Why Everyone Needs a Design Wall (and a good seam ripper)

On my trip to Portland I finished the last of the Jingle applique blocks. Now the goal is to actually put this quilt together and finish it for Christmas 2014 (yes, I said this year, I'm trying to be a more positive person for the moment....let's see how that works out).

The cutting instructions for the setting triangles was pretty precise, but the layout instructions were nonexistent. I wrestle the design wall up in the studio and start placing pieces. The interesting thing is that I have two sizes of setting triangles. Obviously the little ones go on the 4 corners, but what about the rest?

 

I consult my Mimi Dietrich Baltimore Basics book and it's no help. Her on point blocks are all surrounded by sashing in the center of the quilt surrounded by a border...easily stitched together in rows. Hmmm....where are rows on this vertical border?

 

Okay, I start sticking triangles on the design wall until I've managed to fit them all around the blocks. Wait, why am I sewing some of these little half triangles together? Why didn't the instructions just have me cut one more large triangle? Whatever. I start with a small triangle, sew it to a block and then continue down that vertical border, sewing a block to each side of a large triangle until I've got this lovely sawtooth strip. Hmmm.....now I've got to ease the remaining triangles in between the blocks....Y seams?  Oh dear!

I retreat and leave it on the wall for a few days where after looking at it through half closed eyes each time I was sitting in the studio, I figured out that while it was only a border, that those blocks and triangles actually created diagonal ROWS when sewn together triangle/block/triangle, and once you had 3 rows, you could easily line up the blocks and sew their straight edges together.

Great, until I got to the bottom horizontal row.  2 empty spaces, 3 blocks, and my straight line theory bit the dust. Sound the retreat.

Another couple days of staring at the wall, pondering exactly what would be a consistent placing of those smaller setting triangles. The only way I was going to figure this out was to rip a couple of them out and experiment. Obviously it wasn't the first time we'd taken a seam ripper to this particular border, but fingers crossed it would be the last.

Wah la! I figured it out, and in so doing, also figured out that when properly laid out and sewn, the two side borders would exactly fit the center medallion. Sew them on, and then attach the top and bottom border. Then sew the top and bottom rows and attach them....finished!

Thank you, flannel wall.

Guilt Through Association

(It's been a whirlwind  July and August...a week in Portland in July, followed by the somewhat sooner than we expected passing of my father-in-law, rushing to finish the Kaffe scrap quilt for the fair (it won a 5th place ribbon :-( -- seriously!--but quilt judging is a subject for another blog post), a celebration of dear FIL's life hosted by us in August (accompanied by a tad more than the usual family drama)....I'm now trying to regain my footing and continue down the path toward some semblance of normalcy)

In the interest of getting back on track, I thought it might be enlightening if I harnessed my inner OCD and documented every project I have started and intend to finish (note I said 'intend to finish'..... this allows me the freedom to not list a few remnants hanging around from workshops that didn't turn out to be all that fun, or failed experiments in piecing...) . And while I was at it, I also decided to take stock of my 'good intentions', and make a notebook for all those projects I want to do, for which I already have most of the supplies (I didn't count the various patterns, or books purchased because they included a project I want to make--no, that would have required a trip to the office supply store for extra notebooks).

I'm big on lists....mostly because the Queen of Procrastination finds that making a list is an extremely effective tool for optimizing procrastination time. And also because there is nothing more satisfying to a listmaker than ticking off completed items from a 'to do' list. No matter how trivial, the sense of accomplishment is food for the soul.

As a productive person, I thought it better to just list some project notes regarding materials in the 'on deck' notebook. Who knows if I'll even get to these projects in this lifetime...no sense detailing project management steps for something not yet started.

Bottom line....I have 25 UFOs and 31 projects On Deck (it's the end of summer, last chance for baseball analogies). While I'm trying to convince myself that these are reasonable numbers for someone who has only been quilting for 5 years, I've got the hubs in my ear asking if I've been to the basement to count the needlepoint/crewel embroidery UFOs that have been in boxed up for the last 40 years....."(whine) I'm still waiting for my needlepoint chessboard that I picked out of a catalog for you back in 1973 (whine)"....the man is relentless (and I'm hoping that moths have destroyed any evidence of past transgressions).

In the meantime, guilt has gotten the best of me and I have dug out a quilt I began before I was a quilter (aka the "I Had No Idea What I Was Doing" quilt), and have begun the arduous process of ripping out every quilting stitch I managed to make (without a quilting foot/feed dogs up, through cheap see-thru cotton borders, sandwiching the lamest polyester batting known to man) before I folded it up and buried it in a closet, half (ass) quilted.

One small step......and a 2-pack of replacement blades for my Gingher seam ripper.

Prepping for Portland

Inside the Vera Bradley hanging travel cosmetic bag (which is perfect for carrying sewing around, by the way), you'll find:

• 4 printed sashiko panels...one of which I started on the cruise
• a dozen leaves needing applique cut out centers (from a 2012 Karen Kay Buckley workshop)
• the center medallion from the Jingle quilt, which is 2/3 finished

I also kitted 12 applique Dear Jane blocks...marked the blocks and cut out the shapes.

And if that isn't enough, I pulled out the Vintage Trick or Treat quilt and traced out designs on 4 blocks and spent quite a bit of time trying to match the DMC floss specified in the pattern with my 18wt Aurifil.

Not sure it's enough to keep me busy to/in/from Portland. If not, I'll be spending lots of time on Facebook and the blog.

When all was said and done, I did finish 7 Dear Jane blocks the other day, plus....

three more pieced blocks that just need a tiny bit of applique (that I packed for Portland).  Patting myself on the back for making my DJ June quota. Those other 9 applique blocks I've packed are a good head start for July's quota.

Well, it's Wednesday--the one day I have to go into the office (yuk!). Super hot and humid here with thunderstorms forecast--a perfect hair day for taking a staff photo to be used in a presentation at the meeting next week (not!).

My sister brought over a table quilt she needs done so I need to do something fast and easy and finish that after work tonight if I'm going to get it done this week.

Happy Wednesday!  One more day to the long weekend (woo hoo!)