The luck of the Irish

It's done!!  OK, well sort of ;)  

I believe that we should try and learn something new all the time, learning is a good thing.   I not only learned something new while making this quilt top I re-learned a few as well.

1.  Re-learned - always double check your math when you've manipulated a pattern.  I thought I was done last week and was proudly showing it off when I realized it was going to be too short to fit the clients bed.  I needed to add another row to give her the pillow tuck she wanted.

2.  Re-learned - when I shut my sewing machine off the settings for the needle adjustment are lost.  Oh yah - right.  Rippit, rippit...

3.  Learned - Starch. Plain and simple.  I'd read and read how so many quilters use starch when they are piecing and how it helps keep things aligned, sews better and on and on.  Well - I'm a firm believer now.  I had sometimes lightly starched curved pieces before but I inherited a can of  'double strength' starch from cleaning out my in-law's place and decided to try that.  It was amazing.  It helped lining up the fabric for cutting so my strips were more accurate.  Once the strips where sewn together I starched again and the sub-cutting went like a dream.  The finished blocks were much more square.  The best was that once you've starched the seams they will lay flat when you're sewing the sub-cuts together and you don't have the underside seam flipping over on you when it goes under the presser foot.  I'll definitely be buying and using starch much more.

I decided on the border fabric yesterday and worked out my cut lengths and got started.  Took a break after I got one of the borders on and when I went back I had no power to the machine or the computer.  The radio was still on so I figured a breaker had blown.  I went to find my DH to flip the breaker as it's in an rather awkward location and when we entered the room where the panel was we could smell an awful burning smell of hot plastic or oil.  He checked the electrical stuff and I went around trying to locate the smell.  Turns out that the old florescent light had fried and the oil, PCB"s or tar or whatever it is in the ballast had leaked out and was hotter than heck.  My DH quickly unhooked the light and we called the rental manager and she got an electrician out.  He's checked everything out and had to re-wire a few things that were definitely not only not to code but extremely unsafe.  Turns out here was no ground on the light and we could easily of had a fire.  The fact that my sewing machine lost power was just a coincidence.  Those wires were loose in the panel and had come off.  If they hadn't we might not have caught the  problem with the light until it was too late.  Anyway - once the smell had cleared out I finished up the borders late last night and proudly spread it out on the bed. 

OK - this morning I spread it out on the floor to get a good picture to post.  Looked at the picture and something didn't look right.  Looked at the top on the floor and it looked fine.  Looked at it through the camera again and something definitely was wrong with one of the 'x's.  Looked the quilt over again and sure enough I've got one of the 'x' blocks wrong.  Good thing is it is in the last row so not too much froging required.  Sigh.

I'm not sure when I'll be finishing it now. We got the keys to our new place last evening so it's off to the paint store today and the reno begins! Hopefully I will be able to do a little bit in the evenings if I'm not too tired and I can pack it away for the move.

Back in the Saddle

I have been asked to make a Double Irish Chain for a friend in a bedspread size for a twin bed. Between our move, helping my in-laws settle into the extended care home and waiting for possession of the house we bought (2 weeks and counting before we start with painting, flooring and designing my new quilting studio!!) I haven’t done much of any quilting at all. I decided it was time to get off my butt and get busy.

I was to match an old satin wall paper in soft blue stripped roses with just a touch of pink. She wanted to match the blues - no pink at all. The problem was these blues were from 10 years ago or more and it was tricky trying to find the same blue in fabric today. I lucked out and came up with these three.

This is the third Double Irish Chain that I’ve made. I use Eleanor Burn’s strip piecing method, or maybe it’s just my version of hers :) I find it so much quicker sewing the strip sets together and then sub-cutting them. Truth is I’ve never made one cutting all the squares out first and sewing them together - it just seemed too much trouble!

I’ve got almost half of the blocks made now. The finished quilt will be 90” x 106” or there abouts. Another couple days worth of sewing and I should be ready to add the borders. I’m really hoping to get this top completed or at least ready for the borders before I start the painting at the new house October 1.