Clearing the design wall and working on two quilts at once!

     As you know, last Thanksgiving I jumped on the Bonnie Hunter "Quiltville" bus, downloading her weekly clues for her annual mystery quilt - this one is called On Ringo Lake.  I finally had all the pieces ready to lay out and start sewing together into a top, and used my design wall to keep track of things.  This quilt top takes up the ENTIRE wall, making it impossible to lay anything else out.  As a result, I have been working away trying to get this top finished up.  All the rows are sewn, and some of the rows are sewn to each other.  I may be able to finish the top today! 

     For the "leaders and enders", the sewing of  other pieces to keep fabric in the sewing machine, I have been working on the spider quilt that I started at least 5 years ago.   It is remarkable how many pieces can get done this way!     

     This spider quilt is a paper pieced project, and I had made numerous copies of the block pattern, without really having an idea of how many pieces I needed!  I frequently just sew and design as I go, but I decided to use my newly acquired EQ8 software to make a plan.  I first planned a quilt without borders.  Using the actual size of the blocks I am making,  this design results in a quilt of 67 x 80 inches.  This is a nice size, but a little bit small if I want to enter it in a future fair competition.  (The main quilt category requires a minimum  300 inch perimeter).  I like the fact that this looks somewhat modern and graphic, even with the reproduction civil war fabrics.

     What I enjoy about the EQ8 software is that I can play around with different ideas.    Here are some designs with borders that I am considering.  I still have plenty of assorted civil war reproduction fabric to work with.  I am still working out the kinks in my use of this software! 

       I welcome your opinion on whether to add a border or not, and if so, whether either of these border options appeal to you!    In the meantime, the design helped me calculate that I need 240 pieces to make the center!  Thanks to the On Ringo Lake quilt, I have finished over 190 pieces, so pretty soon, this quilt top can be put together.  I am dreading the paper removal process!

    My current thought is to hand quilt this, so realistically, it won't be done for at least a year!   The actual quilt will be more scrappy than the computer image -  check out the piles of completed pieces.  

  To finish the pieces, I am working with the left over scraps. 

 If I run out of scraps, I still have some larger pieces to work with! 

   In the meantime, the little kittens we adopted from a shelter last month are getting big and seem happy.   When they aren't flying through the house chasing who knows what (and knocking down an occasional lamp), they are sweetly napping with each other.  

         I have plenty of projects waiting for the design wall to free up.  I start my art classes again next week (so excited!), and have a fall quilt retreat in the works!    I am trying to increase my social media presence, so if you like to read this blog, please follow me!   

     Enjoy these last days of August -

Take care,
Gretchen