Good Intentions -- Forgotten Again

The last day of August and I'm surprised at how long it's been since I wrote a blogpost!?!  I had good intentions of posting every couple weeks this summer but obviously I didn't.  That seems to reflect my theme this summer -- forgetting.   I've always been a "list maker" but that habit seems to have slipped -- so perhaps I was always forgetful but didn't notice because I relied so much on lists??  

Yea, that's it!  I'm going with that!!

One of my other intentions for the summer was to focus on "contentment" -- specifically being content with my diminished energy and what I'm able to accomplish in that new mode.  The tricky aspect of this is that I still have lots of good ideas, but with less energy picking the ideas that benefit myself and others the most feels imperative.  It seems like to understand the aging process, one needs to be aging??  That's "past me" reflecting on my reactions as I watched older friends and family do less with their lives and seem to just step back -- and now here I am, stepping back every chance I get.

I should quit gardening and piecing and birding -- all of my favorite occupations require lots of mental or physical energy and wear me out these days.  The gardening could be winding down naturally -- I've let go of lots of high maintenance plants this summer (our little drought has helped).  I'm thinking of my outdoor gardens as habitat more than gardens -- providing shelter and food for native wildlife like beetles and spiders and bees and birds rather than the groomed beauty spot I was raised to work towards.  The birding away from home has slowed down but I've always enjoying observing bird behavior more than chasing rare birds so the increasingly native habitat of my yard caters to that.  Plus my growing fascination with insects provides some of the same experiences -- I know this will be disconcerting to some but outdoor spiders are quite interesting!

Then there's the piecing!  It is all muscle memory for me at this point so a very relaxing way to spend my time.  There are very few old UFO's in my stash at this point so starting something new is generally safe!  I'm currently a bit behind on the summer sewalong -- Chrysalis Cascade from the Darty Kite pattern company but sometimes that is okay as I can see the next step before I have the current step finished and make alterations in my fabric scheme (LOL).

Some of the versions in the Facebook group are amazing.  While I didn't have any sort of vision going into the project beyond using up some 1800's "reproduction" stash, I'm surprised by the results so far.  I've hardly used any of the intended stash but using any of the stash is good!  Of course, I'm machine piecing it instead of English Paper Piecing -- my left hand doesn't tolerate much hand work at this point.

One of the downsides of hardly any UFO's anymore is that I've run out of "leaders and enders" when chain-piecing -- using UFO piecing for that has been my "go-to" strategy for finishing, especially projects that I no longer enjoy.  Of course, there are those new ideas and so those have become the "leaders and enders" but this past week, the hexie piecing became the "leaders and enders" for a new idea that I was itching to start.

I'm always looking for ways to use up the 2 1/2" strips that I cut from the last bits of a piece of fabric.  The box gets so full it won't fit in it's designated space and so it must be culled productively and tidied up every so often.  

Actually, I love working out of this box.  Value becomes the primary selection criterion with color being secondary.  Spontaneous fabric choices always result in whimsical combinations and fabric gets used up!!

I sketched out this Granny Square block earlier in July in EQ7 and figured out how to piece the blocks together without using sashing.  (Sashing is fine but it slows me down and requires more accuracy to execute.)  Every time I figure out a "simpler" process for assembling patchwork, I thank Mary Ellen Hopkins -- her viewpoint was transformational for me.

The key is to think in "units" rather than blocks and eliminate seams.  I did this by adding the background squares to two sides of each unit and rather than piecing blocks,  I'm working in rows.  Once the entire layout is organized, I'll assemble the top by joining the rows of each unit to the rows of adjacent units.

Here is a unit laid out and ready for piecing. 

I'm piecing the rows from the upper left to the lower right - there are 7 rows varying from 2 squares to 8 squares.  I'm not setting these rows into units yet, but before adding them to the design wall, I press the seams.  Rows 1, 3, 5, and 7 are pressed in the same direction.  Rows 2, 4, and 6 are pressed in the opposite direction.  Each set of rows for every unit is pressed the same so when I string all the rows together in the final assembly, the seams will nest together consistently.

Then onto the design wall.  Everything looks askew at this point but I want to be able to move them around before the final row assembly so I'm holding off stitching the long rows.  

Here's a close-up so you can see the rows at this point.  I've started to add background squares to the right hand end of each row but they aren't stitched in place yet.

I'll add triangles to the end of each row to straighten the edges.  These are cut four from a square so the outer edge of the quilt top will be straight grain, not bias.  

This is another Mary Ellen skill -- by adding 2 1/2" to the finished size of my design squares I can cut these square on both diagonals to get triangles with straight grain diagonal edges.

Since my design squares are 2 1/2" cut and will be 2" finished, I added 2 1/2" to 2" and cut my squares 4 1/2".  The 2 1/2" extra is a constant no matter the size of the design square -- if it's a 9" block or a 12" block, an extra 2 1/2" still gives you the right amount of seam allowance.

These triangles will be set around the outside edges at both ends of each row.

The corner triangles are cut from a square 1 1/2" larger than the finished unit size that is cut on one diagonal as below.

These triangles are a bit larger than necessary but I like the extra space it gives me to straighten the outer edges of the top and add borders when needed.  Those little triangles can be trimmed off once the rows are joined.

 I have one more unit to organize and then after some rearranging for balance I'll start to stitch the rows together assembling the top much like a Trip Around the World design.

By the time I finish this laprobe quilt which will be donated to Sew4Service (a local group collecting and distributing hand made items in Northeast Ohio) the 2 1/2" strip box will be tidy again (although as I'm finishing up this post, I think another idea is percolating in my head?!?).

Finally here is my "sketch" along with two other versions inserting more background "sashing" with floating cornerstones into the piecing but using the same assembly process of units and rows rather than blocks.  The third idea (top right corner) is to insert a color "sashing".  Feel free to copy my sketch!  

If your scrappy strip stash is a different size, just go with that!  Don't cut new strips!

2" strips will yield blocks about 8 1/2" across

2 1/2" strips will yield blocks about 11" across 

3" strips will yield blocks about 14" across

How about 1 1/2" strips you say -- about 5 3/4" across

So use the size you have and do some stash busting!!

Watch my Instagram feed -- @hueymary -- for the finished top!!

Mary