Monday, May 09, 2011

Jane Austen quilt, part 7 - and the beat goes on ...


Or .. now we get down to the real nitty-gritty.  It's simply diamond after diamond ... sashing segment, diamond, lather, rinse, repeat.  Ad infinitum.

I was originally thinking that this was going to be a Great Ordeal, some arduous task, mind-numbingly boring.  It turns out that I am only partially correct. :-)

It *is* repetitious.  But as with all things that are this way, I get into a sort of Zen state of mind.  I have a procedure .. a method .. a technique .. that breaks everything down into steps .. rather like painting the Golden Gate Bridge (to use a local comparison!).  Looking at the task as a whole, it is daunting.  But, broken down into its piece parts, it's quite manageable.

Even so, I find my mind wandering onto other projects that I could be working on or ones that I am thinking about working on.  I find myself playing hooky on the Jane Austen quilt to work on other projects.  :-) 

Like the Oz Jelly Roll quilt.  Dear Daughter #2 (the same one for whom the Jane Austen quilt is made) spent a semester in Perth, Australia at Edith Cowen University.  She purchased a Jelly Roll whilst there and upon her return home and after looking at many Jelly Roll friendly designs, decided on one.    I've been working on that design, off and on. 

Currently, it's long and skinny.  There is a pieced border on the top & left sides.  I'm working on the other two sides, as you can see by the gray strip of fabric in the top right corner.  There will eventually be more borders on the sides only.  The length is good; we just need more width.

You can see that the Oz Jelly Roll contains purple.  The Jane Austen quilt is purple.  I hope you are sensing a trend.  :-)
Writtten by at

11 comments:

  1. Chris5/9/11, 12:19 PM

    Gee does your daughter like purple perchance??? LOL. I love both your project. I really like the jellyroll pattern; I have been eying it for a little while now online :)

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  2. Shelley: the Dread Pirate Rodgers5/9/11, 12:24 PM

    Chris ... BINGO! You win the prize! :-) Yes, she surely does love purple. She has a LOT of purple quilts already made *and* lots more in the making. :-)

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  3. Quilty Conscience5/9/11, 1:22 PM

    I love your Jane Austen. I've "thought" about doing one with all those triangles as my LQS offers the class and has a lovely sample...but all I've done is "thought" Great job! Toni

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  4. Sue Daurio5/9/11, 4:53 PM

    The Jane Austin quilt is really stunning! So what is your secret? What are those manageable steps???? Inquiring minds want to know.

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  5. Shelley: the Dread Pirate Rodgers5/9/11, 5:24 PM

    Toni .. thanks so much! I imagine that if you do it as part of a class, the cost of the class alone would be a terrific incentive to finish it! :-)

    Sue ... the manageable steps. Ah, yes. :-) As you know, *any* task is broken down into smaller pieces. There is the design phase, cut cutting phase, the assembly phase and the quilting phase. I royally messed up on the design phase and am paying now in the assembly phase. Poor me.

    For the assembly phase, I have already pinned all of diamonds onto a "design wall" (a queen sized sheet).

    1. I gather up all the diamonds & setting triangles of a diagonal row, keeping them in order.
    2. At my machine, I chain stitch them onto a sashing strip.
    3. Cut them apart so the top setting triangle and all the diamonds have a small sashing segment sewn to it. Press the seam allowance.
    4. Sew setting triangles and diamonds together. When done, you will have a diagonal row ... focus fabrics separated by a small sashing segment.
    5. Press the seam allowances.
    6. The previously sewn rows will have a long sashing strip already sewn to them. Sew the newly constructed diagonal row to the previous long sashing strip.
    7. Sew a long sashing row to the row.
    8. Press seam allowance.
    Repeat from step 1. :-)

    By having discrete steps, I can stop at any point and be assured that I can resume my sewing with a minimum of re-acquainting myself with where I was in the process. :-)

    The other phases have similar kinds of steps, specific to that activity. :-) If you want more detail on that part, lemme know .. it's really too much information for a comment.

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  6. Lisa R5/9/11, 6:00 PM

    DD#2 Sweat Shop does not allow its worker to play hooky! Back to work!

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  7. Quiet Quilter5/9/11, 6:21 PM

    You are doing great...one needs a break to be able to come back strong...

    Read the comment re: DD#2: Ahh, well, Shelley, you now know Mother's Day is past....

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  8. Shelley: the Dread Pirate Rodgers5/9/11, 7:38 PM

    Lisa: ::ahem:: I *assume* you noticed that the item that I was playing hooky with is ALSO *your* project!

    Your younger sister has her nose out of joint. :-)

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  9. Barbara5/9/11, 8:59 PM

    Beautiful colors. That's going to be a gorgeous quilt.

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  10. AnnieO5/9/11, 9:19 PM

    Nothing like a purple addict! Purple lovers seem to like to dress all in that color too :) The sashing project is really coming along! Great job.

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  11. Karen5/11/11, 5:50 AM

    this is great and as for repetition...I love it. It really is relaxing and calming.

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