SEVEN TO GO

There hasn't been much time for sewing lately because the Garden Centre is, finally, becoming quite busy.  That's wonderful as it's past the middle of May and we'd like to sell the plants we raised!

But yesterday I did sew one block of the Entwined quilt.  Today, a very quiet day, I finished three blocks.  I was quite sure of how many, and what size blocks were still needed, but thought it was a good idea to check by laying out the blocks as they will be used.

The seven blocks that are needed are a repeat of the very left-hand column, and they would be placed on the right side of the quilt. These blocks are simply laid out on the floor just touching, not sewed together yet.

I guess there will be a small border of red, then perhaps some beige and a final binding, probably also red.  These will be auditioned to see if they look right.

I still really like this quilt.  I love how it looks as if it's bent here and there, even though it is flat on the floor.  But I'm really bored of sewing the same block over and over.  I need a lot of self-restraint not to branch off into some other project.  However, this quilt really needs to be complete by July so it can go home with D.D. and D.S.iL.  Shipping a large quilt would be prohibitive!

Another possible project came along this past week.  In 1990 I knit a lovely, pure wool sweater for the Dear One.  Over the years I reknit the cuffs (twice) and knit patches for the worn-out elbows.  That sweater is beyond a simple fix now.  I thought maybe I could take it apart and reuse some of the wool, combine it with a plain brown wool, and create another good sweater.  BUT when I tried to take it apart, it was apparent that was not going to work.  Here's the sweater being unravelled onto the ball winder:

At bit later it was apparent that I wouldn't be able to salvage much from this old favourite.  It went into the garbage bin.  Sniff, sniff....

Another project that was completed this week is the Portable Design Board.  In the last part of June I will be doing a "demo" at the Fabric Nook on the Split Nine Patch block.  I've had a Split Nine Patch hanging there for a few months and Brenda said there have been many inquiries about how to make that block, so we agreed that I'd do a day of demo.  A 2' x 3' design board will be very helpful with this, so I made one.

There was a remnant of pink, rigid insulation in the workshop that was just right for this.  I sawed off a section, 2' x 3'.  It was pretty dirty, so I washed it up in the bathtub, dried it and covered it with some old bits of polyester batting.

I covered that with a big piece of new, Warm and Natural batting, which I folded over to the back side and sealed with fusible batting seam tape.  

It's all ready to go.  All that needs to be completed yet is a set of directions for making Split Nine Patch blocks.