A New Hand Quilting Project

 

I got a couple of borders on the basket quilt yesterday. The inner border was a bit sketchy. The combination of a thin border on a stretchy bias edge was almost too much. The second border seemed to bring everything back under control again, but it was touch and go for a while. I ordered a Baptist fan stencil, it should be here tomorrow. I was kind of surprised that I did not have one. I love doing fans, but they are usually free form. This quilt seemed to want something more regular though. I also ordered some 12 weight thread in a nice variegated yellow and pink shade that I think will work nicely. I have been streaming The Last Homely House on you tube while sewing lately and Kate does a lot of hand quilting with that type of thread. Sew, I thought I would give it a try. I have used lighter weight quilting thread as well as heavier Pearle cotton, so I am hoping that this will be somewhere in between. I got the back ready and pieced together some extra batting, but I don't want to layer it all up until after the stencil arrives. I am going to mark it with frixion pens that I have been using for my planner lately. I usually use Crayola washable markers, but they do tend to rub off over time, so I will see if I like this better. I am a slow hand quilter, so it needs to be sturdy to still be in good shape years from now when it is done.

There was a retirement party at work on Friday for our guidance clerk. She has always been so sweet and supportive of my quilting, so I just had to find a quilt for her to take with her. I chose a bullseye quilt which was one of my RSC22 quilts.  I am happy for her, but still sad that she will be gone. It is nice when people really want to help the kids. 

I have a draft of a paper that is due tonight on constructivist learning theory and educational standards. I will just give that a quick final edit and then make my way back down to the sewing space. I am thinking about pulling out a log cabin UFO that could be my next flimsy finish. I hope that you are finding time to sew something on this lazy Sunday. It is good to rest up before a new week comes on full force. Be sure to take some time to see what other slow stitching is happening at Kathy's Quilts before the weekends slips away. 

New Year -- New Tracking Sheets

 RSC23 Tracking Sheet PDF

RSC23 Tracking Sheet Pages

RSC23 Tracking Sheet Word

Stephanie has been kind enough to make tracking sheets in a variety of formats for us again this year. I posted the links on the RSC23 page as well so feel free to print or save a copy for your own use as you work on projects for the new year. 

I started working on some tiny blocks.  These little babies will finish at 3 inches.   With seam allowances they are and adorable 3.5.   The math works out pretty easily for nine patches, but I will start to play with other subunits as well.   

I felt better about starting a new project after I webbed the bullseye blocks together.   After surveying ongoing projects, I decided to make a trip out for backing and binding fabrics today.   That should help with crossing some ongoing projects off of the list.   I can't show a photo though as everything is in the wash.   

Light Bulls-Eye

1.5 inch squares - 2 white, 1 dark

3.5 inch strips - 2 white, 2 dark

5.5 inch strips - 2 white, 2 dark

7.5 inch strips - 2 light

Here are all 13 pieces in a blow up of the layout. 

Start with a dark square and sew a white square to either side.  Press away from the red.   

Add a 3.5 inch strip of white to either side of your center unit.   This completes round 1

Start round 2 by sewing red 3.5 inch strips to the top and bottom of the completed round 1.   

Add 5.5 inch strips of red to either side to finish round 2.   Continue to press away from the center

Begin round 3 by sewing 5.5 inch strips of white to the top and bottom of your center square.   

End the block with 7.5 inch strips of white sewn to either side of your center unit.
 

Dark Bullseye tutorial

I started with a courthouse steps block for my 1.5 inch strips this year, but as I started making test blocks, I decided to do a bulls-eye layout.  To get the final design, I will make half of them with dark centers and half with light centers.  

 Each block has 13 pieces, but they are all rectangles of increasing lengths cut from 1.5 inch strips.  That makes it easy to collect and organize.  The length are 1.5, 3.5, 5.5 and 7.5 inches. 

1.5 inch squares - 1 white, 2 dark

3.5 inch strips - 2 white, 2 dark

5.5 inch strips - 2 white, 2 dark

7.5 inch strips - 2 dark

Here are all 13 pieces in a blow up of the layout.   

Start with the center light square and sew a red square to either side.  The nice thing about the courthouse steps layout over the more traditional log cabin set up is that you can sew two strips before needing to press.   The pressing direction isn't supe important because there aren't any interlocking seams, so I just generally press away from the center of the block.   

Finish round 1 by adding 3.5 inch strips of dark to either side of the center.  

Begin round 2 by adding a white 3.5 inch strip to either side of round 1.  Notice that you are sewing onto the pieced side and not onto the unpieced rectangles.   

Finish round 2 by adding 5.5 inch strips of light to either side of  your block.  Keep your size correct by using the cut strip to make sure the pieced unit is the right size.  I always figure that the freshly cut strip is more likely to be the correct size than the pieced unit, so I use it a a guide.  

Round 3 begins by adding 5.5 inch strips of dark to the top and bottom of your block.   Press each round before adding another pair of strips.  

Round 3 is finished by adding 7.5 inch strips of dark to either side.  Your unfinished block should be 7.5 inches.   

My plan is to make 5 dark and 5 light blocks each month which will give me 100 blocks before the end of the year.