Lady of the Lake Quilt Along

Hey Everyone,
   Fat Quarter Shop has a great quilt along called Lady of the Lake. I remember seeing this block a long time ago, but haven't thought about it in years. It is a very traditional block. Visually, it is very striking. It is great as a scrappy project or in a planned colorway.

I chose to use my highly valued fat quarters of Indigo Crossing (Minick and Simpson) that I have been hoarding, hiding, petting, lusting over, holding for the perfect project.

Fabrics selected from Indigo Crossing

A few beiges that are being saved for another project

I am using my stash to supplement and make a patriotic red, white, and blue colorway. What fun.

As always, FQS provides the best instructions, including pressing directions. That always boggles my mind when I have to try to figure it out myself. My time has been really tight, but I had time to whip up seven blocks in one afternoon.

Seven completed blocks - 12" finished

I have all of my fabric cut and ready to go. I plan to finish the lap quilt size (18 blocks). I am looking forward to putting this out when I hang my Uncle Sam wallhanging and put out my scrappy flag pillows in the summer.

More blocks ready to sew

Thanks for stopping by.

Serendipity

I haven't finished any quilts this year. It is nearly September. What have I been doing? Lots of piecing. I have finished several tops, but no quilting finishes. What's the story?

The last time I blogged about Judi Madsen's Serendipity was in February here. I was so in love with this project, I couldn't wait to get it done.

Since I still work full-time, my only sewing time is on the weekend. I spend every available minute in my sewing room on weekends. I actually resent when any event intrudes on my sewing time, no matter what it is. Each weekend, I get as much done as I can, and then resume the next weekend. I just dive in and take up where I left off.

One weekend, I went at it. Pebble, pebble, pebble. Great. Doesn't this look great?

Uh oh. Look again. The previous weekend, I hadn't completed tracing the pattern onto the quilt top. I inadvertantly pebbled over areas that were supposed to be unquilted. What to do? Do I repeat the mistake in the remaining two feature blocks so it won't look like a mistake? No. These are the main part of the design of the quilt. I knew I would hate it every time I looked at it. Rip out? All those tiny stitches? I couldn't face that huge mistake and fix it. I spent several months ignoring the problem. Every time I went to my sewing room, I walked past it. I couldn't bear to spend precious time in my happy space ripping out tiny, tiny stitches.

Several times I would make myself work on it for an hour. I always ended up with a backache. The pain became another excuse to ignore it. I finally kicked myself in the butt and started working on it. I took the quilt off the frame so I could handle it better. I spent a couple of intense days picking out stitches and threads. I was so afraid that I would poke a hole in the fabric with my ripper, but I don't think I did.

 This is what the design is supposed to look like. Much better.

 I hope the holes will close up when I soak the quilt to block and remove the blue marker.

Back to work. Progress is finally being made.

I have finished the bottom border. Now it is time to turn the quilt so I can work on the sides. That's my plan for Labor Day weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.