Sunday, January 23, 2011

4 Tears for Texas Tears

The Polly Parrot

Well I haven't started actually crying yet, but now I remember why writing a book is a cooperative effort between author, editor and technical editor (who works with the patterns). A blog is a different thing. You readers are my technical editor and I appreciate the corrections.




When I posted #4 I put up this sketch from EQ.

Notice it is quite different from the actual block and instructions in the corners of the inner block. How did this happen? A.G. pointed the error out in the comments so I have replaced the block in the original post.


1000 Scraps

Several people ask why I don't post these patterns as PDFs. Mainly because it takes time to make a PDF. As far as I can figure out I'd have to reconfigure the page and pictures etc. in a publishing program and then make a PDF and save it in the cloud somewhere. I write these on the blog post format---which is not too flexible.


BuccoliC

So...I'm going to buck up and work on number 5. And show you some more posted blocks.

Bettina M. has all four done. She substituted a pieced star for the Seven Sisters.
As a reader said:
"I'm glad there weren't more sisters."

19 comments:

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

Barbara I really appreciate EVERYTHING you have done with this blog. I think your patterns are great! Thanks for the history(my fav) and the block connections. My two favorite things together is heaven! BTW I have been reading your other blog and have been so HAPPY to read about fabric! I collect old quilt blocks and tops from 1900 and pre and I LOVE learning about the patterns and weaves!

Cats and Quilts said...

What an inspired substitution! I am not keen on applique and was going to duck Week 3 but I will definitely make the star block.

Am so liking this project.

krisgray said...

Can't wait to start my blocks. I'm trying very hard to keep a little "quietly" resolution I made to not start another quilt until I've finished one.

Marsha B said...

I also thank you for all your work on this. I love the blocks and the history lessons to go with them. This is my favorite way to learn history, if only my teachers in school had thought of this. Thanks for making it sew interesting!

Dj said...

Barbara, I can help you with the PDF files. Please email me if you are interested: jacksonfour@gmail.com

Sheila said...

Don't cry! We change the blocks to suit us anyway...that's what quilters do. Just can't help ourselves, I suppose. Thanks for all your work on the blog and off the blog.
Sheila H.

Jfelb said...

Pay no attention to the whiners...the rest of us are having a ball with the blocks you post. And those of us that are appliquers LOVE the seven sisters block...keep them coming so the rest of the world learns the joy of applique :-)!

Jean said...

I had such a great time this afternoon making my Texas Tears block. I agree with Marsha - what a great way to learn about the period. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this ongoing project.

Deanna said...

We (daughter and I) are very happy with the quiltalong so far. WE did the block 3 substitute to a single star just because daughter is 10 and this particular applique would have been a rough place to start, but we plan to give the next one a try. Thanks for all you do. We're hoping to do block 4 (with as few tears as possible) this evening. Daughter already has the fabric laid out (for hers, AND mine).

Unknown said...

Am really loving these blocks and tidbits of history, but I'm having a heck of a time copying off the directions and stories to keep!!! Please could you reformat it somehow so it won't be so HARD!!! I'd really like to save these since I can't start them right now!!!

Frances Leate said...

This is a wonderful blog, Barbara. amd thank you for your inspiration, wonderful sense of humour and for these wonderful FREE blocks which appear on my computer every Sunday morning. Frances in Tropical Far North Queensland.

Alice said...

The history part of this blog is so awesome! I appreciate it very much.

Colleen said...

Barbara, thank you so much for all the history, patterns and the stories that are the fabric that built the quilt we call the United States! Every stitch with you is a marvel! And, I love stars! Haven't gotten to block 3 of 4 yet but they are on my table waiting for the stitching to begin!

McKenna said...

Thank you so much Barbara for this lovely blog site. I'm a big fan of Civil War era quilts and quilting and any kind of quilts made by hand. I'm an American living in Australia so the internet is really my only connection to these kind of quilts and their history.

Melinda said...

Just wondering if you could also give us the block patterns for hand piecing, ie without any seam allowances. I just love the concept of the quilt, but I am a hand piecer. The first two blocks were easy to convert, this week's took some time. I'm sure there are more challenging ones to come.

Liz Needle said...

Did anyone else have trouble with this block. Mine has turned out to be an 8 inch block, not 8.5 like the others.

Morning's Minion said...

In reply to Liz Needle's comment: My Texas Tears block also finished at 8". I'm previewing all of the blocks in scrap fabric before making them in a cherished line of Moda.
I tried the block again and instead of squaring it to 5 1/2 " as suggested at Lillian's Cupboard, I merely trimmed the "ears." I also incresed the the width of the center strips to 1 1/2" cut size. This, along with decreasing my already scant 1/4 seam allowance gave me a block that finished at just slightly over 8 1/4.

Liz Needle said...

Solved my problem by adding a narrow border all round. The block now 'floats' on its background - an effect I rather like.

Loving this blog and the patterns. Many thanks for your time and effort Barbara.

Casey said...

Barbara...can you give a link to whomever it was who pieced a single star instead of appliquing the seven stars. I need a pattern for it. I did one square with a blanket stitch, but I think I'd really prefer the pieced star. I'm making two blocks of each pattern and I'm all caught up, except for the Seven Sisters 2nd block. I'm loving it so far and tweaking as I go along. Love the background history...thank you so much for offering this to us. It's going to be mighty hard for me to wait until the end to sew these blocks together, but I'm going for a bed quilt and not a throw, afterall!! Perhaps I can sew the second set of blocks into smaller projects as I go along, but I know I'll be disappointed if I do go ahead and split them up. Patience.