Try, Try, Try Again ... and Again

It's the most positive title I could find for this post as everything else (a red mess, a series of unfortunate events, a collection of bloopers, big waste of time, etc.) sounded too negative. But they described it so much better.

It all started with Joyful Quilter reminding us of her challenge: ABC (Table) Scraps Challenge. The letters A and G and the colour Red are the honourable guests this month. Since all my blocks for the month were made, I thought I could join in the fun. 

Right away, I thought of Angels and Gabriel as it is my youngest son's name and I often call him my angel (behind his back because he doesn't really like that). Anywho! 

Looking for a way to make a mug rug with an angel.

Pictures taken from the Internet for inspiration

Something like that but not Christmas-y. 

Looking, and looking, and wasted a lot of time looking and thinking how to do that. While looking in books for inspiration, I grab this old book from 1985 by Maggie Malone. 

There are lots of blocks I want to try in this book, so I flipped through it, knowing full well that there's no angel in it, but by then, my mind had forgotten about the angel challenge. (ADHD) So, I found this block that I loved for a long time. It's called Spider Legs. In French spider is Araignée. It's a start, right? 

I pulled out some fabrics and started to trace the patterns because, in this book, all the pieces are traceable from the pattern pages. 

Sounds like fun, right?  No!! 

Got all my little papers ready to trace onto the fabric ... can't believe they used to make quilts like this. All. The. Time! What a waste of time. 

Don't forget to add a quarter seams allowance on all sides. 

Finally, I started to sew. 

Wait. What? That's not right. The white triangles are wrong. What have I done wrong? I looked in the book again, found the pattern and yes, all the measurements were correct; so what? So, there's a mistake in the text? The piece A-1 is NOT the right triangle for this block. I had to figure out which one of the other triangles was the right one. Needless to say, that took way too much time. Then, a lightbulb moment, I thought: just draft it. 

Yes! Drafted, traced, cut and pinned. 

It was correct on one side but not on the other, so I redrafted and redrafted. In my defence, my choice of black fabric wasn't the best. Even though it is cotton, it is as flexible as polyester and somewhat stretchy. An unpicking hour was an understatement. 

At one point, the result was both ends were not right. 

I give up, I said. "That's it, I'm done! Hands in the air, white flag and all. I don't know how to sew angles, that's all."  

Go get another coffee. 

"What am I doing? I'm no quitter!"

Rolled up my sleeves and went at it again. And again. 

One perfect section was the reward. "Okay, make that again, just like that one ... please!" Another mistake I made: not starching the black fabric. That would have helped me with the sewing. 

By the time I got to this stage, it was late Saturday night and there was still one section that didn't behave. Well so be it. (Thank goodness, the link party for the challenge is open all weekend long.) 

Sunday morning saw me quilting and binding this little beauty. 

Some ladder-like lines in the red and straight echo lines in the white. Nothing in the black. I am snubbing that one. The middle where all the triangles join is a big mess, but I manage to lay it flat. 

If you think it looks wavy, yes it is, and I don't care because it is done! I might add a big button in the middle to create the spider's body (and to hide the mess). 

So, this is my ABC (table) Scrap Challenge entry! It's an "araignée rouge (red spider). What do you think? 

- Chantal, did you do something for G? 

"Do the words' Good Enough' count? LOL

This cute "little angel mug rug" has metamorphosed into a 16 inches block. 

G is for Giant!  Une Araignée rouge Géante! Voilà! (added to my wall of fame)

Although I've learned some valuable lessons this weekend, I'm happy this project is over. I will revisit this block someday ... in the distant future, haha. 

Have a great day, everyone. 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies: 

Joy for the ABC Table Scraps Challenge 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict