I started with this:
 |
| Pieces for mama elephants picked out and waiting... |
 |
| 5 Mama elephants waiting for their babies |
I am finding this to be a real learning experience. I have been really careful with cutting and piecing, and my blocks have come put pretty good. A few of things worth noting are,
1) When the instructions call for you to do something different than you normally do, say for example, pressing seams open instead of to the dark, pay extra attention to make sure you do. I had to go back and repress a few seams when I realized that I had pressed them incorrectly. As I got to putting together the sections of the block, I was glad that I went back and repressed.
2) If piecing multiple blocks at the same time, and there is a directional difference...PAY ATTENTION!! As you can see above, all my mama elephants are facing the same direction. I realized that issue after I had pieced together the far left section of the block. I didn't want to pick everything out, so they will stay that way, but lesson learned.
 |
| All left facing trunks.Oops! |
3) Finger pressing before using your iron can help prevent some burnt fingers. There were a couple of close calls, but no burns.
4) I am not a very fast piecer...And that is okay. It took me about 3 hours and 10 minutes to go from pieces sorted to finished block. That seems slow to me. Maybe it is not...I really don't have anything to compare it to.
 |
| Mama Elephant |
Next up, the babies! Today, I am linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Sew Fresh Quilts for the Let's Bee Social Linky Party.
More to come,
Love these elephants!
ReplyDeleteThanks! And thank you for stopping by!
DeleteYour elephants are adorable. I love your fabrics. II pieced ten mother elephants and it took me a whole day!!!! I wish I read your list with do's and do not's before I started. Have fun with the baby elephants, frogs, turtles and flowers.
ReplyDeleteThanks! 10 mamas in one day! Wow! I find I learn something ever time I spend time in my sewing area. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteMama Elephant is looking good. I think slow is perfectly OK. We shouldn't rush through everything in life!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think you may be on to something there...life is so fast everywhere else. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteCute cute cute...and very tempting to make some.
ReplyDeleteThanks! They were irresistible to me! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI love that you used a print fabric for your elephants!
ReplyDeleteThanks. When I saw these two at my QAL, I saw the elephants immediately. They are both from Northcott's Artisan Spirit line.
DeleteThose elephants are so cute. I want to join the QAL but I have too many other projects already. Looking forward to seeing the baby-phants.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of other projects on the go as well, but I just couldn't resist this. It has been confidence building as well. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThat really is okay that you're not a fast piecer. Me either. In fact, I feel pretty darn slow when it comes to it. I need to remember the advice to finger press because just last night I was trying to press some seams open and finding my fingertips very near to the steaming iron. Thanks for the tip :)
ReplyDeleteThe finger press has saved me lots of burned finger tips. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteYour mama elephants looks so beautiful. Those are such pretty prints. So glad you are quilting along with me! And thanks so much for sharing those wonderful tips, Jen!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I just couldn't resist those cute elephants. And now I have seen the zebras...oh goodness! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteSo fun to do the elephants. Lovely fabrics. Sewing is easy, but piecing takes time. I just finished the frog.
ReplyDelete