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Machine Piecing and Blocking Doilies

I've been machine-piecing many four-patch blocks for a quilt I want to make.  It's a version of "Rainbow Rows" from the APQ 2015 Quilt-Along.  I don't have a copy of the pattern, but I'm winging/reverse-engineering it, based on photos.  I think I can get a reasonable approximation-- or at least some version of it that I'll like.

I'm using this method for making my four-patch components-- though mine aren't so tiny as the ones in the tutorial (and I didn't press the seam allowances open, on the final step).

I must've miscalculated, somewhere along the way, because I ended up with (more than a few) more than I needed.  That's ok.  I'll either use them to make the quilt bigger or save them for another project-- maybe a crazy mix-and-match quilt, somewhere down the line.

In addition to pointing out that either I'm scatterbrained or bad at math (or both!), this project has demonstrated that I really need to improve the accuracy of my seam allowances.  (They need to go on a diet...)  It's not the kind of thing I enjoy fussing over, but if I can sew more accurately, it will make the whole process flow more smoothly, which is worthwhile.

Machine Piecing

Now I'm cutting some plain squares, and the next step will be constructing nine-patch blocks using the four-patch components and the plain (low volume) squares.  (Fun! --I hope.)

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The latest trio of doilies are on the blocking board.  Details about the patterns when they've been properly photographed.

Blocking Doilies

The current crochet project is another doily, but it's a departure from my usual choice in patterns.  It's a rectangular runner, for one thing, and is constructed in three pieces that are then joined and edged together.

Different from what I'm used to, but so far it's enjoyable to crochet.  However, because it doesn't go "around and around", there's less of a sense of repetition and losing yourself in the rhythm of the repeats.  I've had to rip back a row a couple of times because I was paying too much attention to what I was watching and read the wrong row of the pattern.  (It's charted, and the chart isn't huge.  A ruler placed just above the current row is helpful.)

It will be a while before this one's done, I think!