just one project this week

I feel as though many of my last posts have had so many things going on...well, they have...and this one might seem lacking as a result.  But I have quilty progress to share, so I will forge ahead!

When I last left you, I was still in the process of cutting pieces for the February stick of making a quilt using paper templates.  I finished cutting that evening, but the following day, my abs hurt!  Who knew quilting was so aerobic?  It made the following trimmings more painful to create, but the trimming of half square triangles made just a touch oversize was necessary, so I worked through the pain.

They look so pretty here, though the white is actually a grey closer in color to my cutting mat.  It's a pretty combination and maybe fuel for a future project?  But I must focus.  This quilt has many, many, many, many pieces and if I'm to not end up with a UFO at the end of the month, I must keep sewing!

I didn't take a ton of photos, but a few in progress.  The half square triangles were next sewn to squares...

And these sewn to one another to complete the first quarters of the first quarters!

 (My how the colors change depending on lighting - the first photo is much more true in color.)

This is how these will eventually touch each other in the final layout, but for now they will be included in the corner of single blocks.  They don't look like much, but just wait!

Then came the task of incorporating these into the actual block quarter.  Lots more seams and lots more pressing!

That brightened them up quite a bit, didn't it?  These are one full quarter of the larger block, that when rotated will give the appearance of stars.  But we can lay a few out in the floor to see what that will be, right?

Sometimes that is necessary to fortify ones resolve to continue sewing.  And sewing and sewing and sewing and sewing and sewing.

(Did I mention there are 64 blocks in this quilt?  So everything needs to be repeated at least 64 times.  It gets tedious to say the least.)

Next up were the two quarters, mirror images of each other, using the template-cut pieces.  I remember from my test block that the first set was the worst and nearly made me give up.  But with just the one block, I was determined to keep going and at least finish the test, and found the remaining pieces to be much more reasonable.

Again, I didn't take photos of all the steps.  I was trying to be good and focus on sewing, and minimize distractions.  Sometimes it worked better than others.  These were completed later last night and I am surprised at how well the purples came out.  I didn't edit it for color at all..but I apologize for my obnoxious ironing board cover.  It looked like a better idea in the package...and also looks worse here than in reality.  The white is actually white...in most places...

Today I finished sewing the last of the template pieces to each other and am able to start sewing those units to each other.  If that makes any sense.

And, as I finished up pressing these, I placed them where they will eventually be in the quarters and snapped a photo.  (And now realize the top portion of this square did not get ANY photos!)

Since there are two quarters like this, every single seam in these means I sew 128 of them.  I am doing one seam at a time, and the monotony of it gets discouraging.  But then I see something like this, where they're starting to come together, and I get excited again.

I used up an entire, 500 yard, spool of thread on this today.  Well, no, I didn't use it all today, I finished it today.  I believe it was nearly a full spool, if not truly full, when I started at the beginning of this quilt.  And I don't think I'm even halfway done!  The last quarter starts with strip piecing, so these quarters are likely the hardest, but I still have much to do.  I've been focused, but also allowing myself breaks between each seam-set of pieces, even if it is to do something like clean a bathroom or make dinner.  (Those things need done too, though, so I guess they're a good break?)

The next Project Quilting prompt has been released.  I thought that was next week?  My how time flies, but I'll be contemplating that in the coming days.  I have a few sparks of ideas, but right now I just want this particular set of quarters done.

In cat news, Miss Gabby is back to herself.  She and Toby are working out their relationship and both seem to be doing better with each other.  (Though the fight that they decided to have on my bed at 7am today scared the daylights out of me...I have a few quilts piled on the bed, so I just pulled my head under to stay safe!  Quilts have so many uses!)

You can see Gabby here, obviously working hard to make sure all my points are perfect!

(I cropped out her shaved belly because the poor thing has endured enough that the world doesn't need to see that too!)

That chair and ottoman are a popular place to help...

...I call these my "snoozervisers" because they were definitely both snoozing on the job!

Freddie is absent this week from photos.  He's been playing Mr. Aloof lately, except in the bathroom, where he waits for me to shower and then expects me to brush him after I brush my own hair.  He knows the routine and gets excited when he knows it is his turn.  But it's hilarious because before he really knew the routine, he would jump up on the counter when my hubby went in there, so the hubby tried to brush him.  And got mad.  The hubby was doing it wrong.  Anyone who has ever had a cat knows exactly how this happens...

And with that, I'm off to get a turkey breast started cooking in the oven.  I'm making a version of Thanksgiving dinner for Valentine's Day.  All stuff the hubby likes, and since eating out (inside) is sketchy (allowed here...for now...), I'm content to use my skills and prepare a good meal at home.  Hopefully in a year, we'll make reservations and have a nice dinner cooked by someone else in a much safer environment.  In the meantime, I'm thankful I have the skills and means to stay safe.

Happy quilting,

Katie