Spinster quilt

[Efemera]

Oh no! What happened? I mean apart from all the rigmarole I just said!?!?! Was it the leading by any chance? 
Yes @Iminei! Scissors! And a pempcil, and lil bits of paper template to lay out on the FQ to make sure I had enough and best use of acreage.... I have to say they were brilliant for when I was tired and hallucinating. If the paper didn't match then it was wrong...mostly. 
I'm quite enjoying it so far but then I haven't started sewing yet...

It was a lot of faff  and it’s not my cup of tea.

[wrenkins]

Faff is one way of putting it!
I started sewing last night. On and on it went and I didn't even complete the first block. Mind you I did two halfa blocks so I suppose that's not bad. (I was deeply distressed distracted by the football on the radio).
There was a minor incident with my tension knob but I mended it with a tin of kidney beans and my lil old lady just hammered away like always. 
I'll just keep going. Lucky it's for someone else or it might become a UFO. 

[wrenkins]

Last night I completed two of the large blocks and they look not too bad at all. They even measure almost exactly 11"x22".  One is a tiny smidge under at one corner. My gob is smacked!
My lil old sewing machine is great. No hopping or skipping over bulky seams. Just bang bang bang...done!
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As you can see, my drawing is on a par with my sewing lines. 

[Iminei]

I did that with the HSTathon, crossing out the blocks as I went, I found it very useful especially as each block was (meant to be and probably is) different from the others.



linky

[wrenkins]

  Blimey @Iminei I don't know how your head didn't blow up keeping that all in order. 

[Iminei]

I blotted them out as they were done!

Actually quite therapeutic as you could see you were making progress and with 72 unique blocks, I needed to do that!



If you fancy a browse ....

[supergran]

OMG Iminei, my head almost blew up just browsing! How on earth did you manage to keep track of all the colours and blend them into each other so beautifully? 

[Renegade Sewist]

Good God @Iminei that quilt is stunning!!!!! umm, more !!!!!!! To get past the ensuing heart palpitations I kept saying to my self to "remember, they're just half square triangles.  See all the pretty little Pinwheels, and their thousands of Friends? It's OK; breathe...."

I salute you. 

[Iminei]

Awwww shucks!!! Thank you Ladies!

It was quite a long time ago now ... and it took 203 days in total (obvs not every day) but I distinctly remember Imself coming in from work to find me binding the beast and saying ... My God! its actually going to get finished!

The thread bin was an interesting experience as I went along ... when it was full and I emptied it, all these glorious  colours of the rainbow spilled out !! I really should have done something wonderful with them somehow but I didnt !

And as for the colour gradients, you can thank Brenda the Goddess of Colour for that!
When I started and proudly showed off the 6 reds/oranges I chosen, she gently suggested I might just need a few more, I added 2, then another few and then some more and in the end I think there were ... around ... 66 different coloured fabrics used.

When it came to exhibiting at FOQ I had to beef up the quilting too!

Anyhoo, thx girls, but this is Wrenkies thread, so back to her please!

[Lowena]

Hope you got good feedback from FOQ @Iminei
Can't wait to see your progress @wrenkins I love stained glass quilts but am far from accomplished enough to attempt one

[wrenkins]

No no everyone feel free to butt in with feats of daring do. At the rate I'm going there won't be a whole lot else to chat about. 

I finished another block last night and it just wouldn't line up no matter how much I pulled and stretched at it.  I had mixed up my 11"x 2" with my 11"x1.5" and when I tried to join the ends they weren't having it.

Let the ripping commence! 

It's all sewn back together again otherwise I'd have just thrown the whole lot in the corner. I'm not sure I have the temperament for this carry on. 

I am now in my other house with my newish-to-me sewing machine so this'll be fun. We're still circling each other paso doble style and getting to know each other's funny wee ways. (Obviously I don't have any but my machine is as odd as bed@mmned). 

I was joining in with the 'brothers are cr@p' conversation on another thread. I so hope this isn't true of sewing machines cos guess what I bought.... 

I'd better get the decks cleared or nothing will happen.

[Iminei]

Be careful Wrenkies ... different sewing machines often have different 1/4" seams!

but how nice to have another house, I could really do with one of those!

[wrenkins]

I was thinking about that as I was typing @Iminei. It doesn't matter what size my seams are as long as they're consistant... was going round in my head. I couldn't believe it when those enormous blocks came up he right size. I'm usually a smidge under so I'll do a wee tester before I make a mess. I must admit though, my accuracy is shocking for such a fussy old bat. 
I need to work on my patience (what patience?).

[Lowena]

Which machine do you have @wrenkins ? I have a Brother Innovis 1800q.

[wrenkins]

Mine's a wee ordinary FS130QC @Lowena. I bought it just as a second machine because my Singer is old school and even though it wasn't high end when I bought it, it has lasted nearly 40 years and is still banging away despite my best efforts to pull it apart. It weighs an absolute tonne and when I hoof it up onto the table I can't believe I carried it home in it's box! Two buses and a fair amount of walking in four inch heels if I recall. 
My Brother is so light in comparison. It has 130 stitch settings, none of which I've used so far, but it came with a walking foot and an automatic needle threader. Both very useful once you get the hang of the threader.