Pages

Monday, February 27, 2017

My Goal Is To Stay "Whelmed"

Have you ever been overwhelmed?  Underwhelmed?  I like to be submerged deeply in quilting, but not over-stressed with my projects, nor the opposite feeling of being uninspired and unmotivated.  Neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed.    It is a balancing act for me, and I am working on several projects at once.  It keeps me whelmed.  

I made a doll quilt using hsts that were left over from the Churn Dashers group project last year.  It went together quickly, and I am ready to machine quilt it and choose a binding.  It will finish at 15 inches square.



The pattern is "Soaring Triangles" from the book "Sew Charming" by Mary Etherington.  I had small triangles already made, so I used the size I had, half square triangles that would finish at 1.25" by 1.25".  I put the hsts in order on a mat (used the back of another small quilt) in design order, carried it to the sewing machine, and chain sewed the columns together. Here's a picture mid process of sewing columns together:



Here's what it looked like with columns chain sewed together, but with rows not sewn yet:



Then I sewed row to row together, and made the doll quilt top in one day, easy peasy - lemon squeezy. But easier to do on this small project than on the large quilt that I'm showing you next.

I am finishing a large quilt by sewing (chaining) the completed columns together, then sewing the quilt together row by row.  It's necessary, but underwhelming.  I do two rows a day, with lots of pins and pressing of seams.  I am looking forward to making a doll quilt to match it, which will go much faster.



I will talk about this quilt more when I finish the top.  I love blue and white quilts, and bought a kit for this one at the Grand Rapids AQS quilt show.

I also prepped baggies of 1.5 x 1.5 inch squares for future grids of the Valentine's Day quilt that was started last week. This one:



I want to be able to pull out a 10 x 10 grid baggy or two and complete them occasionally, with the goal of having the wall hanging finished next February.  I have all the red squares cut, and haven't bagged up the neutrals/shirtings squares yet.




Hubby is leaving for his annual men's golfing week in Florida with 21 other men equally passionate about golf.  I am contemplating a week of intense quilting while I am here without him.  I will try to stay in the groove, not overwhelmed, and not underwhelmed with my projects.  Are you having success with this?

Design wall Monday (Here)



8 comments:

Charlene S said...

It takes work to just stay whelmed. Right now I am neither since my Muse left to go to Mardi Gras or at least that's my story and I am sticking to it!

Julierose said...

It is hard to keep an even keel for me--I tend to get too intense, then exhausted and then lose interest--a cycle i'd like to break. I like your little doll quilt a lot..very pretty...hugs, Julierose

Karen said...

The Valentine quilt you have planned will be a wonderful red and white quilt. Much like a cross stitch design.

time4stitchn said...

Wow! I really love your inspiration for the valentine quilt. I do a lot of 1 inch finished blocks, too.
But your soaring triangles is so pretty, too. Enjoy the process!

Scooquilt said...

Your quilting week sounds wonderful! I'm still recovering from my last large quilt. It was a pain to put the top together (on point) and a literal pain in my shoulders to quilt it!

Mary - Lecoeurceltique said...

Your 'Soaring triangles' and larger quilt look good. I don't tend to choose blue fabrics but these make me want to rush out and buy some.

Lynn said...

You may be whelmed, but I am overwhelmed by your projects and baggies full of good things to come!

Candace said...

You do have several lovely projects going on there. I love all of them. I am a sucker for blue and white, or blue and brown quilts too!