NOW We're Flying!

I've been pretty diligent this week, working on my two major projects - the crochet cardigan and the Venetian Tiles quilt. You might remember that the chirpie young lady on the cardigan video promised that it would "fly off your hook", but I wasn't finding that to be true at all. But with the back now done and the first front panel under way, it does feel more like I'm flying. The front panel is 45 stitches wide vs 109 on the back so that would be one reason why. The other would be that I am now so familiar with the repeat pattern that I'm not spending nearly as much time puzzling over instructions and counting stitches.

Also felt like I was flying on Venetian tiles as I machine quilted the four big blocks and 4 of the remaining cornerstones needing a thread color change. My machine quilting does not bear close inspection, stitches quite tiny and my less than steady hands struggled for smooth lines where I wanted them to be. And again, the thinness of the batting means one doesn't even see any texture rising from those 4 main blocks that aren't heavily quilted. Good thing this is just for me and the patterns of the kaleidoscopes are really what I want seen.

And then it was time to work on the binding. This is what I had left of the fabric that bordered the blocks to make sashing, and I hoped there'd be enough to provide the same burgundy edge around the outside. 

So this required a bit of math calculations, deciding that the binding would be a half inch wide, then figuring how wide to cut strips so that stripe fell in the right place, and finally, with that figure, was there enough fabric. Yes! A lot of seams but more than enough. On the left is what I came up with and used as a template of sorts to make sure I was cutting the binding in the right spot.

I had hoped to have the binding sewn on by the end of the week but it didn't happen. I still had to do a bit of calculation to determine where exactly to trim the quilt beyond the edge of the top. That strip will actually be applied face down, not as it is seen here, but my trial had it face up so I could see exactly where it would turn to the back. All this thinking tired me out! Best to take a few days off before actually trimming the quilt top and sewing on the binding. Priority for the upcoming week.

In a break between machine quilting and figuring binding, I took the time to cover with washi tape a box that saline packets come in. Washi tape is still a mystery to me, not really understanding how to use it no matter how many times I watch videos of it being used. Still, like any good crafter, I've bought more than one spool of it and rarely have used any of it. But I am a sucker for anything William Morris and could not resist buying a roll of this wider washi tape with one of his designs on it. 

It made pretty quick work of covering the box which I will either keep my rolls of washi tape or maybe linen binding thread in. I can see now I need to put a little more tape on it to cover the inside of the lid. 

Finally, I had a surprise visitor to my deck garden. It got quite cool last week, enough for me to turn on the furnace, which may be why this little frog decided to hunker down in one of my pots. If he hadn't moved as I watered the plant within, I don't think I would have noticed him in there.