Since this is the last Monday of the year, and by my count this is my 48th Design Wall Monday (and not my 52nd) I must have missed a couple of posting along the way! However, that is a pretty good effort and I am pleased with how these Monday postings have helped to move projects along. I have received some great ideas in the comments/feedback of these postings, and sometimes the encouragement to continue has really helped to keep a project out of the UFO dungeon! I definitely plan to continue with these Monday postings in 2011. Thanks to
Judy for organizing this opportunity.
I have been stalled with my
Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll mystery quilt since step #3. Partly it was because of finishing Christmas projects, but partly because I thought if I was going to string piece some blocks, I should be working on this quilt.
This is a project that is on my UFO wish list and hasn't been seen on my blog for about 4 years! It is my first, and likely my only, "quilt-as-you-go" project. I started string piecing these blocks at a quilting retreat in February 2007 to use up some scraps. (You can click
here to see the first blocks). I have been working on it periodically over the years and received some
string scraps from Julie earlier this year that I been using up and really want to finish this quilt in 2011.
There are 2 reasons why this thing is taking forever to finish.
1) When I picked up the project after a long hiatus, I made a big mistake. Can you spot it in the block on the bottom right??
I
forgot that I was making light and dark sides, and made many string blocks just totally scrappy, which wrecked my pattern. So when I finally remembered my original plan, I had to decide whether to take the scrappy blocks apart or use them as is. Some were just too
terrible scrappy to be included and needed to be reconstructed, and some are going to be carefully placed as outside blocks.
2) The second problem is that although I love string piecing the individual blocks, I really dislike sewing the blocks together. I am joining the blocks together using the method that Andrea showed on her tutorial
here. And I get a lot of this problem...
No matter how careful I am, and how I fuss around with pinning, it seems impossible to match up these seams when joining up the long rows. So I have decided to just accept that "endearing quality" about this quilt and just get it done! This project is on my
2011 UFO list so look for more postings about it next year.
What's on your design wall as we come to the end of 2010?
14 comments:
Love all the scrappiness of this project. Good for you on being flexible, sometimes perfect is way too overrated!!
With all the color and 'activity' of those blocks, all those little 'imperfections' (as you seem to consider them) are simply amazing character! Really....not just saying that because I'm a fellow quilter. It's a down-right lovely SCRAP quilt!
GOSH! I can't stop looking at those blocks. So adorable! What size did you make them?
I agree with the above comments-but I totally understand the frustration-love the blocks, will enjoy seeing it come together.
Love your header picture too!
I really like those blocks! Very colorful, and I like and dark/light shading.
You are ahead of me, I took time off the machine for the Christmas Break and haven't started Bonnie's Mystery. See you in the New Year when we are finishing quilts nearly every month.
The blocks look great. I'm taking a vacation from my machine till the New Year.
the blocks look great!
i have a suggestion for those seams- when i sew a sashing in between block rows, i use a ruler and a chacoliner and mark lines as tho i've pieced cornerstones.
just start at the beginning of the sashing strip and mark the block size (i actually measure the sections of each block row and mark the measurments exactly. it also helps to keep your quilt 'square'), then the width of the little blue strip, and so on. when you pin the sash to the block row, match your chalked lines to the seams of the block row.
your seams will match across the sashing..clear as mud?
happy new year!
Love these blocks........change the way you are putting your blocks together...offset them like Mary Johnson does here--
http://www.maryquilts.com/heartstrings-qayg-blocks/
you don't need to quilt as you go and it takes the matching pressure off. Good luck to you. :)
Love your string quilt and the color pallette is awesome!
Quilts with those endearing qualities are the ones I like best.......... How good you are going to feel when it is done........
I'm stuck on doing those string blocks for Bonnie's mystery too! This mystery is so sewing heavy. The UFO string blocks are pretty! Glad you are deciding to persevere and "let it be".
Well I really Like it! I love the color combos, and what is the saying about the boo boo's - if you can't see them from a galloping horse - they don't exist???
Thanks for the heads up about Barbara Brackman's block-of-the-month. I'm in . .
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