When do you get to the point where you are so invested in a project, that even if it is becoming more of a challenge than you first thought – you continue to plod through even if you aren’t super pleased that what you saw in your head really isn’t working?
I reached that point last night.
This hexie design that I graphed out is almost like setting a quilt together on-point.
To get the whole thing into a rectangular shape, it means it needs “half-blocks” or “half-motifs” on the sides, top and bottom.
I dug in to make a sample half-unit. Mind you, it took two nights to do the half-unit on the left of this photo – and I don’t like it. Not at all.
Not smart enough to stop there, I also tried to make the half unit for the top part of the quilt (which is a different shape, it’s like cutting a diamond across the belly instead of dividing it in half the long way from top to bottom.) And I didn’t like that either. And that one only took me ONE night to figure this out. That’s three nights in a row – kind of wasted.
This morning I was up extra early – not sure why – but I sat with my seam ripper to remove the aqua hexies at the edge of the side half-unit. That was a pain! Those hand stitches are harder to remove than machine stitching by far.
The plan now? I’m going to add more to these half-units and just go back to turning them into full units.
I’ll re-purpose the aqua hexies I removed. At least the ones that can be salvaged that weren’t damaged by the seam ripper.
And I’ve decided – that less is more. I’ll just make fill in half-units out of nothing but hexies to float the whole center design. Something that should have been evident from the get-go.
But here we are. It only took me 3 nights to get to this realization. Have you been here too?
This is where I spent a few hours yesterday.
It was a short day in the QPO studio as I needed to head home at 2:30 to pick up Hubster Dave. I had an appointment at the chiropractor in preparation for my long overnight flight to England on Saturday (Which follows my flights from Tennessee to Atlanta to JFK New York on Friday) and he wanted to go with me.
Without much time to really dive in, I thought the time I had could best be put to good use by turning it into a cutting session.
I want to make some progress on my red/neutral quilt.
More piecing will happen today!
My biggest hint for chain piecing hundreds of units that then need to be pressed?
SHORT CHAIN LENGTHS!
If you chan 300 (or more!) things in one long chain until the bobbin runs out you are going to have a tangled mess.
I find it helpful to keep my chains shorter – Here I have cut them in strings of 8 units that are no longer than my ironing board. It keeps things manageable.
I also like to chain-press – which makes the pressing go quicker as they are all in a line with the darker fabric on top and all pressing the same direction.
After pressing I can quickly cut between the units and trim dog ears.
So there will be a lot of that too…
Keeping my chains short is also another way to throw in more Leader & Ender units if you want. Or simply feed through 9 units, and trim off the 8 behind the presser foot to always leave the 9th one under the presser foot to hold your place.
Tangled long lines of chain piecing are a headache. Circumvent that by trimming your chain into shorter lengths as you sew, not after you are done and dealing with a ball of units.
Where things stand so far.
This quilt doesn’t have a name yet. It’s not strictly a holiday quilt as there are myriads of different scraps in it that are not holiday (Though there ARE some in there.)
I’ve ordered up a batting for it so I’ll be ready when the top is complete and I can baste it and get it ready for hand quilting. Yes. I think I want to hand quilt this one with a simple crosshatch.
And this is where I am this morning. The day before Thanksgiving.
I want to wish everyone celebrating a wonderful holiday – make memories wherever you can, whomever you are with.
And if you are alone this holiday, I’m thinking of you, too.
The PDF pattern for Moonflower is currently 25% off in the Quiltville Store, no coupon code needed.
But only through TOMORROW 11/26/24.
And since we are headed into the holidays (And holiday sewing as well!)
I’ve also placed a 25% discount on Pine Tree Point.
This quilt reminds me of all of the Christmas Tree trucks I see daily – pulling their tree harvest up and down these mountain roads, eventually to wind up in people’s homes to become Christmas memories.
If you have one started from last year – why not pull it out and get going on it again? It’s the perfect time!
International Customers Purchasing PDF Patterns: Do not use the BUY NOW button on the pattern page to check out with autofill. Place the item in your shopping cart and then go to the cart page to check out choosing either your credit card option or Paypal. Shipping addresses should not apply as this is a digital pattern purchase. I don’t know why it works this way, but it does.
Rulers, notions and tools are also 15% off using code NOTIONS at checkout to receive discount.
To use a coupon code – click REDEEM YOUR COUPON beneath the the total in the shopping cart. Enter the coupon code in the box that opens up. Click enter.
*NOTE* You need to put the code in BEFORE you click to your payment method for discount coupon to be applied.
TODAY 11/27/24 is the LAST DAY to place a ruler or item order that requires shipping before I leave for England on Black Friday. If you are on the fence…please place your order today so I have time to get it in the mail to you. Thank you.
Quiltville Quote of the Day –
And then there are those days where I run the loads through the dryer three times to get the wrinkles out because I’m so busy sewing and I forget take it out to get it folded and put away.
What, you too?
Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!
