I got a call from my friend and fellow Bama Belle Jane this morning about the time I was about to head out the door to walk. Did I want to go to the quilt shop in a town in the next county up and out to lunch in a couple of hours? She, her mom Sarah and our friend Aline were going. The time frame was doable so off I went. DJ was on the golf course trying to beat the heat. That is almost impossible this time of year.The first shop we went is going out of business at the end of the month but there were no big discounts on the fabric. The books were half price though so I got the Civil War Diary book---not that I think I am going to actually make any of the blocks but I do like the history part of the book---not a bad price either with no shipping. I found a bridger type fabric, black with a lot of gold in it directional print and those fun kitties HAD to follow me home too--just a half yard there. I think you will see it better once you click on the picture.
We left for lunch at Mexican restaurant near the quilt shop. Aline and I both have August birthday's so the ladies treated us. Chimichanga special for me today. We have eaten there before so we knew the food was good.
So what are you looking at here? Well, that round robin I have to do next--another picture below to show the whole quilt. I believe I am going to have a hard time with this one. The person who passes to me used that slippery poly cotton in black ( yet again). It does not lay flat, the border edge is not even either. If it looks like it flares in the picture, it is NOT an optical illusion. Closer inspection shows that she didn't use quarter square triangles on the outside edge--it is half square triangles so I am dealing with bias, big time.
The question: Is this thing trying to become an Amish looking quilt? One Aline had recently that was trying very hard to be a pink quilt.I know what I want to do in the way of stars--something spiky and similiar to a Friendship Star but elongated, maybe 3 or 4 on each side of the quilt but what to use for the background. Our options are stars and/or log cabins and must be 4 inch finished.
The spacer color I bought at the first shop led to the purchase of the warm honey brown batik at a second shop maybe 10 miles from the first stop. Well, batiks, lots of other color in there too--limey green, yellow, purplish and that hot pink as well. I got enough fabric (3.50 a yard) that I can fussy cut if I have to. The two fats may go for the star blocks background and then the chunks of batik. between the stars. Hopefully that will calm this down, lighten it up and lead to a jumping off place for the next person. I am in no hurry to tackle this and the deadline is 1 month away.
SO only one 1/2 yard piece of fabric for me personally and one book--rest is for a sewing obligation. Not bad but then I didn't sign up to no buy--round robins were permissible even if I had.
It is going on 5 p.m. and time to think about fixing supper--what, I don't have a clue. I walked, shopped and lunched--read blogs, commented, emailed and talked to my mom (my grandmother's condition is worsening) Some laundry is done and no CEU studying yet today or binding. I would like to get the label/document ready for Betsy's quilt if I get nothing else done today. Anything else will be "gravy"
TTYL------
So glad to hear you had the outing for the needed fabric, and the lunch for very, very soon to be birthday..*VBG*. Boy, oh boy, is that some challenge with the RR. Any one part would be plenty without so many of them! I think the HST corners would be the worst pit of all. But it has nothing on the polycotton. I think this one is really going to try your patience, but I have no doubt you are going to succeed.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that Grandmother is not doing well. As you say, not unexpected though.
EWW that black looks awful to work with... Good luck!
ReplyDeletehopefully you'll find it easier sewing once you get a spacer border on the rr so you don't have the waffle and bias to deal with....
ReplyDeletewhat a fun day it sounds to me..gosh the gal before you is soooo stuck on black!
ReplyDeletewhat is with that??? and I can not even imagine how you are going to tame those ripples! oh my goodness.
I'd either run a basting stitch around that outside...or I'd contact the medallion owner and ask if she wouldn't mind you re-doing it. You're going to have a devil of a time!
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!
I feel your pain on the RR. The one and only RR I was in was so difficult because the one ahead of me was not careful. Her applique was sloppy, her pieced borders were inaccurate. It made whatever I wanted to do much too challenging for my skill level. You are probably going to have to put something on to stop the waviness and then square it up. Oh dear - lots of luck. And that yellow needs to be tamed down!
ReplyDeleteYup, I think I would definitely find out if the owner wouldn't mind if it were done over. I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do to it with all that "waviness". RRs are tricky..
ReplyDeleteAll i can say is good luck with working on the quilt. I have never participated in a RR. I would worry if something wasn't going right with it.
ReplyDeleteLet us know what you decide to do with it.
I wouldn't even know where to start for that RR. Maybe take some darts in the black to make the wavy go away? Uggh.
ReplyDeleteSo for your RR portion of the show, can you remove the previous addition and do it over :-)? That's plain silly to use poly/cotton and it isn't fair to expect the next person to work with a ripply ocean like that. At this point, I would rebel.
ReplyDeleteOKay.....black fabric...hmmmmmm. Didn't see too much mis-shaped, but I still like the cartoon!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with all the black!
You are a woman of strong will!!!
ReplyDeleteOkay, first...is BLACK the required theme of this RR??? Jeez! From the looks of th epicture, it looks like the outside triangles are larger than the inside ones, that and she chopped them with scissors. Yikes! If you don't want to rip, I'd try tightening the seams on that gbottom edge to pull in some of the extra slack. You know what I mean? Kinda start on her seam at the top of the triangle then angle down and sew a tighter seam going in about an 1/8th of an inch towards the bottom on each seam and see if that pulls it into square.
ReplyDeleteSometimes if peices are bowing out, I pinch a tiny bit of the seam and see if making a bigger seam at the end will help and then I sew it again moving the seam over a tiny bitas I work towards the end. Your black with the gold seems to be great in that you can maybe get it squared using that and it won't show that it's not perfectly the same all around. 1/8th here and there won't show.
Good luck to you. You do such nice work that you will no doubt fix this mess. I'm sure the owner will appreciate all the effort.
A fun outing for shopping and lunching with friends. A good way to spend the day *s*
ReplyDeleteWow - it sounds from your comments like a lot of us have been stuck following a not so careful piecer in a Round Robin. My one and only experience with an online group had me taking apart and redoing the border from the previous participant - every single time. Ugh. I feel your pain and will be interested to see what you do with this one.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the round robin. I really like the center of that one, and I have faith you'll be able to clean it up.
ReplyDeleteSounds like JudyL has done this before.. take her advice and try to square that up.. i personally don't mind the black other than the choice of fabric content. looks shiny!!
ReplyDeletelove the batik you picked up. works well with the medallion