The assembly plan!

It's time to sew this king size medallion top together!  It's always a bit scary when we get to the next step. But, I have worked out a plan.  When I first started cutting hourglass blocks for this quilt I was using small scraps so I would only get 2-3 units that were made out of the same two fabrics. But towards the end, I started to use some fat quarters so I think there are a few units that may have six identical partners. To get them ready to be laid out I treated them like playing cards and dealt one unit into 8 piles till they were gone. The 8 comes from the number of subunits I need to make. Then I randomly cut each deck (pile).

876 hourglass blocks divided into eight piles

 I am treating this quilt like a giant 9 patch. The center square of the nine patch is the medallion block.  So I will start laying out everything above the medallion first. Section 1 will be 10 units X 9 units. The two sections on each side of it will be 10 units X 12  units.  I won't worry about each unit until I get to the row that will butt up to the next unit.  The only rule I have is I don't want two identical fabrics next to each other.
The next two units will be on each side of the medallion and be 12x9 units and so on.  I will then continue with the three units that will go under the medallion.  I won't sew the larger units together till all of them are made.  Anyway, that's the plan!  Since I used so many different fabrics and there are only one or two that have six identical units and there are eight sections, this should work!

I think a bigger concern I have is whether I can keep everything square. So, my plan is to press carefully, pin carefully, and stitch slowly using my stiletto to help with sewing over all those seams.  I have never worked with blocks that finish at 3 inches so I am looking forward to a new adventure. I don't think it will be as scary as white water river rafting but it could get scary.  I must say breaking the piecing into sections and thinking about the issues I will face does make this seem doable. I have no deadlines and will probably stitch on this project early in the am when I do my best sewing.  I will also be heading back my Viking Husqvarna that has speed control and needle down so that I sew as accurately as possible. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing!

 Photo by Keval Parekh 

Medallion quilt progress

Well, 852 hourglass blocks have been completed!  I am so glad that I pressed and trimmed them as I made them.  I can't imagine facing that task at this point.  However, I did the math again last night making sure I have enough made before I start assembly.  Well, I figured that 33 units wide by 29 units long should give me a king size quilt that measures 111X99 after I add a six-inch border around it.  I can deduct 81 units as the center medallion will fill that area. So, 33X29= 957 -81= 876.  So I am 24 short,  so this am I spent some time getting them cut!  There was a time that this would have frustrated me.  But at this point in my journey, I find as much joy in making another 24 units as I would moving to the next step on this quilt.  I guess I can say I am very content in my quilt making journey, even with  all the bumps in the road!





As I have said before, I started to blog to document my quiltmaking journey. When I first started blogging it seemed there were so many things to learn.  Then, I got to the point I felt less tied to patterns and confident that I would produce a quilt that made me happy!  But to this day, I am still learning from each quilt.  While making these hourglass blocks I realized it is much better to not press the two halves of the blocks before stitching them together.  I will admit I struggle with piecing.  I think it's because I was always in a hurry to get to the point that I could quilt the quilt.  But as the years went on, I learned that good piecing makes for easier quilting.    There are so many variables that we contend with as we learn a skill.  Each quilt has brought me closer to making the of quilts I always wanted to make.  In this fast-paced world, it's a wonderful place to be! 

Joyful Stars!

I put in the last stitches today on my Texas Star quilt. This quilt started out with my desire to hand piece and I have always wanted to make a Texas Star.  If your going to hand piece why not make a block that has some y-seams.  Once I got the body of the quilt together, I wasn't sure about adding a border. I'm a leave well enough alone kind of gal, usually, but after looking at it for a bit I came up with a zig-zag border I saw on an antique quilt.  To pull some of the colors out into the border, I added some circles.  I love the way the" make do" borders are so casual and playful.  But, once those three borders were added, it was still speaking to me, and one morning I decided triangles were needed to finish the final border. Working this way is such a joy, so I am naming this one Joyful Stars!

Ready to be basted into a quilt sandwich!

And now, to update the progress on the medallion quilt.   I reached 800  hourglass units this am and hopefully can stitch the last 50 I need this week.  If not, it shouldn't be too long.  I am aiming for a king size quilt so I will start by sewing the hourglass units into subunits that will be added around the medallion.  Assembling the parts into larger parts is tedious.  So, I will take it slow to keep it from becoming too arduous.  I am not setting a goal, but hopefully, it will become a quilt top by the time spring arrives.    It is definitely turning into a long journey quilt as hand quilting this winter will probably take center stage.

Midweek progress

I thought to myself yesterday, tomorrow is hump day and what do I have to show for it!  I did finish hand piecing my three zig-zag borders to my Texas Star quilt on Sunday.  I am in the midst of wondering how to handle the fourth side.  I have what I think I want to do in my head, now to just find the time to move forward and make it happen.

I'm not one to hurry thru a quilt, but I have been on such a roll lately it seemed that this week I haven't even given them a thought.  So this morning I woke up early, Max decided to sleep with us last night, and he was hogging my side of the bed. Once I am awake, I usually get up as falling back to sleep never seems to happen.   So, after morning coffee, off I  headed to the sewing room and stitched some of the hourglass blocks I had cut Tuesday evening.  I was able to get 30 more stitched, pressed and trimmed.  Now that was fun!  I am planning on spending a few more hours tomorrow. Do you ever get that feeling you just need to hide out and play?

The applique stitch

I have been doing some kind of needlework as long back as I can remember.  My mom started my sister and I embroidering on dish towels when we were about 5 or 6.   Later we learned to knit and crochet.  In high school, I learned to sew a garment in home economics.

