The first thing I did was start to move the whole piece down and over so I could reach the top better. I also needed to make the top slightly wider to accommodate the various pieces. I am not quite sure how many rows and columns I need since I didn’t do any math around this piece yet.
FOTY 2019 – early October #2
After move what I had down, I started to add more of the colored squares to the design wall. I am sure I will have to cut more greys, but I haven’t done that yet.
The first set of borders is finished. The HSTs are sewed together, but the strips are not sewn to the quilt.
The photo shows the border strips hanging over the top of my design wall. I worked hard at not putting the same print next to each other. They are controlled scrappy and I am pleased with the way they came out.
I didn’t have as many red-violets as I have other colors, but I do like that color. Not quite pink, not quite purple.
I know it is hard to see the borders, but, trust me, they are fabulous. 🙂 Click on the photos to see them larger.
Frolic! center with first border (detail)
I will start working on the blue HSTs soon.
I don’t know if I will keep this quilt or give it away.
Yes, you have to experience every little detail of the process.
Can you tell I trimmed it?
The edges of the quilt were not squared during piecing, so the top center had to be trimmed. I did in two stages, mostly because I had to go back to work.
I am really pleased with this quilt. Piecing it all together made a huge difference!
Today would be Tax Day, but it isn’t and I am pretty sure I don’t need to go into why.
This is the last seam. I had to take a photo, because I feel like this top has been such an effort.
Frolic! Center Together
Yes, the top is together.
Finally! Seriously, I feel like this center took for-freaking-ever!
As I said last week, I have a long way to go before I can get it to Colleen, but this is major progress. I feel like I have accomplished something.
My friend Cyndi retired (even though she is about 35!) just before the shelter-in-place order and she is going to town on her UFOs. She is the rockstar who finished her UCAB already.
Frolic! Secondary Block
I think I might need to do something with the secondary blocks/setting blocks. They really look good sewn together. The bad part is that the block is made up of the edges of the main blocks. I could include the pieces on the edges of another block. I just have to figure out how to do it.
I liked this top before I started sewing it together, but I like it so much more now. Despite my whining, I think it looks great. I am constantly amazed how sewing the blocks together can change the look.
Someone asked me why I just don’t put it away and work on something else. Yes, I have been *almost* miserable working on this at times, but I want to keep my habit of not putting a quilt away. I don’t want to build up my UFO pile again after working so hard to get it down to a manageable size. It would be easy to put it away, but I don’t think it would feel good and I am sooooo looking forward to add the yardage to my “Fabric Used” spreadsheet!
I am finally sewing the Frolic! quilt top center together! Yay! I say and I am sure you say, because we have both, probably, had enough.
It isn’t really pretty, though, as I sewed sashing to the blocks in an attempt to chunk the blocks and that worked against me in the final stages. I have had to do some partial seams. Some blocks ended up with sashing on them and others didn’t.
You probably think Frolic! is taking forever. I think it is so you wouldn’t be wrong!
Frolic! Mid March 2020
I pieced a lot this weekend, what with COVID-19 keeping me at home 24/7 (no, I am not sick, but everything is cancelled), I really had nothing else I wanted to do. I finally finished sewing together all of the whole blocks.
After not getting a response to my plea for the Amy Bradley fabric, I am cutting the last bits very carefully and scrounging every last bit. I won’t have enough to use for the half and quarter blocks, but I found another fabric that will work as well. It has a similar blue to the background of the Amy Bradley fabric, so will blend in.
A lot of the Frolic! Mystery quilts have been posted. I am determined not to let this one become another UFO, but I have to admit that a couple of the steps are not making my life easy.
They aren’t difficult just require a bunch of weird cutting and few speed techniques.
As you can see from the photo, I have done a couple of things. First, I rearranged the pieces so that the piece is oriented the way it will be oriented when it is all sewn together. I did not have it on point before. I didn’t exactly achieve the on point look at this time, but as soon as I get some of the more difficult pieces cut, I’ll be able to do it.
I also cut some of the triangles that will be Flying Geese in the near future.
I’d really like to start sewing the piece together, but I don’t have enough pieces yet. I need more of the pinwheels and the weird Flying Geese.
