2015 Craftsy BOM Ash Basket - TIPS!!

Hi there!

First of all, thank you for all the sweet e-mails you have sent!  :)  

I am far from being an experienced quilter, but I am so glad that my struggles have provided valuable lessons that I can share with all of you!

Per your requests, I would like to post a bit more about the February BOM Ash Basket templates. This block is part of the 2015 Craftsy BOM, and it's proving to be an interesting challenge. Even if I started a bit bumpy, things are taking shape and my piecing has seen the benefits - YAY!! That's exactly what I wanted.  Baskets are not my quilting cup of tea, but I knew that I had to go way outside my comfort zone if I wanted to improve.

Because of my inexperience with templates, I was having issues constructing the blocks because I was trying to match the edges of the cut pieces. In the next picture, you can see that either side of the triangle (the sides forming a 90o angle) was too long.

Here is another way of looking at the issue. I didn't include the following two pictures in my previous post; my poor mat has been beaten and worn, and I should have snapped this in the other corner.  Alas! Let it all be for the sake of us expert quilters-in-progress!

See the following picture? Well, that's exactly what I was trying to do with the fabric. There is a bit of the template 3D that goes beyond template 3A.

Ignore that, and focus on the inner seams. See!! Perfect match!!

And that's what started it all! I continued playing with the rest of the templates, and surprise, surprise... It works!

I was wondering about the rest of the block, so I used some of the cut fabric to sort of "see" the finished block. Now, see the brown fabric in the middle? It is actually a trapezoid, but the black fabric on top makes it difficult to see the whole piece. I know, it looks veeeery weird... And when you begin opening the pieces after sewing, everything turns even more weird...

Again, focus on the seam; try to not see the edges of the fabric or the weirdness...  

If you don't worry (at least not too much) about the edges of the pieces, you will have a NICE end result! 

Enjoy the learning process!! Believe me, Ash Basket will NOT be the only block that will reap the benefits of precise piecing, no matter which your quilting cup of tea is...  :)

Stay blessed and keep working on that Ash Block! 

Yiya