For this trip, I didn't plan too much ahead. No patterns. Just a bunch of fabrics, and a notepad to do some math.
I pulled this fat quarter pack, that also included an alphabet panel, out of my stash and threw it into my weekend project bag. The illustrations are so clever, and it was time for this to come out of the stash and turn into something.
Bit by bit, I assembled the blocks, sashing, and borders. The challenge was staying within the limits of the fabric quantities I had. Sometimes fat quarters can be challenging that way!
Aaaand, here is the result!
The panel squares cut nicely into 6-1/2" squares, but I had to be really careful with the fabric limitations for the rest of the elements.
A lot of math happened, before any cutting started! I'm pretty pleased with the result, now it just needs quilting!
And yes, those are teeny quarter inch (finished) borders around each block. I did them with the help of the 1/4-3/8" BlocLoc log cabin tool. I love those rulers! Makes nearly impossible piecing easy. The cornerstones were little tiny stitch and flip snowball units.
I guess 'small' was the name of the game for me. I brought along a couple of finished, but not framed yet, cross stitch pieces. Seems appropriate to have little itty bitty cross stitch blocks to frame a cross stitch piece, right? So this happened:
Yep, they're 2" square. (I'm okay, really!)
Here is the result. The cross stitch was a kit I purchased years ago when visiting Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. I went to this historic site while visiting a guild in the DC area.
I finally got around to stitching the piece earlier this year and now it's ready to be quilted, bound, and placed in the front hallway. I think it's quite fun!
It's only about 8x12" in total.
When adding a cross stitch piece to a fabric frame, the aida cloth (or linen) in the seam may fray over time.
To avoid this, I did a regular 1/4" seam to secure the aida and quilting cotton, then added a zigzag stitch along the fabric/aida raw edge on each of the four sides of the cross-stitch edges.
When I sandwich for quilting, I may add a piece of muslin between the cross stitch layer and the batting to keep the batting from migrating through the loose weave cloth over time. 'Course, this isn't a high-use quilt, and as a wall-hanging it may never be washed, but it's just one of those things . . . why not take the extra step!
This piece challenged me. It's a cross-stitch of The Abbey in Cape May, New Jersey, a vacation destination for Dave and me a few years ago.
I really wanted to add some piecing to this border, but every idea seemed to compete with the delicate stitching. In the end, I opted for three simple borders.
The alphabet panel group had some smaller letters included in a couple of the fat quarters. My niece, her husband, and her two adorable toddler-aged daughters are planning a visit later this year. My two grand-nieces are going to get a little something from Aunt Joan - shh-hh, don't tell! Bird blocks from The FLOCK built into a pillow (one for each niece!) with names added to the scrappy border as a bonus!
While I was punching numbers into a calculator and fussy sewing, Gail pulled out the big stuff and added borders to nearly-finished projects, and clipped along on several other pieced blocks . . .
And being, in the woods, an unexpected visitor can show up from time to time to see what all the fuss is about.
This tiny frog (yes, that's a regular electrical plug so you can see just how small this little critter is!) wanted to play with all the small fabric pieces too!
Now, I just need to quilt and finish each project. Nearly done!
Many thanks to Gail for sharing her space with me for a very fun and productive weekend.
How about you? Do you have any summer sewing getaways planned?
Happy Stitching!
Joan
No comments:
Post a Comment