Saturday, December 22, 2012

Promise Rings


In between baking Christmas cookies, I managed to put the binding on this project. It lived on my design wall for over a year before getting finished. It is "Matrimony", a pattern by Aardvark. It is a deconstructed riff on the traditional Double Wedding Ring pattern, hence my name for it. Here is a closeup of the quilting by Sandi Wagner of Sew Fine Machine Quilting:


I asked for simple, all-over quilting because this will be a utility quilt, thrown over the back of the sofa for cold winter evenings of reading or TV watching.

Another finish is this hexagon runner. It is for my sister's antique six-foot long harvest table that she uses in her kitchen. Because it is a long and narrow table, other runners that I have made or that she has purchased, didn't quite do the trick. This one can live on her table from Memorial Day through Fourth of July clear until Labor Day.


There is quite a tale behind this darned thing. I originally estimated that 268 hexies would be needed for this runner. After cutting out the required number of pieces from card stock and fabric and basting all 268 pieces of fabric to the card stock, I was playing with them on the coffee table. I couldn't get the pieces to tessellate  There were gaps between the pieces and in my frustration I asked my husband to come and look at the stupid hexagons that were being recalcitrant. He immediately quipped that it could be because they were pentagons, not hexagons. Duh and duh! This process is so mindless that I had not noticed, even after cutting out 268 pentagons from card stock and from fabric and basting all 268 pieces, that they were the wrong shape. Well, thought I, no problemo. Don't they say there are no mistakes, just creative opportunities? To the internet, then, for ideas. Well, you can make bowls from pentagons, or balls, but the only way to make a flat table runner is to applique them all down separately, or add teensy weensy little triangle pieces between them. Neither idea appealed, so, you guessed it, I unbasted all 268 pentagons and re-basted them to 268 hexagons. In the end, I didn't need all of them and have a small container of leftover pieces. Frankly I never want to look at them again.


3 comments:

  1. LOL, great story! I can well imagine the scene. Anyway, all's well that ends well. Happy Christmas!

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  2. your table runner was certainly a labour of love for your sister, well done undoing all those pentagons. Quilt looks lovely, feel you are going to inspire me to get on the quilting wagon , struggling at the moment so finding your blog has come at the right time.

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