“Sharing the Process” - Part 3

Quality time was spent on this project during my July vacation and over a couple of weekends. 

I’m an overthinker and need to let things stew a bit.  It slows me down, but that’s how I roll.  I mentioned in my last update that I had reworked the layout in Electric Quilt, and I still think that works. I’m really liking what I see on the design wall.  

I have added borders to each of the exchanged blocks and will cut them to a uniform size:

I have squared up the center panel:

What has changed from the initial plan is the border around the center panel to float it away from the surrounding blocks.  While I initially thought it would be a simple border of one or two of the white background fabrics, I realized there are a lot of scraps and cut-up pieces of fabric from this project. This sad little strip gave me an idea.  

 

I took the 3” wide strip that I decided could not work with the block I had attached it to, and threw some of those scraps onto it and attached them using a utility stitch down the center of the strip.  

I started sifting through the leftover strips, some miscuts, and the color scraps and had some fun!  I am loving using up the scraps and yet still have lots of leftovers.  As each strip went up on the design wall, I found myself smiling and felt, aaahhhh, this is good.

Could it be better?  Sure, but I am fast approaching the mindset where I am thinking DONE is better than PERFECT.  This quilt will reside in my new studio and I’m not out to impress anyone but myself.  And, I’m ready to move onto the next UFO.  

I have also stitched out two machine embroidery designs from OESD to use as filler blocks.  I haven’t determined where they will go but will have it figured out soon.

AND while overthinking, I’m considering using the quilt-as-you-go method.  This will be a large quilt.  My thought now is to quilt the center panel, then quilt the side, top and bottom borders and then join them all together.  We’ll see. 

And we have movement on our lot!  The trees that can’t remain have been removed. Trenches for the fittings are dug and waiting for concrete.  The port-a-potty has been installed—Now we feel like we’re building a house!  We think the concrete for the footings will be poured this week. 

I find myself looking forward to retirement.  I told the Hubs that the July vacation was one of the best—even though we were home, I got to play in my studio and we accomplished a lot of “have-to-do’s”…I returned to work in a very relaxed state.  Hubs has a new supervisor and our hope is that the school year goes more smoothly as a result; time will tell.

In the meantime, I hope you’re staying cool and hydrated, and enjoying your summer.  I’ll be back with more sharing of the process soon. 

Go make!