The wall hanging of the English paper-pieced tumbling blocks is finished (and hanging on the wall in front of me/behind the computer monitor as I type).
Have you ever made something you know isn't exactly "right," whatever that is, but you finished it up anyway, for better or worse?
Yeah, this is one of those things.
I realized some things as I went along, but just carried on. I'm okay with that because I know I'll look back in time, be it a month or five years from now, and know that I have learned since. It's like a progress marker kind of thing.
Gee, and you just thought it was a wall hanging. ;)
- I enjoyed paper piecing these diamonds by hand. It was a first for me, and I found it relaxing and a nice change of pace to do some "slow stitching."
- I don't think I would have the patience to make a whole quilt that way, however.
- I like applique. Again, the hand stitching is relaxing.
- As far as fabric choices, I probably picked the wrong print(s), the one with the parasols especially. The illusion loses something because the eye is drawn to those big green eyeball-y things.
- The background is not quite right. Too much of one color or value perhaps? A solid may have been better. I do like that batik though.
- Snakeskin print binding rocks!
- I see more illusion blocks/quilts in the future.
And so, you live and learn.
Straight-line quilting can be seen best from the back. Keeping it simple.
* * * * *
More music to make you wanna dance, this new one by Justin Timberlake, who seems to be channeling Michael Jackson. I like it.
I held auditions for the background of the tumbling blocks piece today in my living room. This is going to be a wall hanging, something that will go on the wall behind my computer monitor that I'll stare at now and then (as one does). Right now I have the string Dresden wall hanging in that spot, having reacquired it from my sister who had temporary custody for most of the past year. She moved and I got it back.
I'm curious as to which of these backgrounds you like best. I could not make up my mind, so I took photos and then looked at them some more on the computer. That helped.
First, I was leaning toward combining four of the batiks, not necessarily in this configuration, but possibly string-pieced somehow, maybe even curved strings. Once I saw the photo, though, I became lukewarm on that idea.
 |
| (A) |
I hadn't seriously considered the darker blue background, but Norm kind of liked it.
 |
| (B) |
The lady at the quilt store picked out this batik right off the bat. Kind of looks like the piece is floating in a pool, which is an interesting effect.
 |
| (C) |
Then we have this one. The quilt shop lady pulled this bolt off the shelf and then went, "Eh, I don't know, it's kind of wild," and started to put it back, but I stopped her and said, "I like it; wild is good. Whether I use it for this project or another, I'm going to get some of that."
 |
| (D) |
And then we have a more olive green/blue piece.
 |
| (E) |
And finally, a muted rusty-olive one.
 |
| (F) |
Which, if any, appeals most to you? I will tell you that I have made a choice and have the piece pinned in place on it. Now I'm second-guessing myself a wee bit, though not enough to unpin it—yet.
We are back from our getaway "up north," and had a great time in the Wisconsin north woods. The weather was absolutely perfect!
We enjoyed being right on the lake, although we didn't boat or fish. It was wonderful to hear the loons in the early morning and the water lapping the shore, spot eagles, and watch playful chipmunks and squirrels. I loved sitting on the deck in the afternoon or evening and working on English paper piecing.
The place we were staying had a "quiet time" policy after 10:00 p.m., so when the people below us started cutting loose and belting out "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," we only had to bide our time before knowing they would have to move the party to one of the bars downtown.
We did some trail walking every day, and shopping and sightseeing. And eating, of course. One favorite restaurant had great food and offered gluten-free toast instead of buns for their burgers and sandwiches. Such a simple thing, but that and a very friendly waitress who was happy to check ingredients on other menu items, made all the difference in the world to me.
Things I could not resist:
Thrift shopping, stores that have the word "Antique" in them...
Pretty pottery, whether vintage, like this one...
Or new and locally made, like these.
I was very happy to sew on my hand-piecing project. It was so relaxing and fun to see it take shape once I started whip-stitching the pieces together. I ran short by four pieces, but I finished those last night when we got home.
I will probably be appliqueing this onto a background to make a wall hanging. On the drive home yesterday, we stopped at a quilt shop along the way and I bought some batiks. One or all (!) of these may become the background for the hand-pieced tumbling blocks.
The staff at Antoinette's was very helpful and friendly. I would have been content to wander the store on my own, but a staff member offered assistance within a minute or two, and as it turned out, I was happy she did. She pulled some things I might not have considered.
I had also found another nice shop where we vacationed and picked up a few stash builder type things.
Check out the cute valance of strips on the shop window. What a great idea.
One of the highlights of our trip was visiting a recreated Ojibwe Indian village and hearing about Native culture.
 |
| Entrance to Waswagoning. | |
It was fascinating. More on that in another post.
You'd be smiling, too, if you just made fire by rubbing sticks together. This guy did it in about a minute!
I somehow landed on a Wikipedia page after looking for tumbling blocks quilt images and read about rhombille tiling for the first time. Whuh?
You know, if Miss Watson had taught 9th grade geometry with quilt blocks, it might have been a little more interesting back in the day. Well, to me, anyway. Miss Watson herself was interesting in a quirky way. She claimed her pale blue eyes were more light sensitive than most, so she had to wear sunglasses when using the overhead projector (talk about old school, are those even used anymore?). I kind of felt bad for Miss Watson, in her polyester double knit shift dresses, for all the snickering that went on behind her back. To me, there seemed a curious naivete about her, a shy girlishness only just beneath her delicate fifty-something features and wispy, mousey-brown hair.
Anyway, I have my hand piecing project ready. You can expect a full report, particularly if it goes badly. It ought to be interesting.
This recipe for brownies (discovered via Pinterest, where else) did not go badly. If you're used to Betty Crocker mixes, this won't be the same, but for gluten-free, dairy-free, quasi-paleo eaters like me, it was awesome! I had to get the finished brownies into the freezer quickly (hence no pictures), before they all ended up "in ma belly."
I stumbled upon this video tonight on YouTube and was blown away. Maybe mesmerized is a better word. Wow. Just, wow.
