Abendrot - Decisions Made

Once all 35 WOF pairs were pressed, it was time to make a decision on Abendrot's design.

I have always loved the Candy Coated design from Amanda Jean Nyberg's book Sunday Morning Quilts.

So much so that I've made two scrappy quilts using that design - Metamorphosis and Groundhog Day.

Now Abendrot will be the third.

Step one was to calculate the sub-cut length - after some time with the calculator I decided to go with 8.5" (8" finished) segments.

Step two was to sort all those segments onto nine plates in order to evenly distribute the fabrics amongst the rows.

I have at least 2 extra segments on each plate so I'll be able to edit as I stitch each row.

Once the rows are created, I'll arrange them on the design wall.  

I'm not in any particular hurry to get Abendrot done (which is a good thing) but I do want to get the first row sewn to satisfy my own curiosity.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Finding your unique style . . . it's following the breadcrumbs of the things you like."

Grace Chon

Groundhog Day - The Quilt

Groundhog Day has happened!

I got so excited after sewing the rows together

that I forgot to take photos of the flimsy -

so here is a photo of the top being pin basted to the backing.

I took this photo immediately after I finished quilting 

the quilt with horizontal wavy lines.

I simply adore the texture

and the way it looks on the back of the quilt.

I couldn't bear to toss those last few string segments,

so I pieced them into the back.

After a false start on the binding (wrong color),

I went with a turquoise solid.

And then we were off to the park for a photo shoot

on a chilly windy morning.

I was going to take photos of the quilt

draped over the railings of the wooden bridge

but the wind nearly stole the quilt

and tried to toss it into the creek 

so we returned to the much safer playground area.

  

The sunlight threw some interesting shadows.

51" wide x 63" long

This finish comes nearly 2 years after I purchased

the Cherrywood fabrics at Spool (now closed) in Chattanooga.

And SO worth all the dithering and design changes

that happened along the way!

Quiltdivajulie

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"If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies... Do it in the 'closed' mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the 'open' mode... because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent."
John Cleese

Pruning the Blocks

It took an entire afternoon, but it is done.

What?

Pruning Groundhog Day's 80 oversize blocks.

Here you can see most of the pruned blocks 

in neat tidy rows with the top two 

still in their un-pruned state.

Ta- da . . . Pruning complete!

Each block is now 7" square

(they'll finish at 6.5")

and they're laid out 8 x 10

which should yield a top

52" wide x 65 long.

And this is what was left on the cutting table --

a big pile of skinny snippets / bits too small to use

and another much smaller pile of narrow trimmings

that I'll sew together . . . just because I can.

Now the blocks are ready

to be sewn together into a quilt top!

Quiltdivajulie

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"The joy of life is born of concentration. When you are having a cup of tea, the value of that experience depends on your concentration. You have to drink the tea with 100 percent of your concentration."
Thich Nhat Hanh

Groundhog Day - The Dilemma

Once all of the oversized blocks were pressed,

I started sticking them on the design wall.

I didn't want to square or trim ANY

of the blocks until I decided on a layout.

This is the way Amanda Jean 

organized her Slopes quilt -

the one that inspired me 

to finally use the Cherrywoods

I purchased in 2016.

I had 25 inset strip blocks to work with.

(more than the book's pattern called for - a lot more)

I wanted to see what multiple rows would look like

instead of the single row used in the book's quilt.

Hmmm - I think I need more blocks to decide.

Maybe . . . 

but what if I try something else?

This arrangement with the inset blocks 

all in a vertical position 

was supposed to be a rail fence arrangement.

But I stopped for two reasons -

This layout made my head hurt

and 

I only had 25 inset blocks to play with.

I went back to the idea of having three rows of inset blocks

but this time I placed them side by side

instead of separating them with an extra row of blocks.

Better . . . but it still didn't make me happy.

What if I left the three rows of inset blocks 

in their horizontal position but

changed the other rows to a vertical orientation?

Workable - but not really what I wanted to see.

What about all of thee rows oriented vertically?

I like this much better 

but the series of inset blocks 

didn't do anything for me

all clustered side by side.

Time to rearrange some more . . .

This time I randomly placed 

2 inset blocks in each of the 10 rows.

YES!

I like this a lot!!

Next step will be to trim all 80 blocks to 7" squares.

They'll finish at 6.5"

8 blocks wide x 10 blocks long 

will give me a top that measures  52" x 65"

* * *

So in the end,

I will NOT end up with a top

that looks like the one in the book.

Big surprise.

* * *

(belatedly linking this post

with SewStitchSnapShare No. 19 -

click here to see what others are sharing)

Quiltdivajulie

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"Predictability is boring! I want a book to take me someplace I haven't been before, show me sights I haven't seen, make me ponder questions I may not have pondered before."
Therese Fowler

One Seam at a Time

One seam at a time,

all 80 blocks for Groundhog Day

(my solids and near-solids with a splash of plaid -

see previous post for more images)

are now sewn together.

About 1/3 of them are pressed.

You can guess where I'll be later today . . .

spending some quality time with my trusty steam iron.

THEN it will be time to play 

with these on the design wall

before I do any trimming or squaring.

Photo taken at Jumping Jellybean

And if this isn't the picture of pure joy,

I'm not sure what that picture should look like.

(for an bigger smile,

 double click and supersize the photo)

He'll be 18 months old tomorrow . . .

Quiltdivajulie

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"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."  
Benjamin  Disraeli

Scrappy Solids Project - An Update

I took this photo as I was making the inset strip blocks

for my solids and nearly-solids project.  

(click here for a refresher)

Once the 25 inset blocks were finished,

I used my plate method to sort the remaining strings

into 56 reasonably-color-balanced sets.

Each plate contains strips to make one oversized block

that will later be squared to 6-1/2 inches.

I'm doing my best to stitch a few blocks each day.

For a wide variety of reasons,

I have named this quilt project

Groundhog Day.

p.s.  be sure to check out THIS ARTICLE

Quiltdivajulie

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“Every day is a new deal. 
Keep working and maybe something will turn up.”
Harvey Pekar