Celebrating Ring Cycles

Day 25: I slowed down quite a bit right here at the end, partly because I was working on a couple of new projects, but more to the point, I didn't want this thoroughly enjoyable project to be over. "Ring Cycles" is my first venture into English paper piecing (EPP), and is entirely hand-sewn. I started it on August 16. I was immediately surprised at how quickly it came together, although the large rings didn't truly reveal themselves until I had it a third of the way assembled. I'd studied several methods for assembly on line, and all seemed to have drawbacks, so I invented my own. Starting by making six 9-patches, I then added a triangle to the left side of each. One by one, I installed them around one of the hexagonal centers to form what I referred to as a "unit." Before I could add a second unit, it was necessary to sew on two "cat's-ears" (triangles) to make a nest for the new unit to fit into. Likewise, some partial units were created and sewn in as fillers to make the edges less curvy. The goal was to never have to fit a triangle into a deep V, and my order of assembly prevented that entirely. I honestly don't think I could improve on the method. It went very smoothly, and allowed me to make pinpoint "meets" (the places where corners join). Now "Ring Cycles" moves into the queue to be backed and batted, and in the meantime, "Autumn Oranges" will occupy the Q-Snap frame, and hopefully, I'll be able to keep Merry from using it as a trampoline.

Four Units Remaining

Day 5: For this purpose, a "unit" refers to a central white hexagon surrounded by six 9-patches and six fill-in triangles. I have four units to go (up the left side), and the Ring Cycles quilt top will be done! Of course, that leaves the backing, batting and quilting to do, but that's a whole 'nother story. There have been a few rare days when fulfilling my quota of stitching has felt like pulling teeth. On others, I've gotten ahead of schedule because I was enjoying the process. Persistence pays in the end, and as my grandmother used to remind me, her lessons were not so much in the needlearts as they were in patience. I have not yet decided whether I will put Ring Cycles or the orange Dresden Plate on the quilting frame first. In either case, the long work is yet to come.

Merry's Square

Day 341: Today, I will be installing Merry's square in the quilt, his "signature" (if you will) for all the help he's giving me in constructing it. Tippy and Skunk each appeared in several cat-themed quilts over the years, or at least in representations which looked somewhat like them. The Russian Blue on this print looks very much more like Merry, right down to the thoughtful "You're making this one for me, aren't you?" expression. Of course, finding this square will be one of the "Quilt Game" challenges when it's completed. It's one of a kind, like the black-and-white wedge in my great-grandmother's "Double Wedding Ring" which I could never mate up with another piece. There will be lots of "Quilt Game" puzzles in this one, like "Are any two 9-patch blocks identical?" and "How many times was this print used in the center of a 9-patch?" Some of the puzzles have been deliberately composed; others are random, and up to the imagination. My quilts aren't just for keeping you warm! They're meant to provide intellectual stimulation as well.

Halfway Point

Day 340: On 6 September, I posted that I was four weeks into this project and was almost a third done. I can't count worth beans. Turns out it was three weeks in. Now it has been four and a half weeks, and I just finished adding the piece which brought me up to the halfway point. Halfway done! And entirely hand-stitched! The coloured squares each measure one inch on a side. What utterly boggles my mind is that this quilt is coming together faster than if I had machine-sewn it, and I don't think quite the entire rate of progress can be due to the fact that I hate sewing on the machine. When I think about the time involved in pinning, sewing and pressing each step in the assembly process, I can see why hand-stitching actually goes faster. Here, there is no real need for pressing until the whole top is completed, due to the fact that the pieces are whip-stitched together on the back, essentially locking them into the "pressed" position. Hand-basting the fabrics around cardstock shapes is as fast as pinning, and has the advantage of ensuring accuracy, i.e., no having to do over any imperfect meets. Sewing is slower, of course, but more enjoyable and easier to lay aside. The pattern (Ring Cycles) is a variation on Jack's Chain, and is a definite winner in my book.

Where the Quilt Goes, There Go I

Day 336: I was getting tired of rolling a cat around while I tried to lay out the next set of 9-patches in the quilt, so I thought, "I could put it on the bread board on the kitchen table. I could at least see enough of it that I wouldn't get prints too close together." Well, you know what they say: "It seemed like a good idea at the time." I laid the bread board (a sheet of formica) on the table, draped the quilt over it, went in the living room to get the bowlful of little clips I use for marking where the next triangles go, and this was what I found upon returning thirty seconds later. I think there's no way I'm winning this debate. And yes, he's going to get to keep this quilt.

Three Weeks In

Day 329: I'm three weeks into my first English paper piecing quilt, and I'm almost a third done with the top. Operative words in that sentence: "the top." This is not like the hexagon quilts I've zipped through recently. When I'm done with this top, it will have to be backed, batted, bound and hand-quilted, a process which will have it on the quilting frame for at least a couple more months. I've discovered that while I like putting together the 9-patches, sewing them to the center hexagons is less enjoyable. However, sewing the completed blocks into the quilt is very satisfying. The good thing is that this quilt can be assembled one block at a time ("block" being the center hexagon and the six 9-patches and triangles surrounding it) with the addition of a few "filler" triangles to round out the curves where the next block fits in. There are other ways to build the pattern, but this one works best for me. Using this order of assembly, I never have to stitch the apex of a triangle into the bottom of a V-shape. When sewing the longer seams, I tack each junction first to be sure the "meets" stay in place. It's an extra step some might not wish to take, but I find it increases accuracy and saves time in the long run.

Footnote: I originally titled this "Four Weeks In." I can't count. I started it on 16 August, so this would have been THREE weeks in.

