Why Can't Carolyn Count?

So, back to the Arkansas Cross Road blocks and project.

From this layout of all the pieces . . .

. . . I carefully sorted everything into two piles, making sure the blocks with the bright orange squares were equally split between the piles. It doesn't look like it here, but the bright orange really flashed out to me in person, and I didn't want them all grouped in one border or area.

Shattered

Another project took "cuts" in line and demanded my attention before I could get back to the Arkansas Cross Road borders. I've been reading the blog of hand quilter Gretchen, and while that will never be my sandbox, I really appreciate the beautiful work she does. The more I'd read, however, the more I wanted to get back to quilting the vintage top I'd been working on while visiting my mother (waiting for her to wake from her naps). I was hand quilting using a large but portable hoop, but had discovered another fabric that had shattered. I'd auditioned some fabrics and thought I had a plan for replacing at least one of the squares.

Broken Cross Check

That sounds like a reference app that's on the fritz, doesn't it? What I've really been doing is checking potential 36-patches for an inadvertent swastika image. I put up pairings for 20 blocks on the design wall, then took a photo and gray-scaled it for simplicity.

As long as there was a definite light frame around the center four dark squares, there was no danger of offensive misunderstandings in the blocks. Here's how they look in color:

Much more fun, yes? These are all "half pinwheels", in that there are only two pinwheel blocks used, paired with two plain 9-patch blocks. I have scores of plain 9-patch blocks already made; not so much with the pinwheel blocks, so in the interest of time I've opted to use what I've already got.

ta da

Pinning! Yay!!

I made sure to include a peek at the backing--I'm very pleased with how that came out.

Starting a session of pin basting always seems so overwhelming that I find myself repeatedly thinking, "You're doing it, Peter!"* in order to keep my spirits up and interest keen. In reality it's a 5-hour process, which includes breaks and lunch, so it's really not the day-long procedure it always seems in my imagination.

Glitterati

"Glitter is the herpes of the craft world." John Heffron

There's another expression along the lines of 'If you want to find a Sweet Adeline, just follow the trail of glitter and sequins.'

These days, that trail will lead you straight to my dining room.

Back in Oregon

I brought a project with me to Oregon this time. Although I'm still doing much of the cooking, and maintaining my mom's daily exercise and PT regime, and doing all the driving, there's more down/me time. I knew there would be, so I came prepared.

My hoop did not get broken in my luggage, so I was able to get right to quilting. Because I'm using a Baptist Fan pattern, and I had basted the top, I decided to start at a corner and work my way across one edge. It's awkward right now, but I'm encouraged by what I've managed in the last 3 days.

No Joy

I knew that pin-basting a quilt sandwich that I'd be hand-quilting in a hoop was a recipe for frustration, so I decided I'd use my New Joy frame to thread-baste the newly-repaired vintage top.

Based on the date of a bunch of information I downloaded from the interwebs, I bought this frame (used, through Craig's List) back in December 2013.

One of several pages of assembly instructions downloaded Dec 7, 2013

Vintage top basted

The top is basted, ready to be put into a hoop for an overall Baptist Fan quilt pattern.

Vintage repairs

I last blogged about this in May and June 2019, and its turn has finally come around. I gingerly took it down from the hanging rack and carefully opened it. Two shattered squares had already been replaced, probably back in Spring 1998, and another square removed as well as a shattered maple-leaf block.

On the tables

Wow. I hadn't realized how much time I'd been spending outside, constructing a patio extension and clearing out overgrown weeds and other growth. But, 3 days of rain and a chance encounter with some urushiol-bearing plant has me inside again, waiting for the ground AND the blisters on my forearms to dry up.

In the meantime, I sewed together 3 pieces of flannel to create a back for the Jean MaDan top, and that's what I've been pinning for the last couple of days. (I pinned paper napkins around my forearms to prevent further irritation or contact with them--it's too hot to wear long sleeves.)

POUT drawer, the last reveal

There was one more project to be uncovered in the POUT drawer:

This was in the process of being hand-stitched together, and I distinctly remember working on it in an airplane.

The big picture: