In early April, I posted Small progress in quilting in which I wrote: "Some years ago (2006 or 2007?) I took Dudette and Bogie to the quilting supplies store that was about one mile from our house (it closed several years ago). There, they were to pick out fabrics and block designs for quilts that I promised to make them. Have I actually made the two quilts? Silly question. Of course I have not - yet!"
Further, I posted a computer-generated graphic (repeated, below) of the design that Dudette had chosen, and lamented about the tedious nature of the work it would take to make the blocks for the quilt top.
At that time, I had been experimenting with making the blocks larger, in order to lessen the amount of tedium; however, in the end, I decided that the quilt would be more pleasing to Dudette using 6" square blocks as had been used in the sample quilt that had been on display at the quilting supply store.
Drum roll: I have started. As found in the photo, below, about 10 blocks have been completed (small stack on the right) with 66 more blocks' worth of pieces' being ready for the final stitching/cutting (the two stacks in the middle - a rectangle of fuchsia fabric plus an intermediate part of a block makes two completed blocks). Somehow, I ended up with a single preliminary part of a block (on the left).
Fortunately, in quilting class (back in 2006 or 2007?), I learned not to cut each piece out separately in forming the preliminary parts of a block such as is on the left. Instead, I cut strips of each of the fabrics, sew the strips together along the length of the strips, and then cut the two as a unit to form the preliminary parts of a block. That still leaves a lot of tedious work, but lessens it to a degree.
The photo, below, shows a completed block. Stu's SWMBO will recognize the block as Mary's Triangle Block (at least that's what it's called in the States). For anyone who cares to know how one gets from an intermediate part of a block + fuchsia rectangle to two completed blocks, I'll upload the instructions for making Mary's Triangle Block.
Another thing that lessens the tedium is that nifty triangle in the left foreground of the above photo. I happened across it in a quilt store a couple of months ago while seeking something else. It makes drawing 45-degree angle lines on the backs of the intermediate parts of blocks, as described in the instructions, easier. Those stitching lines must pass through the corner of the blue block, precisely, and be correctly oriented for the completed block to look/be right.
That will be awesome when you are finished!
OTH, now I know where I get my dithering from - the projects I could have completed if I hadn't stewed about ways in which to make them easier, better, or more convenient :O
Posted by: bogie | July 14, 2018 at 04:34 PM
Oh, yes, I can dither away decades! I'll apologize, now (while still living), for your turning into your mother. By the time I seriously started turning into my mother, after she had died, I was ready to see that it wasn't a bad thing. I hope that you have the same experience. (It beats being seriously pissed off for the rest of your life!)
I'm hoping that this quilt looks as good in person as it does in the computer rendering. When I laid the first 10 blocks out, in pattern, HH pronounced it "pretty"!
Posted by: Cop Car | July 14, 2018 at 05:14 PM
Oh yes, I like this!
Posted by: Joared | July 18, 2018 at 11:30 PM