Back in Business

Good morning, my friends. Well, I'm so happy to report that an additional yard of the Chalk & Charcoal fabric arrived yesterday, and it is the right color. I was pretty sure I'd selected the right one, but I couldn't be sure until I laid eyes on it.

The original fabric was purchased a couple of years ago, and so I worried whether I'd be able to find more. I simply selected the first vendor that had it in stock. It happened to be a quilt shop in Ellsworth, Iowa, called Mended Hearts. She sent me this little note and a charm square of poinsettia fabric. Pretty! They shipped it fast, and I'd do business with them again.

Smitty was happy we were finally getting back to the Jericho Walls quilt. He and Sadie have spent a good bit of their time rearranging the blocks, and still, they can't agree on the best layout.

Well, I had my own ideas about how they should go, and so my first step was to put them back in their original order.

And then my cat and I went to work. 

He held the fabric so I could get nice straight cuts. Also, he likes how this fabric matches his furs.

With his help, I cut 41 more sashing strips and a bunch more black cornerstones.

And then I went to work sewing one more long row together. This also meant making two rows of sashings. It doesn't look like much progress was made, but it took all the rest of the afternoon to add this one row. 

This has been a bit of a puzzle to sew together. The sashing strips must be added to both sides of each row before the setting triangles can be added. After that, I can add the row to the rest of the quilt. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've had to partially unsew a setting triangle when I forget to sew them together in the proper order.

When I left it, there were still seven unsewn blocks. I should be able to finish the blocks today. 

After that, I want to add one black stop border and one border of the Chalk & Charcoal fabric. Originally, I didn't think I would add borders. The quilt is large already. On the other hand, those setting triangles are cut on the bias, and so the borders will help stabilize it. And, if you want to know the truth, I think it will look better with borders. I hate sewing on borders, but sometimes it's the best choice.

It was a busy day yesterday. The only other sewing I did was to take the first stitches on "Type Something Inspirational." Mainly, I was using up bits of floss from previous stitching.

We had grocery shopping to do, and when we got home, I took a long nap. I still had some housekeeping chores to do, and so it was fairly late in the day when I was able to get into the sewing room. Besides, I was waiting for that fabric to arrive. I'm expecting an additional yard to arrive today, and that will give me enough fabric to add the final border.

Mike is leaving in a bit to get his hair cut. I'm heading downstairs to get back to my slow stitching. When Mike gets home, we need to make a quick trip into town, but I should have plenty of time for sewing today. I'm really hoping to finish off the quilt top for Jericho Walls. Wish me luck.