Star and Chain Update

Yesterday was one of those days where I went into it believing that I could be truly productive and accomplish quite a lot. I learned after an hour or two that progress on this quilt is better suited to being an exercise in patience. No 'hurry-up' allowed!

Star and Chain is the cover quilt on this 1999 Thimbleberries book. From the very beginning, I had it marked as one I wanted to make. After a wait-time of 18 years, I still liked this quilt, so I pulled and cut a bunch of Thimbleberries fabrics from the stash and took it to Canter's Cave last April with the hope of completing it all in that 3-day retreat. If you like something for that long, then you know you have to follow through, right?

Retreat was productive, but I didn't get it finished. And, sadly, it has spent the entire year since retreat stored away in the quilting room. I definitely wanted to get back to it, but last year was so busy with all those UFOs I wanted to finish. It just wasn't meant to be.

In the last week and a half, I have revisited Star and Chain, and with very hopeful optimism, attacked the remaining steps with the notion of having a quilt top in short order. Little did I know that the piecing would be so involved. I had all the stars made, and most of the sashing 'chains' made. I finished those off quickly and thought "now I'm in business; I will join this all together in no time."

Not so fast, Miss Let's Get'er Done Fast! Those sashing strips still had oodles of piecing to do before I could begin joining rows. S-L-O-O-O-W-W work, for sure. Here are some pictures of the effort. I will have to have patience and fortitude through the remainder of this process.

First, I had to lay out all the stars and arrange them in a pleasing yet random fashion. I mostly left everything where originally placed - a rarity, for sure. I hope I don't end up regretting that. You see, by the way this quilt is constructed, once you put a star in its place, the sashing that it goes with has to be put in place. This allows for no switching around or changing one's mind. I would hate to think about trying to keep it all straight if I were to sew something out of place. (That's why this quilt is laid out on the guest bed and the door is shut to keep the cat out.)

In the picture above I have sewn the bottom or border sashing, the row of stars and the next sashing row. It took me all day! It surprises me that so much piecing is still necessary at this stage of the process. Normally by now, putting it all together is relatively simple. This one is not. I have to pay attention to all sorts of things. And pinning is absolutely necessary. To the point of excessiveness!

But gosh, won't it be a pretty thing? I love those deep, intense colors. I recognize that this won't be the most perfect quilt ever made - those intersections! - but by gosh, I am going to have it finished before too long.

A finished quilt is better than a perfect quilt. Right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lake Effect Update

The 10-year-project also known as Lake Effect continues to advance. I am devoting every Frankfort Girls' Friday to Lake Effect. That is proving to be a good plan. And now that baseball season is in full swing, I find that this is the perfect companion while watching the Cleveland Indians play. I hate the wasted time if I watch a game and don't have something to show for that time. Hand-stitching is an easy go-to. Below are some pictures of the progress to date.

The tub is getting messy from my use of it. In addition to all the hexies, I have thread, needles, thimble pads, and whatever other necessities I might need cluttering the space.

The picture above is what three rows sewn together looks like with the paper still in. I am hoping that once the papers are removed, the surface will look more natural and flat.

My intent is to be as random in my placement as possible, yet I still find myself being far too deliberate in the choice of what fabric to use next. However, that only affects the row I'm working on. I don't really lay it all out to see what will be above or below it, so it really should just be random.

The top section is three long rows stitched together. The middle shows two rows that are partially connected. The bottom two single rows are next to be attached.

Can you see the "lake effect" that the pattern designers were going for? I am using random fabrics I picked up last April while on retreat. I later added pieces from the Minick and Simpson line that was used in the original pattern. This blend of their stuff and my stuff will work fine, I hope.

So now you see my Lake Effect progress. While it was rather a daunting endeavor when I began it, I am finding that it is easier and quicker than I anticipated. Boy, am I glad about that.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Seam-Ripping

You haven't seen much of me here for a few days. The reason is that I mostly am not getting as much sewing done as I ought, and since this blog is primarily about my sewing and quilting, I have no material.

However, I do occasionally get some time in the quilting room, and over the weekend, I sewed 24 chain units onto the last 12 stars.

Wrong.

All had to be ripped out.

The photo above shows very clearly what is wrong. That rectangular unit is upside-down. So all 24 seams needed ripping out. I grabbed the iPad to watch something while I ripped. It's always best to have a diversion from the boo-boos. I used this opportunity to begin the second season of The Crown. Good choice, too.

In other news, I am reading a book on my iPhone. Do people do this nowadays? I have to admit that I am not minding it at all. My book club's selection for this month is So Well Remembered by James Hilton, published in 1945. Because of its age, I had a hard time finding a copy, so I ordered it through iBooks. A bit more than half-way through it, I find it quite enjoyable, and consequently, I am reading when I ought to be sewing. (I have always had this problem with books. They have a way of consuming me!)

Also, MLB has started up and I want to watch the Indians whenever I can, so I have taken my tub of Lake Effect hexies to my chair in the family room where I can stitch and watch ballgames at the same time. After about 3 games, I can see that this is going to be very productive. The few hours each evening is showing satisfying results. Below is an early picture of my work on this long-term project.

