Always have to have a Plan B

With the holiday in the middle of the week, there have been just too many things to do to get to quilting, but now, the errands are done, the house is somewhat liveable, and most of the chores are done. It is time to get to it.

I was so excited to finally start working on the end of my quilt top--laying out my applique pieces for the top and bottom borders of my quilt. I have yet to cut the fabric for the borders. That was where I planned to start. That was yesterday.

Time for Plan B

Thing is, I realized that according to the pattern, the side borders were to be positioned first. I hadn't even started to work on all those applique pieces. That means I had to cut out and prepare (gluing all the raw edges) them. Thankfully, there aren't as many, however, those swirly shapes are a bit more complex.

Once I cut out all the pieces, I was anxious to use my double finger press method to prepare all the applique pieces expeditiously. 

I recently purchased a new glue stick from Sewline. It is much smaller, and easier to hold like a pencil. It is much less clunky than the giant Elmer's glue stick I had been using. The smaller surface made it less messy. The glue stayed where I put it. 

It seemed to me though that the glue wasn't quite as sticky, but once it was pressed with the iron, it seemed to hold even better. 

I spent the day yesterday cutting all of the pieces and preparing all but the swirlies. I hope to finish those today. Perhaps this quilt top will be completed by the end of 2019--stay tuned. 

How cool is this?

Still a work in progress, these pieces need to be sewn together and a border around the circle will create a square, but I just can’t say enough about how much I am going to love this quilt. 

When I was a kid, my favorite toy was a Spirograph. I loved making shapes with that toy, and the more intricate the better. I used to make a shape, any random shape, and then move the pen just a few clicks to ‘echo’ that shape. I did it over and over again until I got the effect I wanted. I wish I still had some of the gorgeous designs I made. They would likely help me with quilting free motion designs. I used to play with my Spirograph for hours.
This quilt reminds me of that toy.

Now that I think about it, I should start playing with shapes and designs and come up with my own ideas for a quilt rather than use someone else’s design. That is one of my quilting goals—to design my own quilts. I’m just not there yet. I’m still in awe of what other people are doing. Perhaps I will never get there, who knows? The quilting world continues to evolve, and there are so many different things I’d still like to try.

But, I am really enjoying this paper-pieced design by Becky Goldsmith. This is really an enjoyable project.

By the way, this will be the third block I’m working on. The first two have been completed.

There are 9 different blocks in the quilt. I can’t wait to make all of them. These blocks are huge. That means I am 1/3 of the way to a completed quilt top.