Piecing...

I have begun the long process of piecing each of 56 squares. Some notes:

1. Ironing is tedious, but to piece without ironing and then have to rip the seams with a straight pin because the seam ripper you thought you had has long since disappeared is unbearable.

2. "Quilting thread" is NOT good for sewing quilts with. The stitches that my machine is making are all different sizes, and I think it's because of the thread.

3. I have completed 3 squares today, and am about halfway finished with around 8 more. Whee!

4. I think I need a digital camera... I want to post pictures of all of this stuff, but the film thing is too much of a pain in the butt, and I will never do it.

Here's hoping that there was happiness on Turkey Day for all!

The Reason to Marry a Computer Scientist

With the exception of making 4 trips to JoAnn's and a lot of tedium, the rest of the cutting went fine. I got out my iron for the first time since ROTC (yeah, ask me about a mistake, and I will tell you about ROTC), and remembered why I hate ironing.

But the next part was cool.

I have 24 fabrics, 4 of which will appear in each square only once. My goal was to have no more than 6 fabrics in common between any two squares, which, though I haven't done the math problem, I thought was reasonable to accomplish.

The problem is that there are 56 squares to create. I realized that I was going to have to take over the floor space of my office, cover the pool table, and move up to the kitchen table (S--- would have been unhappy), and spend the next year comparing all of the squares with each other.

~Snort~

But I have a secret weapon... I married to a computer scientist. I told S--- my problem, and he says, "Oh! That's easy!".... and looked at me. I looked at him and said, "Sooooo, does that mean you will write me a program?" And he said, "Yes. I thought that was obvious." Which just goes to show you that communication with a computer scientist isn't always easy. But he made me a program and I whipped out 56 squares this weekend and tonight. Yay!

Forget love notes. That's real love, right there.

Of course, there is always the chance that I screwed my typing up or some such, and the quilt isn't the cool bastard child of my husband's computer program. But the thing is so complex, I doubt anyone will every find it.

And because I am a stinker, there is one intentional mistake built in. So future descendants, just try to find the square that doesn't belong. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Next up... piecing. Happy Thanksgiving!

Quilting Wisdom That I Have Learned The Hard Way #1

Last night and tonight, I ironed 17 different fabrics and cut 136 pieces. "Good," I thought. "I'm moving right along. And except for two especially wrinkle-prone fabrics, this is easier than I thought. So how far along am I?"

Dude.

The quilt that I have committed to is 7 x 8 12 " square blocks. Each block has 8 pieces.

I am not yet one third finished in cutting, and I am running out of fabric.

Quilting Wisdom That I Have Learned The Hard Way #1: Calculate the amount of fabric BEFORE you buy it.

The Beginning

The beginning... and possibly the end. The last time I tried blogging, I got exactly this far and then... nothing. So I make no promises.

However, I decided to try again because my friend Lenny caught me buying fabric at JoAnn's for a quilt. I have never made a quilt. I have never seen a quilt being made. No close relative, female or otherwise, has made a quilt. I have no close friends who have made a quilt. I have never taken a class, and I do not have a mentor. I did buy a pamphet about quilts... anyway, Lenny seemed to think I should record the Saga of the Quilt, so I shall begin.

I decided to make the quilt for the bed-- queen sized, so this is looking like a massive quilt. We just bought this house, and the walls are a yellowy browny goldy color and the carpet is charcoal. The only color that I think would be nice with those colors is red, so I bought LOTS of little -- fat quarters, I think they are called-- pieces of fabric in the red family, with some black and some creamy browny yellowy colors as accents. No pink.

I have 18 fabrics. I think I may have gone a little overboard, and I am already feeling slightly overwhelmed.

You see, I am not sure what shape to make the pieces... I know I have to make bigger blocks out of the pieces, and then sew those blocks together. I am wavering between squares (easy, but maybe boring), hexagons (neat shape, but probably a bitch to sew), or something called a "Crazy Quilt," which actually seems to be pretty easy, but the amounts of fabric that I have totally don't fit with the requirements of the piece. It also seems to be a pretty rigid pattern, and that would be stressful to deal with. But if I can loosen up a bit, I think the crazy quilt thing may be the most fun if I tell myself I don't have to do exactly what the directions say.

And the hexagons could be for my second quilt, which will be a Charm quilt-- a cool idea, in which no two patches are the same. I can use the scraps from the first quilt for that one, too.

A little while ago, I stuck most of the fabric in the washer on Cold, and then in the dryer. Now it looks like the dryer is finished, so have a great night!