Vintage Lambs – Part 2

In Sunday’s post, I described the trouble that I had in finding a pattern for a 1950’s lamb applique!! Once that problem was solved, it was time to think about a background!!

I knew that I wanted to have a “meadow” style of background with a peach-colored border around the meadow. I knew that I wanted to use a BUNCH of fabrics…….

Well, at least that part was easy!!

I packed all of these fabrics up into my “retreat” bag and happily pulled them out to start working on.

Now, at the retreat, several people had brought books and magazines that they were finished with and wanted to give away. One of those books was this one……

….and this quilt in particular……

My friend Sheila had assured me that 60-degree diamonds were super easy to piece and I thought that this might be a good way to do my background!!

Now, it would have helped if I had stopped and read the directions, but that would have been too easy wouldn’t it??

My first task was to figure out how many strips of fabric I needed to give the desired heigth of the meadow. I drew out a sample and measured between the diamonds how many strip sets I would need……

Do YOU see the error in my calculation???

You Soon Will……

So, I spent some time looking at the value of the fabrics, even taking B&W photos……

….and confidently sewed the strip set…..

I lined up the 60-degree angle with one of the edges…..

….and started cutting strips……

But, when I laid them out……

HMMMMM….wasn’t this supposed to be more vertical than this!!!

Do you know what I did wrong????

When I did the measurements, I didn’t take into account that for every 2 diamonds that sit point-to-point, there is ANOTHER row of diamonds in the middle…..

So, my background was at least 1/3 too small and closer to 1/2 the size that I wanted!!

I was SO FRUSTRATED!!!!

It was late in the evening and I should have just stopped, but I was determined to figure out some way to salvage what I had done.

As I was pacing back and forth beside my table, I noticed a fabric that one of the other gals had given to me as a gift. It was the perfect color to be the bottom of the meadow!! I started cutting strips out and slowly, ever so slowly, piecing them into the already sewn strips.

And then I had this……

THAT, I could work with!!!

I went to bed knowing that everything was going to work after all!!!

The next morning, I un-sewed a few sections and added strips to the top of the meadow…..

After that, it didn’t take long to audition some border fabrics…..

….and get the top ready for inhabitants……

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Come back tomorrow for the next steps!!

Let me say that I really enjoyed working with the 60-degree diamonds and am already thinking of another project to highlight them……WHO knows where this thinking will go!!!