Piecing

 

Day 320: While we're on the subject of quilting...yes, I have been talking about that a lot lately...I have five full motifs done and assembled out of 32 in Ring Cycles. The illusion of large rings is now beginning to emerge, the characteristic which makes this variation of Jack's Chain unique and different. The finished quilt will have nine staggered rows of five motifs against four, with some fill-in partial blocks to make the edges easier to bind. I have no real theme for the patchwork, although generally, each 9-patch contains two coordinating pairs and a loosely-allied center, e.g., a pair of greens, a pair of reds and a center which picks up one or both colours. "Generally" is the operative word. This is a scrappy quilt. I do not want it to look ordered or disciplined. There are a few singletons in the coloured squares. One not yet included is a realistic grey cat face. For those in the know, that will indicate that Merry helped with this quilt...his "signature," if you will. Like Madame Defarge with her knitting, I like to hide secret messages, stories and puns in my quilts, although these one-inch squares make that rather more difficult than with larger pieces.

Short Stack

Day 317: Depending on who's serving and how big they are, a "short stack" of pancakes is generally two or three. In this case, my "short stack" is 13, the last row (minus one already sewn on) of my second completely hand-stitched hexagon quilt. Not counting small quilts, they were the quickest quilts I've ever made due, I am certain, to the fact that I prefer hand-stitching to working on the sewing machine. The first took a mere two months to the day. The current one has taken a bit longer (not quite three months), and I will have it done by tomorrow evening. Then I can devote myself entirely to Ring Cycles (seen here as the backdrop). It is also going more quickly than expected, at least as far as piecing is concerned. However, once I am done assembling all those little one-inch squares, the quilt will need to be backed and batted, and then mounted on the frame for hand-quilting over the winter months.

Ring Cycles - Two Motifs

Day 312: Ring Cycles (a variation of Jack's Chain) is going more quickly than expected, especially considering the fact that I'm working on other projects as well. Admittedly, my fingers are a little sore, and my bum is kinda chair-shaped! There were two challenges in figuring out how to "grow" this design. The first was how to piece the outer edges so that it followed a gentle curve. That was relatively easy, given that I'd drawn the design out with PaintShop Pro and had shapes to play with. The second was more challenging: how to join the large motifs without having to stitch the apex of a triangle into a deep ditch. That proved to be a matter of assembly order, putting on all the "filler" triangles until the edges created the shape where the next hexagon would fit in. Already, if I stand back and look at the pattern slaunchwise, I can see the arcs of the optical-illusion rings beginning to form. Two down, and only 30 to go!

9-Patch Addiction

Day 308: English paper piecing has earned a spot on the list of "Things I Wish I'd Learned Earlier." I'd always thought of it as being too fussy, too much work with all that basting, too wasteful, too much trouble having to pick all the little paper pieces out when a quilt was finished. As it turns out, the fussiness is automatic (i.e., corners match up perfectly because the fabric is wrapped over same-size pieces). The basting goes much more quickly than expected and doesn't have to be pulled out. There is virtually no waste because the papers can be reused until the edges become too worn. As for pulling them out, they can be removed as soon as all the sides of a given piece are stitched to another piece, and they come out easily, even those glue-basted to the larger pieces. These 9-patches are utterly addictive! After basting 5 prints and 4 whites, I select the print I want for the middle and stitch a white to either end of it. Then I make two more strips with prints on the ends and a white in the middle, and apply them to either side of the center strip. The paper in the middle print can then be removed because it is entirely surrounded. The pinpoint accuracy of EPP is what appeals to me the most. Any variation in the length of the sides of the shapes is minor, very minor, and can be eased when stitching the pieces together. My husband was a faceter, and was meticulous about "meets," i.e., the points made when the cut faces of a stone come together. "Meets" applies to quilting in the same way. EPP makes meets foolproof! If only I had known about EPP fifty years ago. I might never have made a quilt any other way.

Ring Cycles

Day 304: I really wanted to start another quilt. I had a couple of designs in mind, both of which required a substantial amount of white/plain fabric, and that was going to be a problem with Joann's being a thing of the past. I will not shop at Cult Corner (i.e., Hobby Lobby), not if it means I never sew another stitch, and buying fabric on line is dicey. You have to be able to touch fabric to tell if it's suitable for a project, and much of the affordable muslin/broadcloth out there is cheaply made and thin. Walmart carries two-yard precuts of a decent quality, but the stores nearest me were all out of white. As I considered whether or not I wanted to cut up a bed sheet, I was still debating which design I most wanted to do: Double Wedding Ring (to replace the one I sold) or a variation of Jack's Chain called Ring Cycles. I'd already cut out several hundred pieces for DWR, but Ring Cycles was working on my head. I loved the way the big circles pop out of the design once a number of the rounds have been stitched together. Back off a few steps and look at the illustration on the right. Once the optical illusion resolves, you'll see what I mean.

I've spoken many times about how I prefer to sew by hand rather than with the machine, and the pinpoint accuracy of English paper piecing has always appealed to me, although I'd never done any of it. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy all the basting, but I decided to do a sample block of Jack's Chain as a trial run. I didn't want to use up my print fabrics on a test, so I pulled out the box labelled "quilt solids" and dived in. And what to my wondering eyes did appear in the very bottom of the box? Five freaking yards of good quality white broadcloth! Five yards! After making three of the 9-patches (that's nine one-inch squares for a 3" x 3" square), I'm sold on English paper piecing. Ring Cycles it is, although I'm still going to finish the sample block. Who knows? Maybe by the time I'm done sewing this quilt, we'll have a decent fabric store again.