1/18/16

Bits and Pieces

The roses for the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt still have a little ways to go. After working on it all afternoon and part of the morning, this is all I have to show for my effort:


These are five sets of four matching sections for various units (five roses, four quadrants). The largest are the 2 1/2-inch HST at the bottom. The rest are made up from 1-1/2 inch squares and rectangles of 1-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches, and so you can see that it is a tedious cutting and piecing job. I'm almost there, however. I still need to make five sets of four of this next unit:


And then I'll be ready to start sewing them together. I have a little bit of housework to do today, but I'm hopeful I'll get them finished today. Then I'll just need to make the two birds, and this section of the Quiltmaker's Garden will be finished. 

This is taking me far longer than I thought it would, and so the remainder of the to-do's on my January/February list of goals are still waiting. I'm appalled at how poorly written the instructions are. Just for grins I searched for images of the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt to see if others had made it and perhaps posted images online. I searched Google and FlickR and found not a single one, with the exception of the ones I'd posted myself and one blogger's EQ mock-up with some changes to the original design. That 2013 blog post appeared to be the last thing ever posted by that particular blogger. It gives one pause, doesn't it? Could the Quiltmaker's Garden actually be a terminal project? Well, let's hope not, because I'm still determined to finish it. 

I made the mistake yesterday of peeking at Section 4 of the instructions. It contains...you guessed it...more paper piecing. Gah! Oh well. This too shall pass, and when it does, I'll have a really wonderful (and apparently unique) quilt.

That's all I've been doing. Miss Maggie discovered the treasure trove of cat toys under the kitty tree this morning. She gets a wild hair in the mornings and starts flying around the house at breakneck speed. Mike and I suspect it occurs after a particularly gratifying trip to the litter box. In any case...

Oh my gosh...these are great!!!!!!


On these race-around-the-house sessions, she gets a kind of wild glint in her eye. I've been trying to capture it, but she's still frustratingly skittish where photography is concerned. 


She also climbed up to the second rung of this three-tiered kitty tree this morning, and was heading for the top when I picked up the camera. And that, of course, was the end of that.

Just as I was writing this blog post, she wandered into my upstairs office where Eliza is located and stationed herself in Eliza's window, which happens to be one of the highest windows in the house. I managed to pick up the camera and get this shot, and then I said, "Hi, Missy".


Well, that was absolutely terrifying, and so she took off again. Sigh. And so it goes.

11 comments:

works4me said...

You are making great progress on what seems to be a very challenging quilt. Personally, I would have done the first two roses one at a time. Sure, it will take longer overall but I would have a completed rose or two to prove it could be done. :)
I know you will persevere and be triumphant.

At least you can get a photo or two of Maggie. The only way I can get photos of Sammi is if she is sleeping. Dainty on the other hand, comes running as soon as she hears the camera turned on. She feels she must be in every shot.

I am glad all seems fairly quiet on the kitty front for you.

Lyndsey said...

I love it when cats tear round the house at break neck speed. Although he's an older gentleman Picasso still does it but less frequently. The quilt will be worth it in the end but all those bits does seem very tedious. I have also tried a search on this quilt and not found anything. Has it ever been made- even by the designer do you know? It will certainly be unique and very beautiful when you finish it.

Chris said...

I admire your perseverance with the paper piecing. Maggie really is a sketch. Our kitties also get that 'whee...let's play' feeling after their morning visit. Maggie is a riot with the camera.

Dana Gaffney said...

Those are all pieces for the roses? I'd be tempted to just cut some roses out of fabric, glue them on and call it done, LOL. That's why I don't buy patterns. Maggie looks so beautiful in the window.

Kate said...

You'll be so glad you stuck with it once the whole quilt is done. Maggie does look very pretty sitting up there in the window.

Claire said...

Even though all those piles are progress, when I work like that I don't feel like progress till I see the design coming forth. Interesting, the google search! Love the kitty warming up, though also gradually.

Anonymous said...

I saw the fabric you have covering one of your machines! I bought a kit in Florida in 2010 and made a quilt out of that collection. That is some really cute fabric! Love your kitties! Thinking its time for us to give a couple of kitties a good home! Laura V.

Angie in SoCal said...

It is a lovely quilt. Had the pattern once given to me by a neighbor who was a quilter. Wonder what I did with it. I look forward to seeing your progress on this.

liniecat said...

Not sure if it's tenacity or masochism your working through with those roses lol

Brown Family said...

It is a beautiful quilt and I know you will do it the justice it deserves! Maggie is having a lot of fun with the toys. My kitties got a toy bird that has feathers and makes noise for Christmas. Max claimed it as his own personal toy. He trows it up and then prances around trying to catch it. I would get pictures, but he is like Maggie and stops and runs at the sight of the phone or camera!

quiltzyx said...

Eventually, perhaps, Maggie will overcome her camera-shyness. And obviously she does not like the name "Missy".
With all the other PP in the gardener quilt, I'm surprised to see they are having you regular-piecing with those tiny pieces. Ugh.