It's on the fence

I was thinking of something light blue for the inner border, but going through my assorted scraps, I couldn't find anything that would work without a lot of piecing. Then, I found a wood print that wanted to visit the cabin, and had enough to work with. I did have to piece the long sides, but that would have happened anyway.

The dark blue had two long strips that may have been cut for some other of my friend's quilts, but was not cut straight and had to be resized at 4 1/2 inches to allow for seams. The side pieces needed to be sewn but don't seem to show that much.

It is quite a windy day, but I was lucky to find a section of fence that was high enough for a photo with the quilt turned sideways. I was rather pleased when clipping it up, to find how uniform the blocks and measurements are. I didn't have to pull it in any direction to make it square up.

 

So ... next on the list will be finding something for the backing. I could piece tenugui or there might be something in the acquired stash that is large enough. I am determined NOT to buy anything other than thread. 

Moving along

 

Today I added the last block of another row to my log cabin.

I played around with some of the blocks yesterday, to get a better balance of dark and light in the Ohio star area.

The size is now 50" x 79". There will be space left for planning a border ... and time to think about the possibilities.

Meanwhile, I have to get this off the floor in case guests come, so I had better begin getting this sewed.

The hardest part will be keeping the blocks in order while in the process and I am hoping this plan will work.

At the last quilt show, I picked up this collection of Clover clips. I think they were made to use to hold seams when sewing by machine, but since I don't use a machine, I think these will help keep the blocks in order until they are together, and not fall off as readily as pins. 

I put on little numbered stickers which will keep them in order.

Then, I clipped each one to the bottom edge along the first row.

Hopefully, that will help to avoid possible mistakes of getting a block turned the wrong way, since I can't see the whole setting as I go.

I can use more clips and numbered dots to put at the end of each row so they don't get twisted before joining.

Sound like a plan? 

Now, to try it out ....

See you later, I gotta go sew!

Plan as you go

 I have done a lot of "Quilt as you go" quilts, and even taught that class for a few years. I often chuckle at the comments on the Celebrate Hand Quilting facebook page, as so often the first questions are, "What is the name of that pattern?" and "Where can I buy it?" My quilts usually start another way, for example, a lot of "North wind" blocks needed something to do, causing me to add some sail boats and a mariner's compass, then a wave print and a cloud print in the border ... with seagulls to cover the joints where the short border print met.

Now I am working on my log cabin challenge. Though one of my earliest quilts was "Log Jam", made for daughter Kimie's futon, I had not tried that pattern since, and am not overly fond of traditional arrangements. Thinking of my grandfather, who was my biggest childhood supporter and born in a one room log cabin in Ohio, I decided to try arranging the blocks in an Ohio Star.

I had been thinking of making this into a cape to wear, but that is not going to work, as the star would be split. This was also tricky because the blocks had to be made half with the blue strips dominant and half with the brown, to get them to meet properly. This is also somewhat difficult to lay out. I have decided to add more rows to the top and bottom and turn it into a bed cover instead.

Once I get a few more rows made, I will have to work some more on the layout, fixing the dark on light and colors to work a bit better together, as one block cannot be easily swapped for another.

This is definitely a "Plan as you go" quilt. I am hoping, once the quilt is longer, it will tell me what it wants for the border. Somewhere, down the road, I will be sleeping under my log cabin, without having to return to Ohio, and dreaming of days with my grandfather.