Slow Stitching

EPP is very very slow work.  Mindless beyond words, but slow.  Here's my progress for the week.

And that's all I have to report.

Whirligig Quilt

I can't remember the last time I worked on this project, but I'm back with it now.  What motivated me was how much I enjoy hand-sewing the binding onto a quilt.  Finished the quilt from the previous post, and thought that I should go back to the EPP project.  So I am.

Here are the two latest blocks.

I think I began this project back in January, 2017.  It might be time to finish it.

49 blocks

That's how many I've made so far.  I can get 1-2 done most days.  This is slow stitching at its slowest, but it is very enjoyable.

I'm planning on 10 blocks/row, with side fill-in blocks on the odd rows.  Probably 11 rows in total, and then the top and bottom fill-in blocks.  I work on it just about every day, but when Sock Madness patterns come out, then I put the quilt aside.  Right how I have 8 blocks joined for the first two rows, and a couple on the third row, just to play with it a bit.  I decide each block's placement as I go along.  This is how I like to work:  a minimum of organization and a maximum of serendipity.

And here's the quilt in progress.

Click on the photos to get the best view.

Lots of hexies

6 new blocks for Valse Brillante.

And more joined blocks.

Nothing happening on the knitting front.  Sock Madness 11 starts on Wed, so I'm resting my knitting wrists and hands.

I need a name for this quilt

I just plopped these down on the porch floor in random order.  Color isn't great because I took the pic at night.  But you get the idea of how they will look together.  So now I need a name for this quilt.  Any ideas?  I'm thinking Jeweled Hexagons, because each one reminds me of a little jewel.

These are yesterdays gems.  I have to say that it is much easier to hand sew regular quilting cottons as opposed to batiks.  It's somewhattough to push a needle through those dense batik fabrics.  But it's only a little bit of sewing, and I love, love, love batiks.

My favorite one so far

I just love this one.  It's even better in person.

Yesterday, I laid out all of the blocks (too big to photograph) and I'm very happy with all of them.  It's funny how your least-favorite block somehow fits into the big picture.

On the knitting side, I mailed off the last 2 pairs of red socks to the little guy.  Otherwise, my poor knitting is suffering.

Motoring along

Here are the newest blocks for Valse Brillante.  Can I tell you just how much fun these things are to make?  I might have to give up doing laundry and cooking.

A bit of quilting

A very nice change from all the knitting posts.  Here's the log cabin quilt; I just finished and have to press the row seams. 

Stats:  center blocks are 2.5" squares and the logs are 1.5".  I think I'm going to get this professionally quilted by someone.  It would take me the rest of my life, and I want to use it as a late winter/early spring quilt.

To celebrate finishing the flimsy, I decided to start an English paper piecing project, Valse Brillante by Willyne Hammerstein.

Here are the paper pieces, then the layout of my first block.

And both next to each other.

In progress

Moving along on Rosette 2 of my Millefiori quilt.  I like to pick a focal point when I choose fabrics, and the one for this rosette is that cute hexie surrounded by the green.  I just love this fabric.  Took one look at it and built an entire set of fabrics around it.  I think it's my favorite quilty thing to do.

Here's that focal fabric.

Cape Cod Dreams

Her Name is Cape Cod Dreams, aka The New hexagon Millefiori quilt by Katya Marek.  I'm doing her in colors that echo my love of the Cape.

I had this awful moment yesterday when I realized that I had turned one of the outer blocks in the wrong direction.  Didn't notice it until I started to attach the next hexie.  For those who think that these quilts are easy to rip out: Hah!  Let me tell you about little whip stitches and how they resist frogging.  It is very very easy to make a mistake in placement. So I had better be vigilant because I do not want to rip these babies.  What a misery of a job.  But now she looks just fine.  Yay, CCMillie!