January 16, 2022: “Golden Glow”; ”Endless Chain” play; Winter Photos

Greetings dear readers! I had hoped to claim ”Golden Glow” a ”finish” on this post, but that will have to wait till later today🙂. I have about 1/8 of the binding yet to sew down:

I started this exactly 3 years ago when I joined Barbara Brackman’s ”Hospital Sketches” sew along. It looked like a fun applique project and each block was accompanied by a story about nurses and nursing during the Civil War. As a physician, I worked closely during my career with many superb, compassionate nurses and making this quilt to honor them appealed to me. Now it’s almost done! I’ve had some trouble with the binding and I’m sure it’s because, since I didn’t quilt the sashings, I also chose not to quilt the outer narrow red border. This left the outer edge of that border a little bigger than the inner edge, the inner edge having been drawn in a bit by the quilting of the quilt center. When adding the binding I had to take great care to gather some areas to avoid pleating, but I’m worried about whether this will hang straight:

I plan to add a sleeve soon after finishing the binding to hang the quilt and get the answer. This is a bed quilt, not a show quilt so normally that wouldn’t matter, but it’s going to be in the NEQM exhibit this summer so that might be an issue. I’ll keep you posted!

Meanwhile, I’ve been having a lot of fun choosing fabrics and making blocks for this:

Interestingly, I was browsing through a book I have called ”Florida Quilts” – one of those state quilt documentation books – and found this:

I wondered if ”Wagon Wheel” was the name of the quilt or the block itself, so I checked Brackman’s ”Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns” and found it’s name is ”Endless Chain” (#272):

I double checked in my other resource for blocks, Jinny Beyer’s “Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns” with the same result:

There are a number if blocks called ”wagon wheel”, but not this one. Then, going back and looking at the Timna Tarr article confirmed it – a detail I had overlooked before:

I really identify with the second paragraph above. I’ve realized that I have 2 major ways of designing and creating my quilts: a) Plan very carefully ahead of time (some designs require that) OR b) Design as you go. So far with this project, it’s been mostly (b). I’m just making blocks and not thinking too much about how they’ll go together:

BUT…having made some of those black blocks started me thinking about borders and layouts. It struck me that I could enhance one of those secondary designs by extending it into the black blocks or a black border. I cut little pieces of fabric and laid them over some block sections. Compare the photo below with the top one of the 3 above:

And here’s another example of those ”rays” extended into the black:

If I do those extentions – pretty sure I am! – I’ll need to remake black blocks with the appropriate colored pieces to match the adjacent blocks. This is getting me back into the ”plan very carefully ahead of time” design territory!😊 Then I started thinking about overall layout. Incredibly, I was able to put my hands right on this little booklet that I think I won in a penny sale:

I figured out 2 different layouts. The one in the lower right corner is a straight set with a black border all around and the one in the upper left runs the colored blocks diagonally across the quilt with black only in the upper left and lower right corners:

No idea yet which layout I prefer! Feel free to let me know if you, dear readers, have a preference! In any case, I can’t make any more black blocks until I decide, because if I go with the black border all the way around, every one will have the color extensions and I will have to have the entire center fully arranged to know what colors are going where before making them. Meanwhile, I can keep making colored blocks since I need about 20 more.

I am making slow but steady progress on Maple Leaf Rag. Border #3 is finished and I’ve started the embroidery embellishment of border #4:

I’m doing outline hand quilting on Sweet Journeys:

In my last post, I forgot to mention that one of my goals for 2022 is to gradually clean and organize the sewing room. It’s actually not in bad shape, but the last time I did this was 4-5 years ago and since then more stuff has accumulated, some of it in the wrong places, and my sense of what supplies I’m realistically going to need going forward has changed some so this makes sense so things don’t get too out of control. My first item was to change my ironing surface cover! This was last done about a year ago and boy did it need a change! Mine gets funky with scorch marks, sizing spilled on it, etc. I have my own homemade (out of plywood) surface made from a Sharon Schamber Youtube tutorial and love it. I like covering it with Stonehenge fabrics because it looks like I’m working on a granite surface and it looks great in the sewing room! Here’s my latest:

Winter is here with a vengeance!

Those are the days to hunker down inside and sew!😊 Luckily there are still plenty of days warm enough to walk – anything over about 15 degrees! Some scenes from my neighborhood:

The elk farm and some elk!:

The bog and an area of frozen water, snow and branches that has an abstract quality:

Stone walls are everywhere here. Where dies this lead?….

Always looking for winter color – hardy plants!:

In my neighborhood: He needs a nose!😊:

I’m closing this post with 2 photos of a quilt that was recently featured on ”The Quilt Show”. I’m sorry I don’t have the name of the Japanese quilt maker – will try to get it and put it in my next post. I love everything about this hand made beauty and think you’ll enjoy seeing it!!!

Be kind, be grateful, and cherish each day, Gladi