Just back from a weekend retreat at a friend’s cabin on the Metolius River. We had a great time and got a lot of quilting done. As usual, I brought far more projects than I could possibly wok on but then, I never know what I will be in the mood to do so I like variety in my choices which is not a problem given how many simultaneous projects and deadlines I have.
I did make progress on two projects. One is a class sample for a Stained Glass Quilt class I have scheduled at Pioneer Quilts in August. The pattern of a Cyclamen is my original design and I have a couple of other floral patterns that will be available. The quilt top has been done for a while but needed to be quilted and I got most of that done at the cabin; all that remains to do is quilt the border and borders are always a challenge for me to decide on what to do with them.
The second one I worked on is an ongoing foundation paper piecing project with small ‘medallion’ blocks that resemble those you see on Navajo rugs. I drafted the foundation patterns to use in borders on one of my Animal Totem quilts but I enjoyed the process of making them so much that I continued to crank them out for a future quilt. They are precise because of the foundation piecing and they use up lots of scraps. I’ve worked out how large each scrap needs to be for each part of the block and I assemble the fabrics for individual blocks while watching movies on Netflix. I can’t stand watching TV with idle hands and this is a great project to occupy me in the evening. After the pinned bundles of pieces are tossed into a Zip-loc bag, it’s a simple matter to pull out the color coordinated scraps to piece the blocks. These may end up as another border somewhere or maybe even a standalone quilt – who knows?