All that practice, has helped me master the applique stitch. This week,  I used the applique stitch to stitch my circles to my zig-zag borders.  Applique is a scary word for some quilters.  I started thinking this morning when did I first learn the stitch.  After thinking about it,  I realized I learned it during my garment making years. It was the stitch I was taught to use when hemming.  Quilters also use it to hand stitch down bindings.  So much better than a whip stitch, as it's basically a whip stitch in reverse.  The trick is to make the stitch correctly so that no thread shows.

I really like the whimsy that my little circles are adding to the quilt. As the weather is starting to cool a bit here I think I will try sitting out today, as I start to add the borders to the body of my quilt.  It has me thinking about how to attach the binding.  I want this to be a hand-stitched quilt, so I guess I will hand stitch it on.  I have never hand stitched a binding on................................this is what keeps quilting so interesting.  Do you or have you hand-stitched a binding on your quilt? 

Nature is so inspiring!

This weekend we went on a hike at the Fort Worth Nature Center. I had it in my head to spend the day stitching, but I am glad Tom suggested the hike. We took Max even though he turns 15 this year and doesn't take very long walks anymore. But, as soon as we lifted him out of the back seat he was ready to go.  When we lived in Arkansas there were so many trees that summer hikes were doable and there are plenty of places to hike. But here in Texas, although we are on the outskirts of town there just aren't as many places to hike. 

Max along the trail, his sight is limited, but still gets along quite well.

 Funny how we quilters can find inspiration even out in nature! Aren't those little balls in the above picture just awesome?

I had to get a closeup of this leaf. The white flowers were pretty to see but the veins in this leaf were terrific. We have had a very dry summer so seeing the blooms and greenery were spectacular.

We don't have a lot of large trees here either and seeing this magnificent canopy of the mighty oak was spectacular!

 They also have a few buffalo. They are so majestic!  Max was such a trooper. I know he walked over a half mile.  I am so glad we went and brought Max along. We have logged many a mile together!

Lot of stitching!

I am moving along and am working on the 3rd and final zig-zag border today.  A decision has also been made to add some circles to my zig-zags to bring some of the fabrics in the body of the quilt out to the border.  It also gives me more hand stitching to do, a win-win!

For those of you wondering how my hourglass medallion quilt is coming along. I have reached 700 blocks.  I still need approximately 150 more before I can start laying out the blocks and sewing them together.  I have decided building sections of hourglass blocks is probably the best way to approach this one.  I know I still have a lot of work to do to finish both of these quilts, I am creeping closer to at least having the tops finished. 

The weather today, a high in the 80's reminds me that fall is coming and I need to get a couple of quilts basted so my winter hand quilting can begin.  Never a dull moment here

Do you save and stitch up those little corners that are cut off when you are trimming.  It's something I learned from following Bonnie Hunter.  I never have, but when I started making my medallion quilt out of these reproduction fabrics I just felt I couldn't throw those pieces away so I have been sewing, pressing and trimming them up.  Yesterday, there were getting to be so many I decided to count them up and put them in a little tin I had, so they would stay safe till I decided what to do with them.  They sure are cute!

Progress

Saturday I started hand piecing border #1 and I think I have made great progress. This is my evening sewing as I relax in front of the tv. I try not to push myself too hard and when my hands get tired I stop stitching.   

I also spent some time cutting out and sewing some more hourglass blocks. My post last week had me at 636 hourglass blocks and I need close to 850 I think the exact number is 840something.  I figure a few extras in case my count is off or a block won't work for some reason, is not a bad idea.  I've started thinking about how I will stitch all those little 3 1/2 inches blocks together. Do you do sections, or are you a row by row person?  Here's a few of the 43 I completed so far this week. That brings me to 679, I am hoping I can reach 700 by the weekend.

Border or no Border????????????????

I know I posted that my Texas Star quilt is completed!  Well, not so fast.  I have debated back and forth on this quilt whether I would add a border. Saturday morning, I was cleaning some of my fabric drawers and I came across some solid green fabric left over from a project of long ago.  It's a nice shade of green and it looked really nice next to my star quilt.  So, I got to thinking and spent some time on Pinterest and found this vintage quilt which has become my inspiration.

So, I got out some paper and did some drawing.  I decided from my rough drawing that I would cut 3-inch long parallelograms.  After cutting a couple out I stitched them together to figure out what size square I would need to cut and then cut diagonally to make the triangles to fit. These sewn together makes for about a 5-inch zig-zag border.  Since my star quilt is hand pieced I felt I had to continue.  Most modern patterns would have a seam in the cream triangle but when you hand piece a Y seam is easy, means fewer seams and less cutting. All wins in my book!

I am not sure if I will add a narrow border between the zig-zags and the quilt, time will answer that question. For now, this is filling my desire to stitch in the evenings.  I started watching the Netflix series Ozark Saturday afternoon and was able to get a good start on the first border! So, I guess the answer is yes add a border, well at least on this quilt!

Lots of stars in my future!

I finished assembling my Texas Star quilt on Wednesday.  I still need to trim up the edges before basting.  That will happen as soon as I get some fabric for the backing.   Texas Star will be the first quilt to go in the hoop this fall.

Since she is a baby quilt only measuring 46x58 it shouldn't take too long to quilt.  The star quilt pictured below will be the next candidate.   It would be great if I can get them both quilted before winter ends.

In the meantime, I will continue to work on my hourglass blocks and think about how I will quilt these two quilts.  I am really excited thinking about having a finish again, it has been a while.