Monday, August 14, 2006

Whew, that's done

Okay, I finished the instructions for the Take the Leap Challenge. It's the next entry, but if you click on the link you will just get that post. I've disabled the comments so that you won't get a bunch of those when you try to print it out.

Please, please, please let me know any improvements, suggestions etc that I can make. If you get in a jam, email me or post a pic in your blog and I'll do my best to help.

And somebody please proofread it for me for glaring errors. My eyes have gone numb looking at this too many times.

You can't do this wrong - you really can't. It doesn't matter if you end up with blocks that don't look like the letters you're trying to make. It's all for fun and it's all okay. Don't go trying to practise first - this is the practise. (That's you, Clare.)

I found this more difficult to do than expected. Because I wasn't just showing a technique, I felt like I had to make a quilt that ya'all would want to make. And I got frustrated trying to do the webpage too, so that's something for me to play around with when I'm not feeling time pressures.

Anyway, I ended up using a somewhat traditional setting for my hugs and kisses, but you could put them together like I did in Hugs and Kisses (which I wrote a post about almost a year ago exactly):

and in this quilt, Fruit Punch (which I made in January 2006 - you can read through that month and find several posts about it):

[This is how I finally cut the borders, by the way. Realize it'll look a bit smaller with the binding on, but how do the proportions of the border look with the center? Still maybe a bit too big.]

Of course you would either have to make a smaller quilt, or make a lot more of the blocks.

Or you could put your Xs and Os together in a less traditional 4-patch like I did with my L-O-V-E blocks in Hot Crazy Love (which I began working on in my May 11 post):

This is a much scrappier way to make letters, and you could certainly do your Xs and Os like this.

13 comments:

Clare said...

Hummmmm - I promise I won't practise first! Jump straight in at the deep end!

Yes, it is Noughts and Crosses.

Judy said...

"Trim the extra strip off and sew the onto another strip to make the third size of the O. I used the 1.75" strip."

Only thing I saw was fourth intrsuctions down in the O letter. Either wrong word or an extra "the"

"trim the strip off and sew onto another strip..."

OR

"trim strip off and sew that onto another strip..."

See where I'm talking about? You wrote "sew the onto another strip" Just a typo! Otherwise very very nice!! Good instructions!

Judy said...

Oops I just read my own comment and did you mean to say the third SIZE of the O? or the third SIDE of the O?

I copied and pasted so I had to check i didn't make a typo myself!!

Joyce said...

The instructions look pretty clear to me but I have done some wonky letters so maybe I'm not the best critic. I love the results of the x and o's.

Tonya Ricucci said...

Judy, thanks for the corrections - I've made changes (don't want ya'all thinking Judy has gone nuts).

Quilty nurse, I look forward to seeing your wonky houses.

Clare, glad you're not practising first!

sophie said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
sophie said...

Let me try that again (without typos) ... Oh you temptress ... I feel myself getting SUCKED into making more wonky letters. I need to make a Heart-warmers quilt for my Guild and making a tick-tack-toe or hugs and kisses kid quilt could provide just the rationalization I need ;-)

Saska said...

Love the X's and O's. The directions look like even I could do this!

Tazzie said...

Ohhh Tonya, you've done an amazing job! I can't wait to get moving on this one, and I think I have the perfect fabric for it too! I cut up some strips for a convergence quilt, and hated it, so these odd size strips are just sitting there ... perfect!
Thank you so much, I just can't say it enough!
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)

Cher said...

thanks for doing this work Tonya- by the way I finally finished my wonky village-and the photos are up! looking forward to playing with this new challenge later this month..

Susan said...

Thanks, Tonya! I'll mull over what I have around here and see what I can do. =)

You've done a lot of work on these directions, and I appreciate it.

Sassenach said...

Here I've been walking around in a funk for the last couple of weeks -- wanting to start a new project and being absolutely uninspired by anything in the stacks (and stacks, and files) of old magazines and patterns in the sewing room.

One look at your X's and O's and I'm invigorated! Whoo!

Quilts And Pieces said...

OK, I have everything all printed off and will gather my fabrics! Now to just find time!