T16.BR-1, Rosemary's Rainbow

039.Blueberries for Sal - aka K-9, Scout's Honor

038.M-10, Simple Simon

 

 Joyce told me to make an easier one this time. How's this, Joyce?

T15.Peggy Olson Moves Up - aka LS-12, Button Hook

T13.Eliza Bennett has a Change of Heart - aka BR-2, Leigh's Woods

 

  

 

I love both of these fabrics so much. I decided to keep most of the color
out of the background and try to respect the directionality of the gold as much as I could
without going crazy doing it. I almost made it...

 

Thrift store find this week... just forced myself to watch Mr. Darcy again...
Good old Eliza had a change of heart, thank goodness. Sensible girl.

The gold bodice that matches my block. : )
OK, how one would stand there facing a freshly bathed
darcy without one's knees buckling is beyond me.

Gold miniature: not sure - I think it's Judie Rothermel
and Sturbridge Village IV by Judie Rothermel

037.53 Pieces?! - aka I-13, Sweet Harmony

53 pieces? well, no wonder it took me 2 days to make this sucker.

       

       


       

034.H-10, Ben's Bowtie

How's it possible that one minute we have this - and the next...

Voilá!

I had a pretty small scrap of this lavander print (maybe a Jo Morton?)... I think it was 6x6" roughly.
I just barely eeked it out cause I cut a piece off accidentally on the second unit I sewed.
Love this fabric though - glad it worked out.

027.C-7, Megan's Mountain Laurel

Closing in on the final few diamonds... this one is a "diamond/X" which means it has both a diamond and an "X" motif, so it will be one of the four blocks that intersect the giant diamond with the giant X in my design.

Somehow I ended up fussy cutting the main fabric. What have I gotten myself into? oy.

Absolutely insane, this one... it was extra fun trying to get those little diamond points to match up.

More fussy cutting fun? I know, I'm doing it to  myself...

Another beautiful print from Judie Rothermel...

Prepifestivus!

Piles and Piles of Pattern Piece Pages

So... I was at my Dear Jane bee yesterday and what do I find sitting on the table tucked behind the lemonade, leaning against the wall all unobtrusivelike? A humble paper bag stuffed with a big old pile of paper, the word "Free" scrawled across it in black magic sharpie. I hesitantly peek inside and lo and behold?? Can we all join hands, rock back and forth and say... JACKPOT?? piles and packets and parcels of pre-printed Dear Jane pattern piece pages... ppppppppppppppp As if that wasn't great enough, many of them were printed on what appears to be Carol Doak foundation paper. : ) yeee haw! I double checked with the hostess and sure enough, she said they were cast-offs from a previous incarnation of a Dear Janer group and we were free to take and use. Once I culled through it, it turned out there were about 100 patterns - just about half of the 225 needed for this project... about $10 worth of specialty paper, about $10 in ink (I swear, that friggin ink!) and of course HOURS of labor. Boy, was I happy. It was like Christmas for a quilter! : )

the loot!

the pile included three complete sides of triangles for a total of 39 block patterns...
here I am referencing my triangle directory (sorted by side)

I highlighted the triangles I got printed patterns for in this windfall...
Since I had already printed some of the top row, it looks like
I just have about 5 or 6 to print and I'm done with triangles.

This is my view inserting each pattern into a page protector
(see the new, giant box of 200 back there?) After a year of working
on this quilt I am almost done with prep. Oh, ok - I still have to cut out
all of these friggin patterns... : )

...and the final prep stage - the cut pattern pieces ready to go...

Storage and Binderization:

It started with one binder. I was all cocky with my fancy one-touch binder and my page protectors and my tabbed divider pages and binder geek accessories. (binder geek right here). I heard people in.the.know saying you need 2 or 3 binders for this gig. Sure enough, now I'm up to three and contemplating a fourth. I have a generic, general one. And then I have two enclosed/zipper binders - one for triangles/corners and one for the regular blocks. Since the one for regular blocks is basically maxed out with just the pattern pieces, and only about 25 blocks, I am going to have to make another move. The other thing I wanted to do was have a work/portable case. One of the binders would be great for that since they zip up. The work case would have a couple blocks' worth of patterns & fabric, a small cutting board, sandpaper board, and misc. supplies. So yeah, I guess I probably need to buy TWO more binders for a total of 5. This is an undertaking, man, I tell you. But I'm loving every minute of it. The other thing I need to get on top of is keeping track of fabrics used. I have been setting them aside and cutting some swatches, but I have already goofed this up a few times and I need a system.

024.One Dark & Stormy Night - aka F-1, Big Top

Watching the DNC tonight finishing this up. Elizabeth Warren rocks. And Wm. Jefferson Clinton is dreamier than ever.