x7lillies

Well, the week kind of got away from me, but this morning I finished cutting out my strips. I cut 9 strips from each fabric, for a total of 180 2.5" strips! Phew...

I might start sewing them together later today or tomorrow. I like seeing the fabrics in their smaller cuts, really helps me visualize the quilt. I think it's going to be pretty.

There's something about seeing all those strips lined up in neat little rows that just sets my little quilter's heart at ease. Progress! Order! I even put the leftover fabric away, to be taken out later when I have to decide on a binding...I think a single fabric would be good, but one that has some motion and variation in it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, I'll revel in the strips

Lori S

You did well , how exciting all those tidy stacks of strips, just ready for construction. I bet you can't keep your self from looking and admiring that beautiful run of color.

x7lillies

Buckled down this evening and pieced these strips together in about an hour. 8 more sets to go. I went slow to try to avoid bowing, because I've had problems with that in the past. I took Eileen Wright's advice in her book, and pieced two strips together at a time (starting at the top). Then I combined the strip chunks by sewing in the opposite direction (from the bottom), so that every other seam was sewn in the opposite direction. I could not detect any bowing so far, so hooray!

Now, I didn't do any pressing yet, so any creases and/or bulgy-looking bits are only due to that and not my stitching (I swear)

Looking at them like this, I can see that a couple fabrics will not make the continuous blend that I tried for, but I think it makes a nice run, nonetheless, and might actually foster a kind of echo in the pattern with the leaf print teal in the middle. Might lend itself to the ocean more than I expected, so hooray for happy, unexpected effects. I am liking this quilt more and more, can't wait until I get to start slicing and piecing rows.

gigigray032447

I just received my quilt back from the quilter, made from the same book but the quilt is Wave Bargello. The picture posted here is not the quilted version but the top only. When I get the binding on the quilt I will post a picture of the completed project. I loved, loved making this top. The great thing was my husband picked out the 24 colors. He mixes ink for a living and is so great with colors.

gigigray032447

Wave Bargello. Sorry my photo did not upload in the last post.

gigigray032447

Forgot to say how much I love your colors. You may have less trouble with bowing of your strip set if you press each set of 2 as you go, particularly if the instructions say to press each row in a particular manner.

btiny36

Well I'm going to watch this progress. You go girl

x7lillies

First, your quilt is gorgeous! Tell your hubby he did a great job with the colors. Looks like scrumptious fall

I will take your advice on the pressing. I had to take extra care since the seams weren't pressed, and I didn't notice any bowing. But it will make the stitching easier at least, and further hedge against bowing. I've made sort of a tactical error in my setup, which is why I wasn't pressing last night...

I had my strips laid out on my dining table, which is big and lovely and sturdy, and I sew on it. But then we had dinner guests, so I moved the strips (in order) to my ironing board, where they would be left in peace, out of the way, and not spilled on. When I started stitching the strips together, I sewed two at a time up the color run. It was only when I started stitching the pairs together that I realized I had no usable ironing board, so I just soldiered on. I need a better place for the strips that aren't in use!

x7lillies

Well, it's been a while since my last post, and I just wanted to let everyone know that I didn't forget about this thread. I've been making slow progress, mostly because I've been busy. I've started stitching together two strips at a time and pressing them, going up the color scale. When that's done, I'll have 10 sets of two strips each, and I can start piecing those together and pressing along the way. My goal is to finish stitching the strip sets together by the end of this weekend, but we'll see. I'll start cutting as soon as possible, since putting the rows together is my favorite part! I'll be sure to post pictures of progress.

At this rate, I'll be making this quilt into the summer! I should really try and focus :P

x7lillies

Phew! Progress! I just finished sewing and pressing the last of the 8 strip sets that I made. I have a set of un-sewn strips in reserve for a 9th if I need it, and more fabric (put away) in case there's some kind of disaster and I need even more sets. Using the technique outlined in previous posts, I've noticed that there is no noticeable curving! So I think I'll be able to use all of the strip length.

If I get around to cutting and piecing some rows tomorrow, I'll be sure to post pictures.