flower basket
I learned a lot on this quilt. This is a good thing, as long as you remember what you learn. I learn things on every quilt, and sometimes they don't stick. I have learned several times that sewing two blocks at once doesn't save time. Trimming two blocks at once not only doesn't save time, but wastes fabric. And once it was fabric I was running out of.
There really isn't any substitute for planning. And remembering what you plan. Originally this was going to have a woven border, but that just didn't fit. So I scrapped the original design and proceeded to wing it the rest of the way. It was also going to be a twin size quilt, say, 60 by 90 inches. After I had completed the center diamond up to the starry flower things, I discovered the dimensions were 46 inches square, and about 68 inches on the diagonal. Oh well! I will just pick some blocks for the triangles, and make center diamond intrude on the border. This has worked in the past.
So I painstakingly determined the diagonal measurement for the blocks if they were 9 inch blocks: 43 inches, including sashing. This should fit on a 46 inch piece.
Then I made 12 inch blocks instead.
No problem, I can just add the turquoise diamond square border. Now the finished dimensions are 62 inch square, with a diagonal measurement of 87 inches.
This is no longer a twin size quilt.
But I muddled on, adding the diamonds and the border. The center diamond does intrude on the border, which is not really noticable, but the way it does is kind of cool. At least that worked out. Final dimensions are 96 inches square, and oversized queen quilt. We don't have a queen sized bed.
Then I realized I had not added the flowers in the flower baskets. So I fused them on, piece of cake. But fusing needs to be anchored. A sensible person at this point would have done it at the same time as the quilting, but I had delusions of satin stitching them, and that really isn't possible on the long arm I had access to. So I quilted it, brought it home, bound it, and let it sit for a while.
My machine not only doesn't satin stich, it is too small to zigzag properly on a quilt this size. So I ended up running a couple lines of stitching around all the borders. This is raw edge applique, something I am not fond of. And I'm not happy with the job I did.
But it is done.
And, I am happy to report, it is warm. Now we have to go buy a cabin in the woods to put it in.
posted by Marion @ 10:42 AM
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