Yesterday morning this was a box of unconnected quilt blocks and squares. A couple of quilters had done some extra work to make spare triangle units. If you want to know how it looked, you can find it on the Quilters at Sussex Blog. Four of us got together at the Neighbourhood House yesterday afternoon to see what we could do about putting it together into a quilt top. Within three hours the job was done. It was so easy compared to doing it on my own. For a start, setting a time and place for a job helps me to get some focus. Then the company and wisdom of others is great for my motivation and problem-solving. While someone stitched, someone else pressed and another trimmed. Here are the details. We had cake and cookies and cups of tea and by dinner time I had a completed quilt top to take home. Today I'm going to drop into a couple of quilt stores to see about a border. Then there will be another team get together to do the basting. If yesterday's effort is anything to go by, we may even get to start the quilting on that day.
Showing posts with label Friendship Star. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friendship Star. Show all posts
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Yay Team!
Oh, I love a team! Unusually for a Victorian, not a football team, but a work-team. Here's why:
Yesterday morning this was a box of unconnected quilt blocks and squares. A couple of quilters had done some extra work to make spare triangle units. If you want to know how it looked, you can find it on the Quilters at Sussex Blog. Four of us got together at the Neighbourhood House yesterday afternoon to see what we could do about putting it together into a quilt top. Within three hours the job was done. It was so easy compared to doing it on my own. For a start, setting a time and place for a job helps me to get some focus. Then the company and wisdom of others is great for my motivation and problem-solving. While someone stitched, someone else pressed and another trimmed. Here are the details. We had cake and cookies and cups of tea and by dinner time I had a completed quilt top to take home. Today I'm going to drop into a couple of quilt stores to see about a border. Then there will be another team get together to do the basting. If yesterday's effort is anything to go by, we may even get to start the quilting on that day.
Yesterday morning this was a box of unconnected quilt blocks and squares. A couple of quilters had done some extra work to make spare triangle units. If you want to know how it looked, you can find it on the Quilters at Sussex Blog. Four of us got together at the Neighbourhood House yesterday afternoon to see what we could do about putting it together into a quilt top. Within three hours the job was done. It was so easy compared to doing it on my own. For a start, setting a time and place for a job helps me to get some focus. Then the company and wisdom of others is great for my motivation and problem-solving. While someone stitched, someone else pressed and another trimmed. Here are the details. We had cake and cookies and cups of tea and by dinner time I had a completed quilt top to take home. Today I'm going to drop into a couple of quilt stores to see about a border. Then there will be another team get together to do the basting. If yesterday's effort is anything to go by, we may even get to start the quilting on that day.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Planning
I'm planning a new quilt for the Neighbourhood House. This one will be a raffle quilt--so a fundraiser as well as a chance to promote quilting within our community. This interlocking stars pattern was suggested:
It's based on a Friendship Star, but instead of just one set of stars there are two. A pattern of interacting Friendship Stars sounds like a great metaphor for a Neighbourhood House. Plus it's a simple enough design that relatively new quilters could be involved.
My first dilemma: the most efficient way to piece this design would be to work in rows: each row alternates a plain square unit and a unit made up of two triangles. On the other hand, Neighbourhood House is all about participation. Piecing the quilt in blocks--each made up of one Friendship Star--would be more inclusive and would give more people a sense of ownership of the project. Since the stars interlock, though, there'll be an odd row between each clear star block and only half the stars can be pieced as blocks. Oh well, I think it's still worth going with participation and ownership over efficiency.
You can see that my drafting is still done with paper and pencil. I've played with the idea of getting one of the software packages, but I haven't bitten that particular bullet yet. Sketching designs out by hand is time consuming, but it's a way of getting familiar with the pattern and anticipating the piecing process. I find it relaxing and absorbing. I don't know if that would be the case working on my computer--then again, I'm enjoying blogging well enough.
It's based on a Friendship Star, but instead of just one set of stars there are two. A pattern of interacting Friendship Stars sounds like a great metaphor for a Neighbourhood House. Plus it's a simple enough design that relatively new quilters could be involved.My first dilemma: the most efficient way to piece this design would be to work in rows: each row alternates a plain square unit and a unit made up of two triangles. On the other hand, Neighbourhood House is all about participation. Piecing the quilt in blocks--each made up of one Friendship Star--would be more inclusive and would give more people a sense of ownership of the project. Since the stars interlock, though, there'll be an odd row between each clear star block and only half the stars can be pieced as blocks. Oh well, I think it's still worth going with participation and ownership over efficiency.
You can see that my drafting is still done with paper and pencil. I've played with the idea of getting one of the software packages, but I haven't bitten that particular bullet yet. Sketching designs out by hand is time consuming, but it's a way of getting familiar with the pattern and anticipating the piecing process. I find it relaxing and absorbing. I don't know if that would be the case working on my computer--then again, I'm enjoying blogging well enough.
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