Its All About The Discipline

In Blogging terms where am I? I seem to have hit a maelstrom recently. It isn't that I haven't wanted to blog, indeed I often find myself at 2 am blogging in my head. In real terms, it has been hard to find the momentum to blog. We have been working hard in the garden, we have been out and about. I have been sewing too in the background, some of the time. Even so, I have a finished flimsy with apologies for the daytime UK bad light photos.



I blame my design wall. We have the design wall up. We, as in the royal we, are happy with it. Occasionally it falls down and that's when I can't be bothered. It is up with a Velcro type stuff. The Velcro which sticks to the design wall occasionally parts company. Generally though that is not the problem. The problem is discipline. I have always joked I am not disciplined enough to be a professional quilter (that and the question of talent). I leap from project to project, I "fart" about. I procrastinate. The design wall makes this all very difficult. It is hard to start a new project when the current one is haunting you on the wall. I go to lift my Liberty, and there it is, this big bed quilt taunting me, laughing at me. Well, two can play at this game. I shut the door and walk out. I was struggling with my Kaffe quilt for a while. In my head this quilt and I hadn't bonded. It hadn't even a name, except occasionally to be called the Kaffe Fokkit quilt! No reflection on Kaffe, just my state of mind.



Each time the blocks fell off the wall, they went up in a different order. I did take photos of the wip, but who was to say the new order was any better or worse than the last order? My husband takes a passing interest in my quilts. He complained every time he came in, it looked different than he remembered. Needless to say, he always liked the previous reincarnation better. This photo was when we still had the stunt tape acting for the Velcro stuff.


This quilt was keeping me awake at night. That's right. Third World problems. The Prime Minister dreams of Brexit, President Trump dreams of Mexico and his wall. I too dream of borders, but my borders were the quilting type. I hate joins in borders. Loath them with a vengeance. I didn't think I had enough fabric for a straight run of border. I had ordered 2 yds of my bigger second border, and I was sure it wasn't enough. I should have ordered 2.5 yds. Now, this had me tossing and turning. Should I join seams or order yet more fabric? Another 2.5 yds on top of all the rest? What's a girl to do?


So I did what every prevaricator does. I put the metaphorical project behind the clock on the mantelpiece. Except every time I went into the sewing room, there it was taunting me from the design wall. On a bad day, it was hanging off the design wall!

Yesterday I decided enough was enough. I want to make my Beothuk Star! I sewed the last of the rows together. Today I added the first narrow border of purple circles. It was ok. the lengths weren't long enough, I had just 1 yd of this. The border was narrow, the pattern is busy and when the strips were mitred to join them, it was ok. I can breathe without the use of a paper bag. I mitred the corners of the quilt also.

This afternoon, I had coffee with a friend who is also making the quilt. She had no problems with joined borders until I indoctrinated her! We chatted about it this way and that way, and I came home to try with the big challenge. The bigger border.

I removed the selvedge on both sides, and cut the fabric into 4 equal strips running the full length. Each should be just a smidgeon under 11" in width. Of course as any mother knows, it is impossible to keep all the children equal. Three are 11" and one is 10.5". I mitred two of the strips together, luckily  remembering it was a corner mitre, not a length mitre. As Baldrick would say, we are not at home to Mr Cockup. No spare fabric to be had. By some miracle of the fabric fairy, the length of the unmitred end finished just below the end of the quilt. On the face of it, this meant two empty squares in diagonally opposing corners. A non quilter will not have a clue what this means, but quilters know. Luckily, thanks to Fairy Fabric, the offcut triangles from the other two mitred corners just fitted in neatly. Yes, this means there are joins in my borders, but I can live with these. Who knows? It might even be a design feature.

So, this photo is a not great night time photo of my bed with a completed quilt! Only joking, I will wad and quilt it and bind it. I know the night time photo is awful, never mind showing it twice. Tomorrow I will try to get some better photos in the garden. The weather and light here is awful, grey and dull.

This is the best photo of all. An empty design wall. Now, should I start my new project or finish another. I can do both! Just because I can.


Helen x

Comments

  1. Congratulations on getting the top pieced; it sounds like you are more than ready to jump into the Beothuk Star quilt along. :)

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  2. You eloquently stated what so many of us quilters feel about joined borders and unfinished projects and quilting problems. I enjoyed your post. By the way, once it's quilted no one will notice the joined borders especially if you don't point them out.

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  3. Congrats on a finish and getting the design wall empty and ready to go.

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  4. I do like the new design wall. I find myself pinning stuff to my design wall because the fur children like to knock things off or my large tushkas when I walk by. Sometimes quilts are just a love/hate relationship. I want to work on you, no I don't. I'm glad in the end you wrangled this one and showed it who's boss!

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  5. Isn't it funny how we all have Those Things Which Bother Us? I'm glad mine isn't joined borders. Please don't enlighten me about why they are bad, because I'm blissfully ignorant! Kaffe Fokkit made me laugh out loud, since that's how I felt as I was taking his class. Love his fabrics, though. And they look so, so lovely in your now much closer to finished quilt :)

    Did you share your Beothuk Star fabrics and I missed it? I'm sewing along on that one, too, and looking forward to the next steps.

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  6. I'm impressed your husband notices when you've moved things around. I could have a completely different quilt up and mine would walk past without so much as a glance. Congratulations on getting this quilt done; now you can move on to something(s) that get you excited all over again.

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  7. I'm with Louise. Don't mind joins in borders and I don't want to know why you do. But I'm with you on the farting about and procrastinating.....I'm glad you managed to finish this quilt top and can move on. I just take the stuff off the design wall and put the new stuff on.

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  8. Oh, I had a huge smile at every sentence. Love the walls or borders, and all else. BUT, it is absolutely stunning, and my favourite colours all through. Beothuk, I am in that place too, pieces cut, and gathering up the courage to do the sewing so all the HST will be exact!!! That is a wish, a dream, and I hope a true finish. Never mind, your summer days will arrive soon, as we drive into winter down here in NZ.

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  9. You are lol so funny Helen..I love your posts and always smile when I read them. You put into such eloquent words what most of us struggle with...😀 Keep going with Kaffe Fokkit xx

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  10. Hi Helen! I am a fart-about quilter too. I pretty much amble through life, or would without the lists I make myself constantly. The are my focus so that I remember what I want/need to get done each day/weekend or whatever timeframe. Could you possibly put a small nail through the velcro? I know the whole idea of the velcro is to be able to remove it when you want . . . but not when it wants to remove itself. Anyhoo - I missed you my dear. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  11. This is my first visit to your blog, and what a fun read. You had me giggling and nodding in agreement with you all the way through. And who doesn't love Fairy Fabric when it comes through for the win?! You did a great job of taking care of that bossy quilt. Happy dancing with you!

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  12. I love the Fabric Fairy visits!!! Great job getting this top done!

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  13. It was a bumpy ride but the final destination is clearly worth it. Fabulous finish!!!

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  14. I just love the Kaffe Fokkit quilt! You are just so so funny, all the witticisms with the borders and PM and prez--! The joins in a large one, I get, and they bug me too, but the mitred join is best IMHO and with such a busy fabric it will not even be noticeable. Lots of grey here too, TOO MUCH. A couple of days ago I said I'm so over this cold gloomy rainy weather, gets me down. That's when it's so nice to have bright colours to play with right? And Kaffe, fokkim or Fassett, certainly fits the bill there. Beautiful quilt and I know what's on your design wall now!

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