Deco Garden: bonus block 37, border blocks, and cornerstones

My focus lately has been on my heritage scrapbook albums. 

I finished one maternal line of my husband's, going back as far as I could reasonably verify, which was to a gentleman named Andrew Watson Robertson, born in 1825 in Ohio.  I can't go back further because I can't *absolutely* nail down Andrew's parents.  I have a hint on a Census that they might be in South Carolina but Census records from 1840 and earlier only *tally* the number of people in a household.  It doesn't give names or relationships or any details.  So although there are a number of "Robertsons" in South Carolina in the 1840 Federal Census, I can't definitively tie any of them to having a son named Andrew Watson Robertson.

This is excessively annoying because you KNOW the parents are out there ... I just can't definitively say "This is them."  So .. that's my brick wall for the Robertson family and that's as far back as I can go.  I was very pleased to have finished that album because it had languished for quite a while as my interest waxed and waned.  It's amazing how much productivity doesn't get done when you're not actively working on it.  :-)

After finishing that album, I almost started on the next family line, when I remembered a military service album that I had started for my Dad ages ago.  I figured it would be better to get that partially completed album finished so it could go on the bookcase, rather than take up space in my work room.

I was very, very fortunate in that my Dad saved quite a few official US Army papers, from which I was able to piece together his military service from basic training to infantry during World War II (South Pacific theater) to US Army Reserves during the Korean War.

I might do a dedicated post on that album later on but for now, I will simply feel very, very pleased that the album is done.

Which left me to return to my Deco Garden Forever Project ™.   Tom & I took a weekend away where I was able to do a substantial amount of work during the drive to/from and more work once we arrived at our destination.

bonus block 37 - Periwinkle

Bonus Block 37 (Periwinkle) was the next 12" floral block to be finished.

I have (4) more 12" floral blocks to do.  Although the applique templates have been cut and the applique placement guides have been made, I haven't yet prepped any of those blocks.

It occurs to me that perhaps a future blog post ought to be how my technique for the applique evolved over time.  But not today. :-)

All 28 border blocks

While completing a floral block is certainly cause for a major celebration, I gotta say that wasn't the case for this weekend trip.

THIS trip resulted in my finishing ALL THE BORDER BLOCKS!   Oh My Goodness .. all TWENTY EIGHT border blocks are now finished!  Working on these small blocks has certainly been tedious at times, since the blocks are all the same but putting in that last stitch was SO satisfying!

However, that self-satisfied smug smile was short-lived.  As I was stacking up all the border blocks, feeling inordinately proud of myself, I realized that ... oooooh noooooo!   those border blocks weren't QUITE 100% finished after all.

close-up of a border block with accent circles

Nope .. each of them required (4) small circles to be appliqued between the leaf elements.  Sigh.  That meant 28 blocks times 4 circles per block = 112 total small circles.  These circles are about 1/2" in diameter, so they are somewhat of a pain to deal with.

To get nicely uniform circles, I like to use a stiff template and make a  gathered circle around the template .. and that's exactly what I'm doing.  This is excessively tedious work and I'm not particularly looking forward to it.  But it's one more step that needs to be done.  Sigh.

the four corner blocks

AND THEN ... the very last blocks to be prepped were the (4) cornerstones.  I just finished those and they are ready to be stitched.   Except for the required small accent circles.  Yeah, these blocks want them also.  Sigh.

I've mentioned previously that I use Nancy Lee Chong's (of Pacific Rim Quilting Company) basted applique technique for all of my needleturn applique pieces.  It's the only method that didn't annoy me excessively or have a lot of unnecessary steps.  I highly recommend it.

So, the four cornerstones have been prepped ... the lighter green leaf elements and the color spot element have been basted on the turn line, following Nancy Lee Chong's method.  The darker green leaf unit was done differently.

There were waaaaaay too many narrow ins-and-out for me to want to negotiate.  I've done narrow "V" shapes plenty of times but by the time I was looking at these shapes, my brain was screaming NOOOOOOO.   :-)

So, I used an alternative method that is useful when the shape is just too complicated or tedious to stitch with a traditional needleturn method.  I call this "shaped applique", although that is strictly my term for it; I don't know if there is an official name.   This alternative technique calls for the finished shape to be cut from fusible, wash away stabilizer.  I use a product from Floriani.  The cut shape is fused to the wrong side of the applique fabric and trimmed to leave a small seam allowance.  I then swipe the perimeter with a washable glue stick and wrap the seam allowance over the stabilizer where the glue will keep it there. 

When I'm done wrapping the fabric, the final shape will conform beautifully to the stabilizer shape and all I have to do is to stitch the shape in place.  When I launder the quilt, the stabilizer will dissolve, leaving the applique nicely soft.

Bottom line ... I have 112 small accent circles to make and stitch for the border blocks; 24 small accent circles to make and stitch for the corner blocks; prep (4) 12" floral blocks; and stitch the (4) corner blocks.   This is certainly a whole lot less to do than when I first started but seeing it written out like that makes me think that the Light at the End of the Tunnel is a bit further down the line than I thought.

Such a shame because I already have the next Forever Project ™ picked out and ready to be worked on!!  LOL!

Deco Garden block: bonus block 41 - Blue Bubble Flower

bonus block 41: Blue Bubble Flower

I've not been quilting so much these days. 

Another passion of mine is genealogy, both my family and my husband's.  Over the past years, decades for some family lines, I've been doing research into the ancestors.  Some have been easy to find and others still remain elusive.

Much of my time lately has been diligently working on my husband's maternal grandmother's line.  I had hit a major mental road block for a while.  I knew that the longer I stayed away from the album, the longer it was going to take me to finish it.  So, I finally pull up my big girl panties, put my nose to the grindstone and just plugged away.


And hooray!  That family album is done!  woo hoo!

Which meant that I could now, with a clear conscious, return to my other passion: sewing.  Specifically working on my Deco Garden blocks.

After weeks of just sitting there, being all lonely, I was able to get back and finish the block.

I might take another break from the flower blocks because I'm waaaaay behind in the border blocks.  I had originally thought I would do maybe 5 border blocks to every flower block I needed to do so that I would come out even in the end ... with neither a whole lot of border blocks or a whole lot of flower blocks to do.

But, that didn't work as planned.  Such is life, ya know?