Quilting again


I haven't done much quilting lately and when I got back to it I realized that the work I had done last fall (or whenever it was) was full of mistakes, so I spent much time "reverse sewing" - also known as "ripping out". These are such simple pieces and they are easily put together but if you sew on the wrong side of the little sandwich of pieces you have a larger piece that is just wrong!

 The pieces should go together like this, with verticals on the upper left corner. 
 but if you pick this up the wrong way and sew it on the wrong side ...


 You get this - with horizontals on the upper left corner. 
 Then if you sew then to another square you get this below 
 instead of this. How many did I do wrong last year? More than I should have and more than I want to admit and enough to keep me busy ripping reverse sewing for a long time this afternoon. 
 Here is the little bit that is done properly. It will be a quilt for a queen size bed so, as you might guess, I have a lot to do. It is going to be a rather weird quilt at best, but I will quilt it with lavender thread and hope for the best and it will be warm. By the way, these larger blocks haven't been sewn yet, so this might not be the final arrangement. 

If I ever finish this I plan to make a quilt for our bed. It will be red and pink and greens. The one we are using, made of all batiks (very soft fine fabric) is falling apart. It has served well, but it is time for a replacement. 

All is well, 
XOXOXO
Caroline

Comments

Chrissy said…
I've been meaning to comment on your last entries (I fell in love with the first pic of Lucy) but it's been too hot to stay long in my room under the roof.
But I read all your posts so I'm up to date with your artwork (didn't know Dean was a pilot!) which is full of life as usual - and now your patchwork with its gentle subtle colours.
Lovely, all of it!
August 2, 2013 at 1:10 PM
Caroline said…
Chrissy, it is so nice to read your comments. I am encouraged by your kind words.
Dean flew for Delta for 30 years after flying for the Air Force for 6 years. As you could imagine, he has some interesting stories to tell. We met when we were both working with the space program -he was flying the astronauts for their weightlessness training in preparation for the first moon landing.
Maybe I should make some moon paintings!,
August 2, 2013 at 11:32 PM
Vicki Styons said…
At first I didn't quite understand about the quilt but it finally sunk through this thick skull that the squares of 4 had to be in the proper order so that they could be sewn together properly. DUH.

I MIGHT enjoy making a quilt IF it didn't require exact measurements, etc. I am not good with exact measurements whether it is cooking or sewing or whatever. I am more of a "that's close enough" type which isn't such a good thing!
August 2, 2013 at 11:42 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rain, lovely rain

Image
We are having a long slow, soft rain and it is wonderful. We have lately had our share of hard winds, hard, rain, and hard heat.  Gentle is a nice change. So far the ground isn't saturated, but it is getting a good soak. The leaves on the redbud outside the dining room, gather drops. The leaves are huge and heart shaped and the effect is lovely. There is no breeze so the drops cling until the rain is harder or gravity finally pulls them to the ground. Out the front door the street is all shiny and the air is clean. The porch could stand some paint but that will have to wait for another, drier day. What you can't see here is a stack of newspapers that accumulated while we were gone and forgot to stop delivery and which I put off dealing with while it was so hot. They have to be freed from the plastic bag and rubber band , flattened and put with the recycling. Maybe I should just stop taking the paper, but It is good to keep up with the local happenings. All of you w...
Read more

Some Apples

Image
Some apples that Alex brought from a tree at his mother's house in NC and a guava(?) from the grocery store.  Once I sketched these in I had to go sit down - it had been so new to me and took so much concentration that I was shaky! I have a long way to go but I am going. For this 4"x4" I mixed the colors from a basic palette of two yellows, one warm and one cooler, two reds (same),  two blues(again warmer and cooler) and white. I have previously used more colors and have a drawer full but learning to mix what I need is part of the challenge. I see all the errors on this, I think, but if you want to critique, have at it. I won't get mad and will most likely learn something! All is well and all will most certainly be well! XOXOXO. Caroline
Read more

Up the stairs and down again.

Image
This old house has ceilings that are about nine and one-half feet high. That means that there are 17 steps from one floor to the next. Today I decided that I had to take all the Christmas decorations up to the attic after making one last sweep through the house for forgotten little doodads. I carried up 11 loads. I had no idea that we had so many decorations. Actually, some of the boxes were quite light as they were fitted out for tree ornaments, most of which are feather-light. Still, by the time I finished, my knees were complaining. Oh, yes, the quilt on the wall is one I made years ago and the only one of mine to have been published in a quilting book. It is covering the place where we cut an opening for the whole house fan.  Here is a closeup. Well, it is kinda close up. I was standing on the steps. I used the fabrics on hand and tried to link each to the other by color. It was fun to do. See how nice the storage room looks? The rocking chair is one that my grandmo...
Read more