Friday, September 30, 2011

Procrastination.....

Well -- let's be frank.  Procrastination can be fun when you're a quilter.  There are lots of dips and turns and creativity that can come as you work on one project and are distracted by another.  I am certainly guilty of that this week.

The cover quilt for the October issue of American Patchwork and Quilting came at just right time.  I needed to make a quilt for a special friend's son who is getting married and most of my fabric is in storage.  Lucky for me -- I brought all my FQ and smaller pieces for our foray into temp living and the bride loves all things Autumn -- particularly the colors.

So -- with the blessing of her soon-to-be-mother-in-law, I started cutting 2.5" and 3" squares out of my browns, reds, oranges, deep yellows, greens, and a few purples -- and every scrap of "neutral" I had that fell in the buttercream family.  This quilt requires 50 blocks and each block requires eight HSTs at 2.5".  I am one of those quilters who cuts the squares at 3", does the double seam, and then after pressing them open, trims every single HST to 2.5".  I could have avoided this "fun" by cutting the original square at 2 7/8" but I prefer the accuracy.  The tiny little pile with the red paisley on top is the stack of "trimmed" blocks -- the mountain still needs trimming and squaring up!

This has been a marathon of sewing and sewing and sewing followed by  trimming and trimming and trimming -- not to mention pressing seams open.  You get the idea.  The pile felt insurmountable.  The wedding is in mid October.  I need to be making stars and stars and stars.

But -- instead, I got sidetracked and started playing with the scraps.  I have never been taken by the "crumb" fever that has been prevalent since Bonnie Hunter made the very valid point that scraps still cost $9 per yard (and now $10) and need to be used.  Jo at Jo's Country Junction has been hosting a "Crumb Along" and I've been reading along but not crumbing along.  Until now. And I just had to make one 6.5" block which took much longer than the star.  This is not good.  My scrap bin exploded and I know how big the basket of scraps is that is packed and coming in three weeks.  I do not need to get started with this -- but it was kind of fun and it's so rewarding to be using little pieces that are too small/thin for strings.  Oh, dear......

One down and  49 to go!   Keep piecing -- no matter how small!  Jan

PS -- I'm linking to Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet (button to the right).  She regularly sponsors this as a way for smaller bloggers to get some new readers and possible followers.  Check out her blog as well as the Small Blog Meet!  Both are worth your time!

9 comments:

Hitch and Thread said...

Doesn't it seem to take forever all that trimming. I've only about 80 left to go. Yay. Don't give up it will
look great when it's finished.

Jo said...

I liked that cover quilt and thought about making it but you know...the list is LONG of things I want to make. I would suggest every four triangle, run a crumb piece through. I do that a lot when I am faced with a quilt that has a bazillion half square triangles. It breaks up the sameness of it all. Happy crumbing.

Stephanie Nagano said...

Both blocks look great! Hmm I'm scared of HSTs but I would like to learn someday. I'm still working on getting a perfect 1/4 seam... maybe I should buy a new foot? What's the secret?

Following you! I came from the blog meet. :D

Grammy said...

I fell in love with the quilt on the front of APQ too. So far I have all of my 2 1/2" squares cut and all of the HST sewn, trimmed and pressed open. Now all of my components are just waiting for me to finish up two other projects before I begin this assembly. I am using all Kansas Troubles scraps in my top. I can't wait to see yours when it is finished!!

Kathy said...

What beautiful piecing :)

I also make my blocks a little larger than need be and trim them, adding this extra step takes a bit longer, but the finished blocks are easier to piece together. Looking forward to seeing it all finished.

Sandra said...

Your scrappy quilt project is lovely and is sure to be treasured. I'm also a "trimmer" which seems to work best for me.

Jules said...

Procrastination.....oh i am a master at that!. But i'll tell you about it tomorrow!. haha. great looking quilt by the way.

YankeeQuilter said...

I followed Bonnie's advice and have been cutting scraps according to her "system" hence I have two bins of 2-1/2 inch squares. This may be a good project to "bust" them! Both your blocks look great...

Martha said...

Coming over from Lily's....really enjoyed my visit..beautiful scrap quilt.