Texas is experiencing the hottest summer since 1925! Now I was not around then, but last night Clay and I were trying to think when our weather pattern started to change. In 1996 when I came back to Texas from Virginia I knew I would miss the seasonal changes. But during Fall of 1996, the trees in our area were changing colors just like VA! Well that was the last time I had that experience, and since then we have had 3 years of floods 1998-2002 and then in 2005 the water spicket turn off and it has been nothing but hot hot hot and drought. This year is the worst! We are happy that we did the new roofs this summer as there is not one place I would want to travel in this heat! We will wait until Fall (if it ever gets here).
There will be no more RF back treatments for me. This time the Twilight got me real good! So my back brace will be my bestest buddy forever! This set me back a week or so and time spent on my Yoder Lodge quilt project. Well, OK, I cannot blame it all on that! This time a week ago I had 10 finished and 4 ready to sew. I was a happy camper.
Remember when?
The last step in making these 10” finished Lone Star Blocks requires a triangle be sewn on 4 of the 8 corner to make a square block. Of course, like a dummy, I did not do this last step until I had the 10 blocks made. Why worry, I had made a practice one and thought that would be the least of my worries! What an eye opener and talk about absolutely sick when I realized the one part I had not completed would set me back on the hard work I had done to complete 10 of the 30 blocks.
Long sad story short – 8 of the 10 became rejects! At first I tried to salvage them, but decided they would be difficult to remake the block because of the bias. So they went into the mesh trash bin. They stayed there 3 days and I decided to move them to the “never will be finished” drawer! They are now back in the mesh trash bin!
I quickly pulled the same fabrics that I used in the rejected ‘8’ and recut the strips. (Hell, I thought I would be through with this quilt by the end of July!) All went fairly well UNTIL I started on the last 5 of that batch! Somehow I had done something wrong because after making 3 blocks I realized that I had screwed up somehow because all the blocks were flaring beyond repair. It takes up to 3 to 4 hours to make a block. Precision is imperative I could not figured out what I was doing wrong!
Yesterday Clay and I performed an autopsy on the last two blocks that had not been sewn together, of course they had to be pulled out of the mesh trash bin, and the first strip that Clay checked for me was NOT CUT ON AN ACCURATE 45 degree angle….. Another Nanette error! I then rechecked all strips and half of them were off. This problem began when I cut the strips from the last 2 strip sets! Duh – that was were the problem was!
I now know all pitfalls of this project and hopefully things will go smoother. With all the problems I have experienced, I am still going to finish this quilt! There is a plus side to the project – I am able to focus and look forward to working on it each day. It is a challenge and one that I have needed to get back my passion for quilting! At least this part is a success! Here are the 9 blocks that are finished! (I refuse to count the total number of blocks I have made counting the ‘throw away’s’!). I am so happy now that I purchased all the batiks I have through the years as I am using them now. Each block only uses 1/3 of a fat quarter so it is only time that has been wasted! When complete there will be a sashing’s between each block!
Yesterday I sewed my 3 blocks for RSC and compared to what I had been working on this month they were so easy and a breeze to finish! The color for the month of July Red!
Nesting is coming along nicely! I have 2 Red Birds and 1 Blue Bird and some leaves and it will be a finish. My goal is to finish by mid-week. I will post when completed.
Other than still burning up here in South Texas and watching our beautiful 50’ pines starving for water, I will be working on my Star blocks. Hiccups happen, and there were a few this month, hopefully August will be better!
It will continue to be in the 100’s with a possible chance of rain on Tuesday – I will believe it when I see it! My walking took a hit for 7 days due to the heat and humidity. I solved that problem by ordering a ‘cool’ hoodie cape that I wet, wring out and then keep it on my head and shoulders – makes a difference for me!
Have a great week!
Nanette
Chopin - A Passionate Quilter From Texas 