Recently I talked about some fabric I bought and some ideas for a new project. I have pretty much ruled out the idea of the complicated design I drew up. Not forever. Just for this fabric bundle.
While I have been thinking about it, I have thrown in a couple of other bits of fabric.
Country Revival by Sew Kind of Wonderful
Recently I bought a pattern called Country Revival by Sew Kind of Wonderful. You know what that means, right? Yep, Quick Curve Ruler.. Ever since I made MetroScape, I have wanted to use that ruler again. This might be the time.
The example quilt has a limited color palette, which I like, though I think it might be interesting to use the fabrics above, carefully, in the different circular designs.
Gosh this must seem painful to you! I said the other day that I was nearing the end. I am still nearing the end, but even closer! The corner pieces are all cut and I just need to sew them together.
30 seams, maybe?
Then I have to sew the giant chunks together. There is quite a bit of partial seaming, but that is not difficult. I have been doing it all along. Check the tutorial if you need to know how to do partial seaming.
I really worked hard on Flying Around this past Labor Day Weekend. I really wanted to finish the top, but made sure that I focused on it looking good rather than finishing.
I am not 100% sure I am happy with that center section. It looks like I added a string of Flying Geese that go nowhere. I think I might have put a couple of the geese in out of order. Yep, those will have to be ripped.
Still, the whole thing is progressing and is really shaping up well. I think the Flying Geese look like little fluttering flags. I really want this to be a GREAT quilt. I thought that the Carpenter’s Wheel would be GREAT, but it turned into a disappointment once all was said and done. I am not sure why.
I dragged myself away from pillowcases and worked on Flying Around as well. I was kind of facing a hump and working on the project this weekend got me over the hump. I actually used the pillowcases as leaders and enders. The small finishes kept me going.
It’s not that I don’t like Flying Around. I like it a lot and think it will be a really good design once I finish. It is a hard quilt to make. There is a lot of thinking required with a dose of extra seam ripping as well.
Flying Around – early August 2019
Still, I am over the hump and am seeing the end of the adventure. The hump was the bottom left corner, currently comprising the red-violet Friendship Circle and the pink Friendship Circle as well.
That corner will end up with a red circle eventually, but I haven’t done the cutting yet.
The upper left corner has been sewn to the center, so there is a big chunk finished. I haven’t quite figured out how to sew the yellow circle to the part above it. Partial seams will be involved, for sure.
I am moving slowly on gathering fabrics for FOTY 2019. It might be a small quilt! This slowness is because of working with the scraps for the strip and improv donation projects and also because of how long it is taking me to piece Flying Around.
Most of these are light and I know you can tell what I have been working on from what you see. This is sort of the beauty of the Fabric of the Year projects. I can remember the fabrics I bought and used that year. It reminds me of various projects and trips to great shops.
In between a lot of work (actual work, the kind I get paid for) and work on the Orange Strip Donation Top, my main project for the weekend was Flying Around. I had a goal of getting the borders on the top part of the quilt finished. The left hand side was easy compared to the right. The right side was difficult, but the border is off the design wall. It’s really annoying how often this problem affects me. I know I should make smaller quilts, but my ideas make it impossible.
The top center is looking a bit weird and I am trying to decide if I need to rip it out. I am thinking that I can move the section right above the blue Friendship Circle up and add some more Flying Geese to connect the ones already there.
Friend Julie talked to me about the piece on Friday and that really helped. Sometimes getting an idea of what others are seeing is a good thing.
Keep in mind as you look at this piece that much of it is not sewn together, so it looks a little weird.
After a few weeks of hiatus, I finally spent some time on this project again this past weekend.
Flying Around- late June 2019
I was feeling bad about Flying Around – sort of uninterested and not getting anything done. What I needed was some time to work on it. This is not a sew and think about something else. This is a thinking project. Every seam I sew requires thought. These types of projects require time and no interruptions.
I got into the groove and made some good progress. I added a purple Friendship Circle, which you can see adds a lot to the piece. It isn’t sewn yet, so we will see some better photos later.
I also sewed some sections together, which makes it look more like a quilt.
