Awesome Ocean Quilt Along--Preppy the Whale

Today is my day to present my Pair of Purple Preppy the Whale blocks for the Awesome Ocean QAL hosted by Kathleen McMusing.  Last Fall, Kathleen asked me and the other Sistas from the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Hive if we would like to join her in making the Awesome Ocean Quilt which was designed by Elizabeth Hartmann.  It would have been easy for me to decline since, I, being the simple and easy quilter and am partial to big strips and squares.  Also, as I have made many mentions on previous posts of being still in recovery mode from making Jen Kingwell's Gypsy Wife quilt and refrain from making anything with 1" squares and increments that are not whole or half inch, I was on the fence for participating.

I could have come up with a hundred excuses for not participating but I did have one very good reason and image for doing this quilt which is I have a dear, sweet Granddaughter who loves water and all the sea creatures who live in it.  It's a good thing I also had some wonderful fabric in my stash which is one of my criteria when I participate in a QAL.  I chose to do the Preppy the Whale block because I thought it was one of the easiest blocks plus the Sperm Whale is one of my favorite sea creatures. I chose to do the smaller size of the two quilt sizes in the pattern which meant I only had to make two blocks of each pattern; I just knew I couldn't handle sewing four of these blocks.

I purchased my pattern and chose my fabric back in December and was already behind since the QAL which started in November.  Once I started my blocks in mid January, I found these tools to be helpful when sewing these blocks: a prop-it stand to hold the pattern book up while cutting fabric and sewing, a clear sheet protector cut to fit over the cutting instruction page so I can mark it with a dry marker and then erase it after I cut the patches, a mini slotted ruler to cut those tiny patches and strips and an empty kleenex box to throw away the trimmings to help keep the table clean.  What I should have also done is put a fresh blade in my rotary cutter but will for the next blocks.

Initially I cut and sewed two blocks at a time but later found cutting and sewing them one at a time was easier but more time consuming.  I found that in order to avoid cutting and sewing mistakes it is important to pay really close attention to the diagrams.  The first cutting mistake I made which was early on was because I was singing along to Whitney Houston and you can't help but to throw back your head and close your eyes.  So the no more singing when cutting rule was enforced but salty language is permitted.  I found that after making the first block, the second block went faster but such was not the case with the Preppy the Whale blocks.  I made the same cutting mistake with Patch M, I cut it both times wrong and did not notice it until after both connecting corners were sewn and saw it did not fit with Patch H.  With the second block, I kept sewing the eye piece wrong and I attributed that to be overly confident with having finished the first block and thinking the second time would sew up like a breeze so I could listen to some music. Obviously, singing and music could prevent you from staying focused.

Since I made each of the Preppy Whale blocks with a 10" layer cake square, I had to be real careful with the cutting since there was no room for error.  I really paid close attention to the special cutting direction for the mouth piece which was originally a 1" wide strip.  I was initially confused with the diagram and ended up sewing the black strip to the D patch and once the seams were pressed opened, I then trim 1/4" from the black strip.  Now as I'm writing this post and looking at the diagram, the black strip could have been sewn to the head piece and trimmed.  If I had read the instructions more carefully, and not just look at the diagram, this would have eliminated the confusion.  I will say pay close attention to the orientation of Patch E and M which even though they are not square, there were no orientation marks on the diagram like there was on Patch A which also was not a square.  Maybe if I had labeled my patches like some of the other participants did, this maybe would not be a problem.

There are a lot of connecting corners in all of the blocks and I chose to draw lines on the squares  even though I have a corner trimming ruler but I find it hard to angle the ruler to the correct orientation to make the right cut.  Again it is important to look at the diagrams to make sure you are sewing the angles right, especially when sewing connecting corners on strips and rectangles.  Did you know that it's easier to draw diagonal lines when the ruler is placed horizontally like the photo above.  I just learned this tip from blogland recently. Also when I sewed the connecting corners to the patches, I only cut out the middle piece and kept the back piece on even though it adds some bulk it help to keep my blocks straight.

I called these type of blocks as "stir-fry", there's a lot of time spent on cutting but once that's done, the several rounds of sewing the patches into segments and then sewing them together sew quickly.  This is the first Preppy Whale block sewn and this shade of purple which I would call a royal purple was very hard to photograph to show the right shade and it looks too dark.

Forgive me for choosing a favorite of the two, but I really like how the Purple Polka Dotted Preppy Whale turned out and if I had more of this favorite I would make another one but only had a 10" square of this fabric.  The other Whale, the royal purple one whom I named Sid Stitches because of the hash marks looks too dark in the photographs but hopefully will look brighter once outdoor photos can be taken.

Here are all of my blocks together and am happy to say I am current in this QAL which was made possible by my having to present my Preppy the Whale blocks on February 1st.  The Awesome Ocean QAL had an easy timeline of sewing a new block(s) every two weeks but when you're a late starter, you make all of these blocks in two weeks.  Were these blocks fun to make, yes, but I'm not sure if I am enjoying the fun but appreciating the lessons of staying focused and being patient.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to read and follow the diagrams when cutting and sewing. Sometimes you need to have a slow sewdown but not too often.  I have too many projects and stash to do this. I feel I will have earned a badge after this quilt is finished and not sure if I'm going to hold Elizabeth Hartman in the same regard as I do with Jen Kingwell. I remember Elizabeth Hartman from her Oh Fransson blog and remember the simple quilts she designed.  I find it is amazing that she has now created these wonderful patterns with all these tiny patches which are sew clever. I know I'll be happy once my Awesome Ocean Quilt is finished and hanging on the wall at the Granddaughter room at the Grandparent House for the precious one to enjoy.

Emily of the  The Darling Dogwood will be presenting the Tony the Turtle block on February 15 and I know she is making four of each pattern so be sure to check out her post.