Sometimes, you're right and you don't even know it.

My friend Gayle let me borrow a commercially-made apple core template. I made a pair of templates for myself from the plastic you can cut with scissors.

I began hand piecing. Why is this not going right? I quickly lost interest in the project. It sat, a lonely UFO...

One day, I came across the stalled project. I decided to check my templates. Fortunately, I had made two. The answer was immediately apparent. They don't fit together properly at all! No wonder I seemed to think something was wrong.

Lesson Learned: Check out all your measurements and templates carefully before you begin work. I'm going to design a few different sizes of apple core templates for myself, and I'll know that they're the right shape.