the medallion centre.

I hesitated for a moment because both prints are favourites, making me oh so reluctant to cut into the precious FQs. But cut I did. Nine 1.5" strips according to the instructions. And here's where the wheels fell off. And then the wreckage caught fire and became a raging inferno. Well, maybe that's a bit too dramatic. But I sure did have that panic sweat only a sewing problem can induce.

Right now I am working with a borrowed machine since mine seems to be stuck forever at the repair shop. Mine has a special setting for a scant quarter inch you use with the quarter-inch foot, the borrowed machine does not and so I had to adjust the seam allowance myself. Apparently it was a bit too scant because when I sewed together the first strip of 28 squares it was 3/4 too long! Boy that difference adds up quickly with a bunch of wee blocks. What to do? Thankfully, I thought, at least I don't have to rip out all that stitching. I can just change the setting and sew right alongside the first line. Well, guess what? That made it almost a half-inch too short. Really!?!

Then things got more desperate. I ripped out the original sewing so I could press all the seams open because pressing to the side shrinks it a bit. That brilliant idea gave me about a 1/16" more. Sewing rage rising. What happened to my quick and easy border!?! Look at the two seams in the photo below. Who would guess such a teeny difference would add up to such a gigantic headache?

I ended up blending the too scant and too wide seams on each strip, sewing a few and then ironing and measuring until it was the right length. I was so relieved to finally get this border sewn on. I was not going to let it defeat me!

Oh, and as I was resewing all the seams, I realized the instructions told you to cut double what you needed. DOUBLE. So half my seam allowance aggravation was totally unnecessary. Plus now I have all these orphan bits with seams of various widths to remind me of the experience. But my medallion sure is looking pretty!