the blue blog archives: time to sew

Thanks to Rita, who included a link in a comment to my last post about crocheting squares together, I decided to give myself a break on this afghan and do a simple crocheted slip stitch to join the small squares into big four-patch squares. (The prospect of mattress stitching 64 squares together was starting to depress me.) I took a break from knitting the last few squares to get started by sewing the four large center squares together.

I'm still undecided on how to arrange them though. My original idea was to have the variegated squares form an "x" through the center of the whole quilt like so....

But I kinda also like this look with the variegated squares forming a box around the solids which meet in the center.

No need to decide just yet thankfully. I've still got plenty of knitting and sewing to do. The tally is now sixty squares and counting....

posted by alison at 10:04 am | in a crafty christmas , an afghan

Comments

My 2 cents is to like the box around the solids. Which means of course that you should do the opposite! Maybe the answer will become clearer once you have all the squares done.

Posted by: Carol at December 3, 2007 10:15 AM

I like the look of the varigateds forming an X. Great news about the crochet seaming too!

Posted by: Leslie at December 3, 2007 10:18 AM

I too like the look of the X better. I am amazed at your productivity. And crocheting the squares together is the way to go IMHO - much faster & easier.

Posted by: Donna at December 3, 2007 11:43 AM

I have to say, I like the box look. The crochet seaming is a great idea! I'm totally going to use it on the afghan I am trying to finish for Christmas!!

Posted by: Lindsey at December 3, 2007 12:49 PM

First let me say I found your blog about two years ago, and I find myself reading it every day and love it! Thanks for blogging and all the pictures! Now my 2 cents are I like the X.
Thank you again, Happy Blogging, Melissa

Posted by: Melissa at December 3, 2007 12:53 PM

I love your blog and I always feel inspired by you! Keep up the good work and don't get down on yourself! You are an inspiration!! You go girl!

Posted by: Elizabeth at December 3, 2007 1:02 PM

I think I like the box better. :) Of course, it's hard to tell without all the other squares to see how it fits into the whole.

Posted by: Andrea at December 3, 2007 1:05 PM

I like the lower version better--it has more movement. IMHO, of course, :-)

Posted by: Sarah-Hope at December 3, 2007 2:34 PM

I am SO GLAD to have a partner in crime. I crocheted log cabin squares together and it went much faster than I could have done mattress stich. You can see the finished result here: http://journal-to-a-muse.blogspot.com/2007/11/finished-object-here-it-is.html

Posted by: PainterWoman at December 3, 2007 2:44 PM

My eyes are playing tricks with me. When you make the X with the variegated, all I see is the square made by the solids. And when you made the square with the variegated, I see the X with the solids.

My head, it is spinning.

Posted by: ames at December 3, 2007 3:08 PM

I like the box with the varigated (picture 2)much better. Good luck deciding!!

Posted by: Kyla at December 3, 2007 3:38 PM

Looks great! =) I vote for the box--you can see the individual squares better, and don't have one lump of the variegated in the middle. I think it compliments the solids AND brings out the variegated colors better, but of course it's up to you! Best of luck!

Posted by: Lacee at December 3, 2007 3:40 PM

I vote for the second photo also, with the solids in the middle. Lovely colors!

Posted by: Minns at December 3, 2007 3:57 PM

It's kind of hard to tell which one might be the better option. When I look at the one with the X, I mostly see the big square in the middle. When I look at the one with the solids meeting in the middle, I mostly notice the vibrancy of the darker colors. They're both wonderful, so it will definitely be hard to choose!

Posted by: Seanna Lea at December 3, 2007 4:08 PM

I like the box! Hehe, your readership is pretty split!

Posted by: Sarah at December 3, 2007 5:06 PM

oooh, I'm going to check out the link you mentioned. I'm not near finished on my current afghan, but I'm not opposed to collecting ideas for putting all 117 of them together at the end!

Posted by: eshy at December 3, 2007 7:22 PM

I think it's so interesting the commenters seem split pretty evenly. Personally, I prefer the X, but I think it will look great either way!

Posted by: Amy at December 3, 2007 10:46 PM

Oh the crocheting is SO MUCH FASTER. Sorry to shout, but all must know!

Posted by: Daphne at December 3, 2007 11:35 PM

This isn't going to help the vote count much, but I'm leaning towards the x. I really like the center block that starts it off.
The other looks great too, which is why we're so evenly split. Not much help, hun?

Posted by: Chesley at December 4, 2007 6:54 AM

Your Mano's squares look really good. I hope your Manos pills less than mine does. I finished my afghan a couple of years ago and it's a pain,but I still love it.

Posted by: michelle at December 4, 2007 5:08 PM

I like the second option.

Posted by: Kat with a K at December 6, 2007 12:09 PM