When is a Dresden not a Dresden?

So, I had a charm pack of Simply Colour by V&Co and some natural Essex Linen and Vanessa was doing a series on Dresdens so I thought I would have a go.  I was also inspired by this quilt.

I bought a ruler, cut it all out and sewed it together and... nothing. 

Firstly it is huge.  I should have worked out that it would be twice the size of the ruler but I am too used to things ending up smaller because I forget about seam allowances. 

Secondly I have no need (or space) for anything round and if I added more fabric to square it off it would be even more huge. 

Thirdly, it wasn't very good.  It isn't random enough (something I often struggle with) and the seams were not very even.  The lawn needed cutting when this was taken so it wasn't quite as bumpy as it looks - but nearly!

I was really fed up, I loved that charm pack and these were my especially favourite prints and I had ruined them. :(

Then I got the Zakka 2.0 book and read the bit about making friends with your seam ripper and I realised that all was not lost (hurray!).  I ripped the fans apart and decided to sew them back together in a long strip.  All I needed was 2 strips of linen to square off the ends.  New problem - I had used up all the rest of the linen in making a tea cosy.

This was all I had left

I ended up sewing 5 bits together to make a 2x6inch strip, and I had to do that twice.

Big reveal tomorrow of the finished item!

I'm linking to Live a Colourful Life random thursday slot.

Ali