GLORIOUS CREATIONS: BLOCK OF THE MONTH: L IS FOR LADY OF THE LAKE

For those of you who have been following my progress on this BOM, I apologize for not posting the December block on time. I was traveling in December and so far this month I have been involved with working on the clues for the mystery quilt I have been hosting. This is the link for the mystery:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

I finished the work on the mystery this past Wednesday and can now devote my time to other quilty endeavors. Today I cut out my three "L" blocks and constructed the above block.

With this block on its way I am headed
"THROUGH THE ALPHABET" A twenty-six month Journey with

Dorothy Young, owner, of the yahoo group "A Pocketful of Mysteries" .This Block of the Month quilt series began in January 2013, and will continue for the next two years.

The yahoo site for this trip is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apocketfullofmysteries/

It is not too late to join in. The other eleven are at the beginners level.

So far I have found the construction of the blocks very simple. I do recommend you start with the first block if you are a beginner. There are simple techniques you will pick up on the journey.

This Block requires a thorough reading of the directions. They are very explicit but me being me, did it my way. I saw what she wanted us to do and didn't look at the direction the seams were to be pressed. You see, I just spent a week making half square triangles for my mystery and all the fabrics were pressed to the dark.... I don't know whether my transgressions made a difference are not. On the block I make for my friend I will re press all the triangles the way Dorothy states and let you know.

The fabrics I am using [My focus fabric and my background fabric] are at least forty years old. They are a heavier cotton, more like the weight of a broadcloth. This makes for very heavy seams at intersections.

I do have a suggestion. When you make the 1/2 Square she tells you. Before you cut it off the rest of the square. Make your self a "Bonus" unit by stitching a 1/2 inch away from your stitched line on the seam side of the square. You will inherit another Half square triangle about 6 1/4 inches square.

If you are unsure what I am saying there is an example in clue #1 of my mystery:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-mystery-in-making-clue-1.html

Doing this prevents 2 fabric triangles from ending in the scrap bag. Now they are a usable Unit. The Unit might possibly fit in a later block in the BOM series.

The block below is the one I made for my internet friend. I didn't re press the other direction. I didn't have the heavy intersections I did with my fabrics. I wanted to post this before I edited it. (Today I am without my computer and using Hunny's computer. I don't know what program to use.) One more block to construct. BTW, I found a big help for me to square up the little 1/2 squares. I glued a two inch paper square on the ruler. It will wash off when I am done.

The construction of this block requires a little more than beginners level, but if you have begun at the
beginning of this journey you will get through it just fine if you take it slow and remember,

when you are joining each of your units together use an accurate 1/4 inch.

Doing a BOM like this helps you try blocks you wouldn't think of doing. It helps you to find piecing methods you enjoy or don't enjoy. This is a very lovely block,
but I will not, ever, be using the pattern to make a whole quilt with.