Friday, June 29, 2018

The Two, Big, Bad Borders For This Round of Progress on The Hst Medallion

So this time I went bold and cut out two hst borders at the same time. The last time any work was accomplished on this quilt was back in February which is pretty pathetic. Time to make some serious forward progress or throw in the towel.
The Hst Medallion quilt
Mostly I've just been slacking from a general apathy in doing the work, not lack of desire to see this quilt grow. These hst borders have been 'easier' overall, it's just that they are quite, quite tedious. Lots of time involved in the cutting and sewing as the size of the quilt increases.

I have been referring to a little list of notes that helps loads in getting me to the point of a hst border that will sew on with minimal adjustments. That's so helpful, especially after a couple months of not working on it at all. Of course that doesn't stop me from making mistakes. Don't think that! The last blue border I sewed on ended up with all the triangles pointing the wrong direction, and no amount of flipping that border around ended up changing anything important. Funny how you can just keep trying and trying. Maybe if I do this, maybe if I do that? But it just won't work unless you take it all apart 'cuz the pieces were sewn together wrong in the first place!
Hst Medallion quilt with 6 hst rows
The ironic thing was, I actually deliberated whether to change the orientation of the triangles on that border {prior to sewing} and thought, 'Nah, that blue is probably distracting enough without anything extra going on.' Hah! Guess it was just meant to be. I always kind of knew that there would be a time when the triangles went wonky on me anyway. It just happened later in the process than I expected.
Now it has 7 hst rows
And so I left the blue triangles as is and left my seam ripper to rest in peace. In the original inspiration quilt, there are various instances where the maker let the triangles do their own thing. Sometimes for only one row on one side of the quilt! It's really interesting but almost impossible to notice unless you look very carefully at the quilt. Just a casual glance at the quilt fools the eye really well and it's easy to assume all the triangles are all positioned in perfect repeats. They're most definitely not.

Love that about antique quilts! Which makes it simple to take it in stride when it happens around here. {Talking to myself. *It's okay. We love that. Throw the seam ripper away. Quirks and mistakes are good stuff. And on and on till I quit beating myself up for making a, sheesh, simple mistake!}
Just makes me smile...
At this point I'm starting to wish {wonder?} if these triangles should have been made smaller. Mine finish out at 1 3/4", but the problem is.....  If I make 11 rows of hsts like the original quilt AND include the 2 larger end borders, my quilt will be well over 100". Yeah. Crazy talk.
Still mostly square....
Back at the beginning, my bumbling math led me to believe that I could make 10 hst rows plus include the 2 larger rows and squeak in around 90". My math was wrong. So wrong. At this point I sit here, absolutely delighted at how this quilt is shaping up, but thinking, Thinking, thinking.... Wowsers! it totally needs more of those hst rows. That's what I keep coming back to. I just can't. Cheat. This. Quilt!
Loving this quilt so much....
Hmm.... Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and just make another king sized quilt. What do I really have to lose? Well, besides time, my remaining patience, and that little bit of hair that I pull out whenever the quilt starts to overwhelm me....

17 comments:

  1. I enjoy reading the talk inside your head as you try to convince yourself of something. The medallion quilt is so lovely. Part of me would immediately unpick and resew - the other part of me loves the variety and spontaneity of changing the direction of that one row. 100 inches is a lot of quilt to stitch but this quilt is going to be a beauty and you'll love sleeping under it.

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  2. All of that tedium is paying of beautifully Audrey - this quilt is stunning.

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  3. This one is definitely not the quilt to throw in the towel on! It's fabulous, and your fabric selections and the larger size of your hst's make it so much more interesting than the original, in my opinion. I suspect the original maker didn't have access to a seam ripper and probably wouldn't have used one anyway. I love this one!

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  4. don't you hate it when your math is wrong! I just realized today when cutting more of my flannel from a kit that if I had cut it differently I would have had closer to a yard left over than the half yard that I did - but I had two colors to cut exactly the same way so now I know what to do to have the extra left over.
    I think it would be nice to have the king size quilt for your bed instead of the smaller size

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  5. Every time you pull this out I have to tell myself I don't want to make my own. I'm going back into the sewing room to pretend like there isn't already a stack of navy and pink fabrics sitting out that were ARE! for a different project.

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  6. Don't stop now Audrey!!! This is a tremendous quilt, just so beautiful, interesting to read your method for working out the whys and wherefores.

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  7. This is the. most. beautiful. quilt. The colors, the harmony, the vigor. I don't think it would disrespect the inspiration quilt to have a few less rows and a more useful size. But then I am not a fan of gigantic quilts. 90 x 90 max.

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  8. Holy OMG. How many HSTs are we talking about in total. And it’s not just the HSTs, the little narrow border breakers. I AM IMPRESSED just doesn’t cover it. Keep going...or send out a call for assistance. I’d send 8 to you if I could.

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  9. This is one quilt that deserves the extra attention - go large, Audrey! Though of course it's not me that has to sew hundreds of tiny triangles and get the maths right. :-)

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  10. Goodness, that is a lot of triangles. And all look so precise. All those triangles are what are attracting me to this design. The colors are drawing me in too. I like that there are very definite rounds going on. It all just works.

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  11. Go big or go home! I like the 90x90 size mentioned. But it is lovely any way you go. I AM IN LOVE WITH IT! Like another mentioned, I want to make one. I love the pink and gold combination. HST's are my favorite. I have an orphan box of them. Now I am considering how I could graph out a top using all these orphans? Audrey how are you constructing the rows? Do you apply the narrow coping strips and then the HST's, or do you apply the HST's to the coping strip and apply that to the "Mother Ship" as one piece? Just curious.
    Love all your work. Thank you for sharing with all of us.
    Rondi
    rondiquilts@yahoo.com

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  12. Wow. Just...wow. You are one determined woman.

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  13. wonderful quilt... keep on with the HST's... ( easy for me to say, as I don't have to piece them ;-) )

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  14. You're an inspiration. Every. time.

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  15. Fantastic quilt! Love the blue triangles along with the others. Kind of a place to rest the eye. Thanx for all the thought processes..I always learn from you.

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  16. Oh my this is looking amazing! I love the colours, I love all those little HST's, and I love how you left those triangles to do their own quirky thing! I too always seem to stuff up the maths, but things have a way of working out in the end :)

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