It's been quite a chore making all 20, and it caused me to procrastinate more than a few days this past week. That just makes it all the more gratifying to have it all done.
Then I did the arithmetic regarding my sashings and borders. Recall that I've pulled these fabrics with only a vague notion of what I'm going to do with them.
I had hoped to use the middle purple and pink so that the pink would make up the horizontal sashings and the purple would make up the vertical ones. The spools are 4 inches each, and when I added it all up, it was clear that I didn't have enough of either fabric to do what I wanted. I decided to make pieced sashings using the ruler fabric, thus:
Yeah, the upper right-hand spool is facing the wrong direction. Fortunately, nothing is sewn together yet. This afternoon I made one strip set of each of the purple and pink and then laid them out. I'm thinking they look okay together. This is one of those times when I'm kind of holding my breath and hoping it all looks right in the end. Of course, there will be at least one more border on the whole quilt. I'll decide whether to include a stop border when I see the blocks, sashings, and spools sewn together.
Interestingly, the pattern states that the blocks are 12 inches square (12-1/2 unfinished), and so I cut my sashings each to a 12-1/2 inch length. When I laid them out, I realized that the blocks are indeed 12-1/2 inches wide, but they are only 11 inches tall. After studying the pattern for some time, I've determined there has to be an error in the pattern. I've made the blocks precisely as instructed. Further, they were all made at different times, and so it's unlikely that I would have made the same error in the same way over and over and over again.
I can only think she was including the extra two inches for the lower sashing when the designer measured her blocks. No matter...except that the blocks will be rectangular rather than square. I considered adding a strip of the background fabric to the bottom of each block, but I don't have enough left over. Oh well. It is going to be just as you see it here. And that is that. A quilter has to draw the line somewhere. And then she has to put her foot down. And then she has to call it quits. And then she has to lay down the law. And then....I think you get the picture.
So yesterday in my effort to procrastinate on the spools as long as possible, I went for a long walk. It was such a lovely day. I haven't heard this, but I would guess we set a record for our high temperature. I did hear that this February is on track to become the warmest on record. It's good that I went yesterday because the sun was only shining briefly today while the remainder of the day was foggy and dreary. Here's what I saw on my walk yesterday.
These cows are raised as locker beef, and they have a good grass-fed life. Sometimes they approach the fence when I walk by. Sometimes they run away. This particular crew seems very curious about me and my camera.
And this one seemed as if it might speak to me.
Also on my walk, I watched a red-tailed hawk circling over head.
I wish I could have taken a better picture of it for you, but that's the best I could do. It's very hard to photograph a bird in flight, especially when it's high overhead with only the blue sky as a background. But all of that to say that I watched it for a while and then saw it grab up some unfortunate rodent from the field below. It flew over to a tree, and I thought there might be a nest. I tried to see it, but could not.
Here's some other stuff I saw.
I've taken this picture below more times than I can count.
It's one of my favorite subjects with the barns in the foreground and in the background, and it looks different depending on the time of year. Here are two more pictures of it, taken at different times of the year.
According to my Fitbit, I got in more than 12,000 steps yesterday.
And that brings me to now. I'm making Swedish Meatballs for dinner, and so I'd better get to it. I'm hoping to finish up the sashings for my quilt tomorrow. Friday will be a cooking day because we're planning a camping trip this weekend. It feels like a productive day today. I hope you had a good day too.
12 comments:
I kept looking & looking at the top right spool & couldn't see anything wrong with it...then finally realized that it wasn't supposed to have polka dotted thread! Silly me.
What a beautiful day for a walk! I think it was nice today, but I was at work, in the basement and it was a little foggy when I drove in. Nice on the way home and was probably in the mid-70s. "They" say to expect temps in the 60s & rain for the weekend - whoopeeee!!!
I'm making a spool quilt too lol! love the pictures of the cows a beautiful walk indeed!
Helen
So jealous - blue skies and green grass and livestock feeding in the field.
What beautiful countryside, Barbara. Do you live on one of the farms?
Great day for a walk. We've been having clear blue skies for the last couple of days but just cos I wanted to walk today it's all grey and cloudy. Never mind guess I'd better do some sewing instead.
What a gorgeous day for a walk. We started the day yesterday at 10 F, and made it to just above freezing for the high.
Looking forward to seeing the machine quilt come together.
It's frustrating when things don't go right.....I've got a quilt I'm procrastinating over, too! Those are all great pictures. Looks like a beautiful day there!
Beautiful scenery, I'd love to see cows on my walks.
Been busy and have only seen your fb updates. Wow, the weather looks beautiful there! So green! Love seeing the cows, the picture of the one up close is really good. Kind of cute!
Snow coving the ground here but not a lot of it. Only used the (brand-new) snowblower once this year. It could be worse although it's -12 this morning. I always start the car for 5-10 mn before I leave, wear a down jacket and I am good to go.
Going to Cancun (hubby's business trip really) in two weeks so have that to look forward to. Have never really considered Mexico, but I guess now I will have a concrete opinion either way. Staying at a 5-star hotel which will be fun. Something I am absolutely not used to.
I actually have been sewing a bit lately. Surprising for me. Made two tops for the trip and a round tablecloth and valance for a cousin of mine. That's a miracle that I actually finish something. Have a baby quilt to make in the next month, black, white and gold. Who would have thought??? It's for someone that my oldest daughter knows. That's the nursery color. I was a little stunned at first honestly. Found a gold polka dot and then three black with white prints. The pattern is like a stair step pattern - bought it online years ago from Cluck Cluck Sew. Glad I am finally using it. I do think it will look good when it's done. Bought a black and white zig zag for the back. Now that they say babies like black and white it should work.
Have a good day! Again, loved the pictures~
Meg
I yearn for outside walks again. Just came back from AZ where I did lots of outside walking and hiking but back on the frozen tundra. And, back to sewing projects. Your spools quilt will turn out lovely because only you know the parts that frustrated you. Well, now we know, too. Sew on.
Thanks for taking us on your walk. I understand completely about your attraction to the barns because they look very inviting!
Beautiful walk. Those polled Herefords are can be as gentle as Smitty!
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