Hey, come back tomorrow! I will share update pictures of the progress I have made on Lake Effect. I really do think you will be surprised at how much I have done.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Returning To WIP

I don't know precisely what the distinction is between the WIP (work in progress) and the UFO (unfinished object), but my own definitions mean that the intent is to get back to one (WIP) while the other is definitely off my radar and might be dealt with at some distant time (UFO).

Because the work on this was never far from my mind, and I definitely only put it away because I really did have UFO goals to meet most of last year, this WIP has at last made its way to my tabletop.

The quilt is going to be Stars and Chain from a very old Thimbleberries book. Last year at the Canter's Cave Retreat, several of us took up the common goal to sew a Thimbleberries pattern, or use Thimbleberries fabrics, or both. I wrote about it in this post, if you want further details.

The parts to the quilt have not seen the light of day for a year, and consequently, I had forgotten where I was, what the next step is, and where to direct my focus. I eventually got it all figured out, and made good progress on Monday when Sharon was here sewing with me. She had to listen to a good bit of grumbling and whining while I tried to solve the sewing mystery that came with this revisit.

I still had chain parts to make- brown ones, blue ones, and gold ones. Below are some blue ones in the chain-piecing process - here, I'm ready to cut off the corner triangles.

It feels good to get back to this. I still like the fabrics I chose, and I am excited to see the pieces coming together as well as they are. My sewing time has been rather limited this week, but perhaps this weekend I will be able to get a big hunk of time to devote to it.

Hope you are accomplishing great things!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Bit of Retail Therapy

I had a few things to order from Amazon over the weekend, and doggone if my fingers didn't go and click on some pretty floral fabric. And now, somehow, that fabric ended up in my mailbox today.

Amazon is amazing.

This fabric is amazing.

I now am adding this sweet stack of Lecien fabric called Memoire A Paris to my stash. My Instagram feed is frequently full of gorgeous creations made with the sweetest calico prints, many of which are reminiscent of those popular back in the 60s when I was a girl. My  mother's fabrics had many prints that looked just like this, as did my grandmother's. I just couldn't resist this fat quarter pack of 14 fabrics.

Color me happy that I have a bit of new stuff for the stash, and I will be sure to report what I decide to use it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Happy Easter!

Wishing all my readers and followers a happy Easter!

On this most holy Christian observance, I hope you are able to reflect on the first Easter morning and all it signifies for us. With our family gathering later today around a lovingly prepared meal, we will enjoy dressing in our Easter best, eating the candies left by the Easter bunny, and watching the children hide and hunt for eggs. But I hope we all rejoice for the wonderful gift our Lord has given us through His resurrection.

Happy Day!

March Wrap-Up

Taking a quick look back at March, it appears I did very little sewing and a whole lot of playing. However, I do think I managed to accomplish a few things in my quilting room, so I pronounce the month to be a huge success. Let's review:

I love making these collages to summarize the month through pictures. Some of these have made their way to the blog, but not all. I will share just the basics on the 9 pictures in this collage.

To begin the month, we have had an old, non-working truck sitting in our driveway for-ever, and it was a constant sore subject between DH and me. We finally agreed to have it towed and make an attempt to get it running again - just for simple needs like getting mulch each spring, or carrying heavy stuff too messy or big for the back of the car. Getting that truck out of our driveway at last could be my biggest success of the month!

The other two pictures in the top row are of places I have walked this month. We got back into regular walking with the nicer weather, and explored a section of the path beside Paint Creek, shown first, and then I got to walk in Arizona, shown next.

In the middle row, I am pictured with Cleveland Indians TV personality, Andre Knott at the Goodyear Ball Park at Spring Training. That was a totally accidental meeting, as he and his family were just sitting a couple rows in front of us having a regular day at the park.

In the center is the second famous person I met this month - Carrie Nelson. I did write about this in several posts, if you wish to scroll back and take a look. And, you will find evidence of actual sewing.

The final picture of the middle row shows my dear Frienzies at our March get-together at Kay's house. We had a delicious dinner and afterwards painted canvases for spring.

The bottom row shows my major sewing accomplishment for the month - my Prairie Vine quilt top. Scroll back a bit to see more on it.

The middle picture is a grave marker from a cemetery near Otsego, OH. My 88-year-old F-I-L wanted to take a drive down there yesterday while we visited him. Jacob is the oldest Honnold in the family tree, to date. It's pretty cool how much genealogical research has been done on my DH's side of the family.

That last picture seems a strange one to include for a March highlight, but believe me, I want to remember - those keys have been lost since Christmas-time. I knew they likely spilled out of my purse, I just didn't know where. While at my F-I-L's yesterday, we parked on the street in front of his house after returning from the cemetery trip. My S-I-L found them in the grass as she stepped out of the car. I cannot believe it! Of course, we'd already gone to the trouble and expense of replacing one of the keys. And yes, they still work. Amazing.

So with not many pictures and a whole lot of words, there's my March. I hope I can be as focused in April. Fun times ahead!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!