A Quilting Endeavor - Working on a Goal
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It’s Monday morning and another week is marching on; it seems just like last week we were sitting in the middle of January. My, my how the time flies! Seven months into this year and I’m plugging away on my goals. During the summer months, I don’t bake bread because it ruins quickly in my kitchen, so I’ve not made any bread in awhile. Because of this, my Pain de Mie bread is on hold. I’m still working on perfecting Continental knitting; the binding off is giving me fits. Today, I’m sharing about my quilting endeavor. Boy, oh boy, do I have a lot to tell you.
When I began this crazy idea of wanting to learn to quilt, I really should have gone with something SUPER EASY for an almost beginner. But, I let my stubbornness keep me from going the easy route. I knew I wanted a Civil War era reproduction quilt; one without all the free motion quilting. I wanted something that would look as if I found it stored away in a trunk somewhere. I wanted something that would go with my primitive decor. After searching the internet, I found Barbara Brackman’s blog with the most intriguing quilt pattern and an extra little history nugget included.
It took me several weeks to decide on fabric for my quilt because I could not afford the fabric that was mentioned in the quilt pattern. Since I like to be able to see and touch the actual fabric, trusting a website’s photos of fabric was hard for me. But, I finally decided on the Civil War Fabric Collection by Keepsake Quilting. What I ordered were two 2 ½ inch jelly rolls since I wanted to make a larger quilt. Oh yes, I also used a coupon code from Goodshop and saved over $20 on my order.
After spending 3 months (spare time) of cutting countless 2 ½ inch squares, and waiting two weeks for a ¼ piecing foot for my sewing machine, I finally started piecing the blocks together, last week. Talk about nerve-racking, knowing how much money I spent on fabric and my attention span on large projects. The first three blocks brought on the tears. I called my sister and asked her if I could send them to her so she could do it for me. I even contemplated selling them locally, but through it all I slowly pieced the squares together and I am HOOKED!!!
One thing I am doing differently than the pattern, I am not using the star block. I tried practicing the triangles on scrap fabric and nothing I do turns out. So instead of causing myself a nervous breakdown, I’m only doing the square blocks for this quilt.
The picture posted is of one of the better-squared blocks with the little squares actually lining correctly but, they are STILL NOT PERFECT. (Those little squares not lining up is what had me in tears.) Sadly, I am not a patient person, so I only planned out a few of the blocks. Some of the others I willy nillied them and the rest I copied the planned blocks but only reversed them as you can see in the next picture.
Another thing, I’m thinking about changing in this pattern, is the use of sashes between the blocks. I’m not too sure about this yet, I will have to wait and see since I’m trusting my math ability with the number of blocks. :) Who knows how that is going to turn out!!!
I would love to promise a weekly post on my quilting, but with school starting, I don't see it happening. But I will promise to update about this project when I can.
So, are you still working towards your goals?
When I began this crazy idea of wanting to learn to quilt, I really should have gone with something SUPER EASY for an almost beginner. But, I let my stubbornness keep me from going the easy route. I knew I wanted a Civil War era reproduction quilt; one without all the free motion quilting. I wanted something that would look as if I found it stored away in a trunk somewhere. I wanted something that would go with my primitive decor. After searching the internet, I found Barbara Brackman’s blog with the most intriguing quilt pattern and an extra little history nugget included.
It took me several weeks to decide on fabric for my quilt because I could not afford the fabric that was mentioned in the quilt pattern. Since I like to be able to see and touch the actual fabric, trusting a website’s photos of fabric was hard for me. But, I finally decided on the Civil War Fabric Collection by Keepsake Quilting. What I ordered were two 2 ½ inch jelly rolls since I wanted to make a larger quilt. Oh yes, I also used a coupon code from Goodshop and saved over $20 on my order.
After spending 3 months (spare time) of cutting countless 2 ½ inch squares, and waiting two weeks for a ¼ piecing foot for my sewing machine, I finally started piecing the blocks together, last week. Talk about nerve-racking, knowing how much money I spent on fabric and my attention span on large projects. The first three blocks brought on the tears. I called my sister and asked her if I could send them to her so she could do it for me. I even contemplated selling them locally, but through it all I slowly pieced the squares together and I am HOOKED!!!
One thing I am doing differently than the pattern, I am not using the star block. I tried practicing the triangles on scrap fabric and nothing I do turns out. So instead of causing myself a nervous breakdown, I’m only doing the square blocks for this quilt.
The picture posted is of one of the better-squared blocks with the little squares actually lining correctly but, they are STILL NOT PERFECT. (Those little squares not lining up is what had me in tears.) Sadly, I am not a patient person, so I only planned out a few of the blocks. Some of the others I willy nillied them and the rest I copied the planned blocks but only reversed them as you can see in the next picture.
Another thing, I’m thinking about changing in this pattern, is the use of sashes between the blocks. I’m not too sure about this yet, I will have to wait and see since I’m trusting my math ability with the number of blocks. :) Who knows how that is going to turn out!!!
I would love to promise a weekly post on my quilting, but with school starting, I don't see it happening. But I will promise to update about this project when I can.
So, are you still working towards your goals?
