Back at It

Well, our guest has gone and the sewing room is once again, the sewing room. I did manage to make quite a bit of progress on the Penny Sampler Quilt though. I will show it to you soon. I would say I am 3/4 finished with the quilting on it.

Today, however, I worked on piecing the backing for N's quilt. First thing I did was to pull a bunch of fabrics, in various sizes. I laid the quilt top on the floor and arranged the fabrics on top, like a puzzle.

These are the fabrics I used. I took them outside to photograph for you so you could see the true colors. I had the three patterned fabrics and these 4 shades of purple.

 This is the fabrics, just lying on the floor before I sewed them together. I wanted a sense of whether they would be enough for the back and how to fit them together.

 And this is them, all sewn together and ready to quilt. I am thinking I will get the batting out and pin baste next week, but I am so happy to have this step done. I even know how I am going to quilt it.

 This next quilt is a WIP that I started back in 2015. When I was at home, during the time I was doing my cancer treatment, Rachel at Stitched In Color was doing this sew along. It is a quilt as you go project, which I had always wanted to try. I also have long wanted a clam shell quilt. I got all the clam shells cut out, and I even sewed a few rows. But as I felt less well, I sewed less and less until I didn't sew at all. For months.  I picked it back up and did a few rows, once I began sewing again, but still no finish.

If you look closely at the two pictures above, you can see how difficult it was for me to get perfectly rounded edges. But the point of this was to learn the technique, and I hope I will improve. This quilt is not quite half finished.

 Here are all my neutral colored clam shells. I did have to press them a bit after all this time.

 And here are my colored clam shells. I cut some form yardage, but most all of them were either from scraps or 5 inch charm squares. There are not too many duplicates in here.

I found these two in the bag. They are starched and pressed and ready to sew on. And that's part of what is taking so long. I have to starch the edges and press under a quarter inch using a cardboard form. Then you pin on a row, and sew. Then you do it again, and again and again. I am determined though, that this will be the year I finish this quilt. Three years is long enough. I hope to be able to show you some real progress soon. I have already sewn on another row this afternoon. Talk to you soon.