As I stated in a previous post, I have decided to join my first ever QuiltAlong. I’ve seen QuiltAlong’s listed on blogs before, and thought it would be fun to join in. However there was never one that just screamed JOIN NOW! Well when checking out the newest post on one of my favorite blogs Don’t Look Now I finally found the QuiltAlong of my dreams! First of all the quilt just screamed, MAKE ME! Secondly the pattern looked like it would be a challenge, were I was going to be able to learn something new. And to be honest it has come along at a great time for me. I need something to take up what little free time I have, something to keep my mind off other things that have been happening here at home.
So I signed up and went about collecting my supplies. First up was a search for fabric, I had in my mind just what I wanted to use. A great Black for the background (a color I LOVE to use!) and some great brights for the rest of the quilt. Only one problem…. I could not find any good quality Black fabric in stock at any of my favorite haunts, but I did find a really great deal on some extra wide Kona Cotton White that I could not pass up. It was the complete opposite color of what I wanted to use but the quality was great and the price (108″wide and only $4.49 a yard!) was too good to say no to. The white did make me stop and rethink my choice of all brights for the rest of the quilt. Oh don’t get me wrong, there will be loads of bright fabric used, after all its all coming out of my scrap box and brights are my most favorite color choice! But instead of sticking to just one fabric line I have decided to use some of the fabrics in my Scrap Box. Yes, I know, an unheard of feat for a quilter, breaking into that much loved box of scraps that we just can’t toss. After all…. We might be able to use that little 1″ scrap of hot pink with green smiley faces someday soon!
Now when it comes to quilting and fabrics I am a stickler for pre-washing. I know I am crazy but it was what I was taught by my grandmother before I ever started quilting. I remember her bringing home her finds from the local shops and loading it all in the washer, then the dryer, and then it went for a very perfect pressing. So it’s still something that I can’t help myself to do. And after the one time I didn’t wash a fabric and the color ran I refuse to take the chance. One tip for you, washing 108″ wide fabric and then pressing it is not easy job! Now if I would have had a ironing board that was as wide as my fabric it probably would have been pretty easy, but for some reason you can’t seem to be able to buy one that size right off the self. Well needless to say the ironing took some time but I ended up with a really nice piece of fabric that took two people at least a dozen time to try and get folded nice and straight!
When I was out looking for fabric I decided it was a perfect time to purchase another new pair of scissors for the new project. After all, you can never have to many pairs of scissors! Oh what’s that? They are on sale! Well let me just pick up another new pair for emergencies! I was also lucky to hit the shop on a sale day for the needed appliqué pins and they had silk thread on sale so I picked up a number of basic colors to use for the appliqué. I love silk thread for appliqué, don’t ask me why, I just do! Now it took longer to find the stabilizer, I ended up ordering it online but it was at my front door in only three days. I have never used this stuff before, but looks like it will be easy enough to use. Might even have to try it on my embroidery machine that has been in storage for the past three plus years! I picked up the last supplies at my local quilt shop; after all I was feeling bad about not purchasing anything for the project at my most favorite shop!
This past Friday I decided it would be nice to have a binder to hold the directions that I print out from the web site, so I made a quick cover with a couple of Kellie’s photos. Now that I think about it I really should have asked if this was ok, using her photos that is. Kellie if you are reading this and don’t want me to use your photos for the cover of my notebook please let me know and I will make something new, and I apologize in advance for not asking first. I am going to use this binder to hold the print out from the website so I can always have a quick reference in case I get lost. I think I will also use it as a journal for the project. I have told myself for some time I should be better at documenting my quilts so now is a great time to get started on doing just that! I have some dividers to keep the different steps separated and I am going to add some paper in the back for quick notes.
When the first step of the pattern was posted on November 1st I was a bit worried. Especially when I saw the word GEOMETRY in the first paragraph! But it wasn’t all that bad thank goodness. But when I tried to use my old compass to draft the pattern I quickly learned that it wasn’t going to work. The darn thing would not stay I the correct measurement so my circles were coming out more egg shaped than anything. Luckily my brother had a handy drafting compass, and that was just what I needed to get the pattern drafted out and the template drawn. Ok, so I cut out like four templates before I finally got one that was just right, but I swear I will recycle all my scraps of plastic!
At this point I am as far as I can go, at least until the next step is posted on Tuesday. So I am going to get my scrap box, ok, ok, boxES out and start pulling bits that will be large enough to use for this project. Be sure to check back from time to time for a update, after all our goal is to make one and half blocks a week…. Like that’s gonna’ happen! I do have my own personal goal of one block a week with any more than that a bonus! Another goal of mine is once i get this figured out to try and make a Miniature version to go along with the larger quilt. My friends will tell you i love any quilt in mini form and I think this one will be amazing in a tiny scaled down size!
If you are interested in joining this quilt along you can find info on the project here: Don’t Look Now, Joseph’s Coat Quilt Along
As a request from Kellie at the Don’t Look Now blog, I will be using Flickr.com to post photos to my blog for this project. I haven’t used Flickr.com before but if I like it I might be switching over to using it full time for the blog.
EDIT: I forgot to say something about my great new thimble! I have never used a thimble, oh I have tried to use them before but could never find one that fit correctly. My local quilt shop had the new Clover, Protect and Grip Thimbles in and I thought I would give one a try. Now I haven’t used this to do any actual applique work yet but the fit of the thimble alone has me thinking I’m going to have great luck with this one! When you measure your finger using the packaging the thimble come in, you want it to be just a tiny bit snug. The thimble is made of some kind of flexible rubber with a metal tip, and having the thimble fit a tiny bit snug allows for the rubber to stretch and hold onto your finger much better than a traditional metal thimble. And the metal tip will keep the needle from punching into the plastic then into your finger, like a lot of the other flexible plastic thimbles on the market today. So if you are looking for a new thimble, be sure to give this one a try!
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