Quintessentially Quilly

Start with a simple half-square triangle — that wasn’t so simple! I have made dozens of these perfectly. This one, not so much. I swear I followed the directions, but it came out way too big, squared up nicely, then ended up sewn in crooked. Do not ask me how. I think the Gypsy Wife Quilt pattern comes with a gypsy curse — at least that’s what I’m blaming my lack of accuracy on! (I suppose it could have been the cold meds, but what if the problem persists? I can’t blame them indefinitely. Blaming the curse has more realistic longevity.)

And then this happened. I swear I was paying attention! I have no idea how I managed to get not one, but both sides sewn on backward. It has got to be a curse. What other explanation could there possibly be?

After I finally got that black and teal polka dot border on correctly, I couldn’t make up my mind what to use for the last border. I auditioned at least a dozen fabrics. I wanted something that would echo either the red or the orange. I had finally decided I was going to use the same tone-on-tone red as in the center hourglass, when Amoeba stepped into my sewing room. He picked out the orange and purple polka dots. Since everyone knows one celled organisms have impeccable fashion sense, I agreed.

And then the curse struck again. First off, the Gypsy Wife Quilt pattern isn’t all that easy to read — which is precisely why we are doing it as a group. For some blocks you have to know to add seam allowance, for others you don’t. When this block was complete, I realized I had too much seam allowance, so I remedied that by trimming the extra off — without remembering to divide the total and trim it evenly off all four sides, so I have a wonky block. But in this quilt, it will just add a little extra character. Besides, finished is better than perfect.

I shared the block on Facebook. I was not surprised when sister, C, politely told me this block was a bit too wild for her tastes. I was a lot surprised when my purple-haired sister, J, told me much the same thing. Too wild? Really? Pft. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

Block one, done.