I’m turning squares into circles. It’s a Saturday thing. Next comes the bias tape, for bias covered curves (instead of piecing the curve)!

May 29: Straw Into Gold

I originally thought I’d play around in the No Planning Zone for a few days, but of course, it always takes longer than we think. If we knew how much time and trouble was in front of us, would we embark on new adventures?

I tried dark blue sashing strips, but I didn’t like it. The blue is too dark and looks like the bars of a jail cell. My beautiful blocks look like they are serving time behind bars!

I had two fabrics leftover from the $3 scrap bag, so I tried them. I love the way my Circling the Square blocks have been set free. I’m estimating the quilt will measure 45″ by 65″ with these blocks- I think I should call it quits here. Besides, the $3 scrap bag is just about empty.

I needed too much concentration to work on the free motion sea creatures and I am still looking for a quarter-circle template to work on a quilt for my friend Krista, so I started this adventure with a $3 bag of scraps purchased at the Stitching Post. I’m raiding my Tub ‘O Strips, a big plastic container filled with every leftover strip and scrap I used to toss out. There is no planning ahead. I’ll tell you why I like planning ahead. One, I explore and play and try out things in my mind. I’m very visual and this works for me. Two, I don’t like to get boxed into a corner. If I think things through first, I can avoid dead ends. Three, it’s how my mind works, so of course, it seems “right” to me. Or should I say it seems “left” to me- left brained that is. I did run into a dead end while trying to make the outer round of blocks for this quilt. The first were too big- just out of scale (no photo). I cut them into smaller units. These looked too busy. Actually, they looked like the fabrics were held in place at gunpoint. They did not want to be there (see photo). When Pat called to say she was making those scrappy string pieced blocks I taught in a workshop a few years ago, I remembered that this thought had crossed my mind before I started constructing the more complicated blocks. Maybe I wanted to try something new; maybe I didn’t think it through enough since I’m in the No Planning Zone. Maybe I should try these blocks- I did and I love them (see Saturday Circles, May 22). Message to Krista: I’m just going to make my own template with cardboard and get going on your quilt! And: I have an idea to share with you after I get the blocks zigzagged!

The traditional version of this block is called “Bright Hopes” (Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman, AQS, 1993). The first strip starts with a “half-seam”, and then continues around the center square, with all squares and strips cut accurately.

I also start with a half-seam, but I used rough-cut centers with irregular leftover strips pulled from my Tub ‘O Strips. This is a really fun block to make: it’s spontaneous, quick, and easy. It’s addictive, so beware.

A few years ago I named my version of this block “Circling the Square”, for the way the block keeps growing as more strips get added. I love these blocks!

May 22: Circling the Square

My friend Pat claims she doesn’t know how to sew. She makes up for her lack of formal training with her Rambo-Roomba style of slamming pieces of fabric together. Like Rambo, she has no fear. Like a Roomba, if she hits a wall, she backs up and goes in another direction. Her quilts are playful, sophisticated, and absorbing to look at.

I decided to challenge myself to make a lap quilt with a $3 package of scraps from The Stitching Post in Sisters, Oregon. I can add to the mix from my Tub ‘O Scraps (mostly a motley collection of leftover strips). I’m doing my best to sew with a Rambo-Roomba approach, but my formal sewing skills keep trying to interfere. Pat says to smear grease on my reading glasses, which probably would help me sew uneven seams, but I’d probably sew through my finger (something I have done before and don’t intend to repeat).

Here’s what I have put together so far. I think there will be one more round of units, but who knows, I might get backed into a corner along the way, and come out with a whole new idea!

A giant cobweb and hidden layers of dust motivated me to start some very deep spring-cleaning. At the end, I put some old bowls away, making room for some ‘new’ dishes to come out and sparkle. In one bowl I put faux lemons- the bright yellow looks great with the blue stripes.

I’ve been joking that 2011 is just around the corner, but it’s just about true. Spring cleaning, summer strolls in the afternoon, fall raking, winter snow shoveling and it’ll be spring-cleaning again in 2011. Small things like weekly garbage pick up and large things like birthdays to remind us that ’round and round we go’ on this rollercoaster ride.

In Sunriver, the Owner’s Association wants the owners to approve a special assessment to build a new complex with community center, pool, river and sled hills. We can pay the full amount in a one-time payment, or at the other extreme, pay monthly for 15 years. Fifteen years…I woke up this morning realizing that would find me 74 years old. Yup, ’round and ’round we go!

May 1: Around and Around We Go!