An unexpected favorite!

This is the story of a quilt I thought I would not keep, and it turned out to be one I happily use every single day!  

It seems like a lifetime ago, but in March, when the world was starting to quarantine,  Gundrun Erla of GE Designs was hosting a virtual quarantine quilt along with her pattern, Elvira.   It sounded like fun, and I got the pattern, and decided to start using up my stash.  (Okay - I say that every year, but I am making some progress!).  I keep my fabric in smallish bins sorted by color, and I had three bins full of various greens.  The greens, especially the grayer ones, are not a color I often use, so I thought this would be perfect.  I figured that I could donate the quilt.  I ironed the fabrics, and sorted by value to see what I had.   

The Elvira pattern, found here, is very nice, with big swatches of color.  I cut my greens up, and had pulled some unloved reds to complement the greens.   I started making some of the blocks, and found I really didn't care for it.  My green variety just wasn't coming together in such big pieces.  I was also furiously making masks, worrying about everything, and trying to finish up three studio art classes remotely.  I hit a wall, and just stopped working on that quilt. 

Since I had the greens (and reds)  all cut into rectangles, I decided to cut them up further into triangles.  

I started sewing them together at random, and then put them up on my design wall to see how it looked.   I had made a few triangle quilts before and liked how they generally turned out.  You can find those here and here.

I guess these pieces were just enough smaller that they worked nicely together.  

I ended up finishing the quilt in  August, and taking some proper photos in October.   The finished quilt is a nice lap size  - 61 inches wide by 72 inches tall.  Perfect for my reading chair.  I ended up quilting a triangle pattern in each triangle, keeping the lines about 1/2 inch or so apart.  I just moved from one to the next with a little loop, leaving an unquilted ridge between each triangle.  

I'm not the only one who finds this a most comfy quilt!  

I am sure I will find some fabrics that will better suit the Elvira pattern.  In the meantime, a quilt made from fabrics I didn't really like ended up being one of my favorites.  

I still have a few finished and gifted quilts to write about.  For a new project, I am currently working  on the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt,  Grassy Creek Mystery.  These are fun, and a great way to learn new techniques and get great tips.  There is plenty of time to join in the fun.  Details can be found on Bonnie's blog, here.  I am documenting my progress right now only on Instagram, but I will certainly blog about it when it is complete.  Check it out  and follow me at @snugharborquilts.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  Stay safe!  

Take care,

Gretchen 

 

The Rag Rug - still a work in progress!

 

So, I finally finished sewing together the rag rug from my giant ball of cord made from scrap material and scrap batting.  I have made a few other smaller rugs, but this one just kept going, and finished up as a 6 foot by 5 foot oval.  

Unfortunately, the edges are tight, and the rug cups up significantly.   I tried weighting down the edges to see if I could flatten it out, and I corraled my trusty quilt holder husband into helping me pull it to try to do the same, but it still is pretty off. 

Even Judy can tell that something is amiss! 

I started out with that huge ball, and took my sewing machine to the dining room table, knowing I'd need more space to hold the weight of the piece. 

It started out looking good! 

It soon got too large for my sewing surface, so I piled up books and boxes to enlarge the space.  

I had a bag of older threads that I don't usually use for quilting, and decided to use those for this project, which uses an unbelievable amount of thread! 

As the piece got bigger, I added more supports, and checked it occasionally on the floor to make sure it was more or less flat.  I wasn't too concerned about the few errant little bumps.

I think the problems happened near the end, when I was rushing a bit to clear the table for our little ZOOM Thanksgiving.   I probably needed to really slow down and support it more.  

Even near the end, it didn't appear to be too off.  

Here are the empty spools from this project!  

What to do?  I am thinking that I might take off the final 5 or so rounds to see if I can redo them.  A friend had suggested sticking it under my wool run to flatten it, but I think the edge cupping is too much.  I thought about cutting it, and then sticking in a wedge, but that would look crappy!  I like this rug, and want to do it right, but I am also trying to finish a college class, and get ready for Christmas, and get to work on the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.  I may roll up the rug, and tuck away until after the New Year.

Anyone have any other suggestions on how to make this work, or what I could have done differently?  I'd appreciate any feedback or thoughts.

Take care,

Gretchen