A Tisket, A Tasket - February

The February block featured love birds and hearts. I didn't have any real challenges with this block. I changed the layout of the flowers from the original. I often want to change something. I can't simply follow the original pattern blindly (or stick to a single fabric line) which is why I'm probably not a good candidate to make samples for quilt shops.

The pale blue of the birds didn't contrast well with the white-on-white background fabric. I had previously made an applique block that didn't have enough contrast between the appliques and the background. I had figured out that a single thread of embroidery floss was enough to accentuate the edges.

The only "mistake" I made on this block was cutting the background fabric too small. The finished blocks were supposed to be 8" and I had cut the background for the January block 9.5" square. I cut all the others 9.5" square. But when it was time to cut the background for this February block, I forgot and cut the background to only 8.5" square. So now that I have a finish in mind that requires the backgrounds to actually be 9" in size, I must add a seam to each of the four sides. Oh, well. The final product will be worth it.

I probably should have been more organized, and had my criteria for this project written down.

Lesson Learned: Always cut your applique backgrounds even bigger than you think you'll ever need - especially if you're not sure how you're going to finish the project. Add at least 1" to the "cut size" - maybe even 2", if you can spare it.