Are We There Yet?
Almost done with the Irish Chain quilt. Now that we're fully into heat and humidity here, I'm glad I have plenty of projects to keep me busy and cool. I still get outside to walk Kona and my runs with Patty, so I'm not inside all the time.
Now the Borders
Yesterday I completed row 7, yeah! Today, I'll be working on the borders. When I stitch out the borders, I prefer the "turn the quilt" method over the "chunking" method. I do use both methods, depending on the project but my preference is Turn-The-Quilt.
Chunking vs Turn
The chunking method works the borders down the sides as you stitch out each row. When you get to the bottom of the quilt, you only have the bottom border to complete. I use this method more for smaller quilts. The tricky parts to chunking are matching each stop and start down the sides of the border, and balancing the size of the designs the length of the border. It requires some math.
For the turn method, the top border is stitched first. Then the middle or body of the quilt is stitched out to the bottom. Then the bottom border is stitched. The sides are not stitched at all as you move down the quilt. The quilt is then removed from the frame and turned so the side borders become the top and bottom. The sides are then stitched out in one long unit. I prefer this method for larger quilts so there are fewer tie-offs on the sides and the designs are balanced the full length of the sides.
Other Projects
My other project list looks the same, still:
- Laundry
- Groceries
Obviously, I'm not getting the laundry done. As for groceries, I REALLY dislike grocery stores right now. I know the CDC rates grocery shopping as a 3 on their 10 point risk scale but they have obviously never visited a grocery store during COVID-19. I would give them at least a 6. My grocery store has done almost nothing for public or employee safety. I've decided to change stores and see if it's better at a different store.
#The100DayProjectMysteryQuilt
It's day 59 of The 100 Day Project Mystery Quilt - Block 59 is Birds in the Air. This is a 3" block.
A single quadrant of this block is the "Bird in the Air" block. Four blocks were combined to create this block. I like the pinwheel that is formed when four blocks are used together.
Birds in the Air - Gutcheon, The Prefect Patchwork Primer, 1973*
Birds in the Air - Marsha McCloskey's Block Party, 1998
*The Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns, Jinny Beyer 2009
Here are a few color variations:
How are you staying cool?
Until next time,