Desert Palette Quilt
I have been working most evenings on the quilt that was inspired by the desert near Santa Fe, NM. I am working on it in EPP, a technique that lends itself well to the pattern which has a jillion Y seams. I don't like doing them by machine, although Gyleen Fitzgerald has a great technique for them. I like handwork and needed a new project for evening TV watching. I changed up the colors a bit from the tile mosaic at the Governor's Inn in Santa Fe to more closely reflect the desert palette I experienced on my road trip there in September. Specifically there needs to be more green - sage, gray green, and some brighter (almost) spring green. I am pleased at how it is coming along. I have about 70 blocks finished and need either 96 or 108 depending on the width. I will know better when I can lay things out and measure. The blocks are finishing at 5" square. I figure the quilt should measure at least 60" in length, giving a total of 12 blocks per column. 45 to50 inches in width seems about right, so then either 96 or 108 blocks are needed. I am not in a hurry and enjoy the process. Either amount will be okay.
The Inn looked like this yesterday after a light snowfall. The pool was supposedly available a bit later in the day. It is heated to 87 degrees. I doubt I would have braved it, though.
I am also nearing completion of a memory quilt for a friend. It is turning out well, although today I realized I had miscalculated the width of the borders that are needed to make the last element fit. I cut the borders to a width of 2" finished and should have made them 3". A simple enough fix to take them off and sew on the correct ones. The 2.5 strips that will be taken off won't be wasted as I need that size to make the strip sets for the final borders. I hate wasting fabric so was glad to realize the strips are completely usable. I have plenty of fabric on hand, too, so I can recut the borders without the fear of running out of fabric. I was intending to go to a local quilt store today to select backing fabric but I want to soldier on and get the top completed today if possible. A longarmer form our guild told me a couple of weeks ago that she can get it quilted for me in time for Christmas. I hope so. I could quilt it myself, but it would by ever so much nicer to have it professionally done.
A friend gave me an EPP kit last month. She said she will never make it and thought I might like it. I do! It is a lovely pattern with all the paper pieces and acrylic templates (for cutting the fabric) and will probably be my next evening project after the desert one is finished.
