I don't know what it is but I'm not making quick progress with anything these days. And yet time just speeds by. The end of the day comes and I wonder where the time went and how I managed to accomplish so little.
One thing I have been making progress with is hand quilting these blocks.
Finishing the whole blocks and the sashing between them is my one monthly goal for April. I'm almost there. I have the rest of this block to quilt plus several sashing pieces and then I'll be done--with the center blocks.
I used to breathe a sigh of relief when I finished quilting the center section of a quilt, thinking that I really was very nearly done because I only had the edges to do. I've learned that the outer border can take almost as much time as half the center did. I don't think my one monthly goal for May will be finishing all 20 half-blocks around the edge of this quilt. (Because time is going too fast.)
These blocks
have become mostly leaders/enders (sometimes of themselves). Unfortunately I'm not sewing another quilt at the moment so there's not much leading and ending happening.
And lastly, I've been playing with the borders of this quilt.
I have no idea where it's going or what it will end up looking like. I
don't think I've ever made a quilt that I knew in advance what it would
look like at the end. If I were a musician I'd say I play by ear. I don't know what quilters call it when they make decisions as they go along.
The only thing I've decided for sure about this quilt is that I'm adding a narrow, 1" tan border. (You see a 1 1/2" strip of fabric in the photo.)
I cut border fabric on Saturday, trying to match the lines as I cut and sewed the strips together. Mostly I succeeded. Maybe I can work a little faster and get the border stitched tomorrow. More on this quilt later.
I'm linking this post to
Oh Scrap! at
Quilting is more fun than Housework
Design Wall Monday at
Patchwork Times
Moving It Forward Monday at
Em's Scrapbag
Monday Making at
Love Laugh Quilt
Main Crush Monday #17 at
Cooking Up Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies. And thanks to you readers. I appreciate that you took the time to visit.
--Nancy.
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You call it playing by ear--I've always called it designing by the seat of my pants. *LOL*
ReplyDeleteYou have beautiful projects going, but I agree that time goes much faster than our projects. Maybe that is why I have gravitated to so many minis. With only small snatches of quilting time here and there, I can still get closure a little more frequently.
LOL. That's a good way to put it. I wonder how many idioms there are for that idea....
DeleteYes, little quilts do finish so much more quickly, Janet. I made a doll quilt in January and was amazed that within the week I'd both started and finished it. I love your little quilts and how you've hung them around your home.
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.
I make quilts that same as you... by EAR. ;)
ReplyDeleteLove what you're working on!!!
That's funny, Beth. And your quilts turn out so beautifully!
DeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment. Thanks, too, for hosting Monday Making. I appreciate it.
Time does hurry forwards! Your quilts are looking good. I've discovered machine binding which for some projects is a great way of getting the job done ☺
ReplyDeleteHi, Allison --
DeleteAs always, I'm behind in responding to comments and reading others' blog posts.
I'm occasionally tempted to machine stitch a binding but somehow always decide to sew it by hand. I don't get excited about sewing the bindings to the quilt but I do enjoy hand sewing it in place as the very last part of making a quilt. One of these days I'll probably give in to the temptation and use the machine.
Love all the subtle colours in your leaders&enders project!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda. It's been fun to watch what happens with these blocks. Even though they're all light fabrics, up close they look a little busy (though I'm not sure how that can be when they're so similar in color and tine), but from a distance I think they blend into each other. It will be interesting to see where these blocks take me.
DeleteI feel the same way about time and my progress. Oh well I figure it's not a race but enjoy the ride kind of process. Love your star quilt.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Emily. You're right, it's not a race. If it were, it wouldn't be much fun -- at least not for me. I try to keep the monthly goal setting to something that's definitely within my ability to finish if I stay focused and work a little each day.
DeleteI go between loving this star quilt and loving it less. I think that's part of the quilting process for me because it's happened with every quilt I've made. I'm getting used to it.