Missing

Have you seen these quilts?

They've gone missing in the pack-up from Market in Salt Lake City this past spring. They are all projects, cover quilts even, from books by C&T. The publishing house is looking to get them back so they artists can have them again.

Note: there is a reward for their return. A not insignificant one.

High Romance

My husband and I really know how to turn up the romance. As one friend said, we know how to have a CRAZY time.

This is us. It's after the girls have gone to sleep. We cracked a beer, turned on that day's Tour de France coverage, and basted the triangle quilt.

In his defence (and mine), I made him help me. The quilt is for the girls so I thought he should, literally, have a hand in it. Besides, at 90'' by 90'' it was taking over the living room as it was basted, he might as well have helped.

Making It Work

When it came time to put together the Triangle Quilt I had some work to do. When I started out in the bee I wasn't overly particular about finished block size, just asking for a variation of 12.5'' to 18.5''. And in sending out a Canadian fat quarter of the background fabric it isn't always easy to get a 18.5'' block. It would have been impossible with a US fat quarter. That meant that I got blocks 12.5'' square, 18.5'' square, and 12.5'' by 18.5''.

What to do?

My initial plan was to mix it all up and assemble the top like a puzzle, adding extra blocks or chunks as needed. It is a part of the process I actually relish, the puzzle challenge.

When I decided to turn these blocks into a bed quilt, however, I needed something a bit more straightforward. I needed blocks, all the same size. If this quilt was going to get done it needed an easier puzzle.

That meant that I had to turn the smaller blocks into 18.5'' square blocks. A run through my stash revealed that I was no longer in possession of some of the fabrics I'd used. It confused me, because I could have sworn I kept aside some extra fat quarters for this precise purpose. Oh well, nothing a little shopping (at home and at the store) couldn't solve.

Of course I could not find the fabrics I'd used, save for one. No problem. The backgrounds were already a mix of yellows, adding a few more wasn't going to be the end of the world. I truly embrace the improvisational spirit. Tim Gunn would be proud.

It seems fairly standard to add sashing to bee blocks. For one, this increases the size of your quilt without having to make more blocks. Secondly, it is a good way to even out the size of what might be slightly different sized blocks. Even with a good pressing, one person's 12.5'' square can be slightly different than another person's. Adding to each block is an alternative to adding sashing.

Besides, you know how I feel about sashing.

This is what I did. (Using 2 blocks as an example.)

So I added on to about 8 blocks. I also made another 12 blocks from my yellows and leftover geese fabric. I laid out the top.

Then I found the yellow fabric I'd set aside.

Calm Complexity

Option 5 won out. Sort of.

After an evening of doodling/sketching and staring at the layouts, Hubby and decided on a wilder pattern that was only indicated by Option 5. So I set up a temporary design wall by taping batting to a beam, put the sprinkler on (and the TV later) for the girls and I spent the afternoon working out the puzzle. After the girls were in bed I picked up the mess made when my youngest (aka Evil Genius) purposely walked through the hanging batting and Hubby helped me finish the puzzle.

(don't ask me why my winter slipper is in the midst of that when this was taken on the hottest day of the year so far.)

It was a fantastic, contemplative exercise. I definitely picked the most complex of the options. Not because I like to make my life difficult, but simply because that's what spoke to me. I could happily have made any one of the quilts, and likely will at some point. Thank-you for all of your opinions.

And maybe, just maybe, I would love to keep up the design wall... It looks good from the front and back.