Today marked two weeks since I stopped working, and I can't believe how busy I've been! First off, a friend made a comment on how nice it must be 'to be a lady of leisure, and not have to worry about getting up!' Well, two weeks ago I committed with my friend Pat to walk every morning at 8:00 am around the softball field, so now for the first time in years.......I'm having to set an alarm for 7:00 am! Every day! Cripes! Lady of leisure.....with an alarm clock! But it feels really good to start the day with a 3 mile walk, and I'm finding a LOT more energy later in the day!
So much so, that I've been reorganizing my sewing room for the past few days, sorting scraps by color, putting fat quarters away, and getting everything in it's place. And of course, once it all got tidied up, I instantly wanted to start pulling fabrics for a new quilt! And no, I haven't finished my jubilee quilt back yet, but it's on the design wall, so it can't get too far out of sight!
The quilt I've started has been in my "must make" folder for over a year now. I think I found it on the Quilt Index, but I'm not really sure. It's an antique, and scrappy......and I've just been in love with it from the minute I saw it!
Isn't she gorgeous! I just love this quilt, and so I instantly started pulling my civil war repros to make it! About 6 months ago, I actually found a really great piece of chrome yellow for the background block, and when I got it home, I found it was EXACTLY the same print as in this quilt! Amazing luck!
But before I could start cutting all my fabric up, I really needed to plan this out! That's kindof my problem with quilting most quilts......I just wing it! About half the time I'll graph it out on paper, but a lot of the time, it's just a sketch. That's why when I make something on-point, it usually is a weird dimension, either huge or too small when finished.......cuz of the winging-it! lol
Well, I wanted this quilt to be GREAT......so out came the graph paper! But it's an equilateral triangle, and that's just a LOT of ruler work on a square grid paper. So I googled it! And came up with this great site.....
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/
It is loaded with any kind of graph paper you can think of, with FREE downloads that you can print out! Score! And you can make the dimensions of your graphs any size you want! So I played with it, and printed a few, and drew my quilt out, figured how many triangle/blocks I'd need, and went to town printing out pages for paper piecing it........so all my points will be there!
Months ago, I thought I would hand piece this, but now that I'm doing the 8-pointed star for my hand piecing project, I kindof wanted to get to this sooner. So paper piecing it is!
This is the paper I'm working from, and you can see the stack of paper pieces in the background.....all 203 of them! Three of these pieced and one single fabric will make up a block! And yeah, there are extra lines on this grid, but if I hadn't done that, I would have only got about 2 of these per page, and that would have taken forever, and wasted a lot of paper. Printed the way I did, I was able to get 12 from every legal size sheet of paper! Yay!
I LOVE THIS BLOCK! And and I love the background fabric.......it just looks darker here than it really is. (Note to self.......I really need to do something about those fluorescent lights in my sewing room! They ruin every picture! Ugh!)
So I'm working away on this.......I just couldn't stop once I got started! Who could, right? lol
I'll trim them all up later, but for now......I just love adding to this on the wall! These blocks are 6" finished size.
Of course, it hasn't been ALL about sewing these past 2 weeks.......I've actually been reading a book!.....and taking naps, too! Woohoo!
Life is good! Yes it is!
And tomorrow I'm heading down to Boston area to visit my friend, Rita. She's 91, still lives on her own, and does some kind of craft every day! She's the best rug braider I've ever seen, and she taught me how when I lived in Boston, some 14 years ago! She also hand quilts, knits fisherman cable sweater for American Girl dolls for her great-granddaughters, does counted cross-stitch, and crewel work, and.......
she says that everything she does is WRONG, because she's left-handed, so it's all backwards! Ha! She's amazing, and everything she does is a work of art! I can't wait to spend the day with her!
Have a great weekend!
regan
Your quilt is looking great! Enjoy your visit to Boston.
ReplyDeleteGreat quilt! Congrats on retiring. My sister-in-law once said that she was busier after retiring than when she worked. I didn't understand it until I retired.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great quilt! I'll enjoy seeing your progress. Thanks for the graph paper link. Sounds like retirement is agreeing with you. Have a great day with Rita. She sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteI can see why you love that quilt! It's a beauty, and you're off to a terrific start. Thanks for the tip on the graph paper. And congrats again on your retirement! Can't believe it's already been 2 weeks since the big day! Time flies when you're having fun!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't sound like you're slowing down at all, just veering off to enjoy some new adventure! Sometimes the prettiest part of the day is in the morning so although getting up early doesn't sound like fun, walking in the morning is a great way to start the day, isn't it? That is a great quilt and it looks like you're off to a great start!
ReplyDeleteI love your new project. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've found so many "must makes" on Quilt Index, I need to live to be 547 years old.
You are having TOO MUCH FUN. Settle down! : )
ReplyDeleteGlad retirement is agreeing with you.
That quilt is gorgeous. I'm impressed with the way you figured it out. Your method for designing quilts is what I often go through--just sketching things out on my graph tablet. This link will be handy. Thanks!
Hi Regan,
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing co-incidence. That quilt is an antique that belongs to me. And no, you didn't find it at the Quilt Index, but probably on ebay, which is where l found it. You are certainly off to a great start with your reproduction. Looking forward to following your progress. l would love to know what the name of the crome fabric is and where you bought it, as l would love to buy some if they still have it.
Great quilt and I thanks for sharing your process with us!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to paper piece it.
Have fun in boston with your friend. I'd love to see photos of her braided rugs, I've always loved to make one.
Have fun and I'm so happy you are enjoying retirement!
Awesome! I love equilateral triangles -- made one for my mom when I still lived in Idaho and loved the whole process of the blocks NOT being square -- the screaming yellow is terrific too!
ReplyDeleteBonnie
Retirement is pure bliss! Glad you are enjoying it. Your new quilt is simply yummy! I wondered how you would make those triangles...paper piecing is a great solution.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your retirement! I would be excited about that quilt too...it's going to be gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteLaDonna
wow, you are the energizer bunny!!! That quilt looks WAY to difficult!! all those little pieces, wowie zowie you are good!
ReplyDeletegreat quilt! don't you just love being retired?
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying life. What did you retire from? Your new repro quilt is gorgeous! I haven't had the nerve to try that pattern - it looks hard!
ReplyDeleteOh my golly!! You always blow me away with your quilts!! This is such an awesome pattern and it's going to look amazing in your repros!! If I was retired I'd jump in and sew along. The morning walks sound great, it's wonderful you have a friend to walk with.
ReplyDeleteHi Regan,
ReplyDeleteI know it's an effort to set that alarm for 7 am but I am truly enjoying our 8 am walks. With all of our chit-chat about quilting blogs, quilt patterns, fabric, quilt shops and organizing, that 3 mile walk goes too fast. When we moved here 7 years ago I was so depressed about leaving so many of my longtime quilting friends behind. I now feel so lucky to have found such a good friend in our little corner of the world who is so talented and is as passionate about quilting as I am. Because of our walks we now get to spend time together every day! Woohoo! Life is good.
Hope you had a great visit with Rita.
Pat
Regan,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the quilt you are reproducing and think it is terrific that you were able to find the same yellow fabric. How serendipitous! I enjoyed reading about your progress so far and look forward to seeing what fabrics you include in your other blocks.
Have a fun trip to visit your friend. :)
Judy
Wow! Your newest project is amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your friend!! She sounds pretty amazing too!!
Your quilt looks great. I'm looking forward to watching your progress on it. Thanks for the graph paper link!
ReplyDelete