Quilt Marathon: Month One

I've been getting back into the swing of things at work and it's caused a major dent in my sewing time. I hate when that happens. But I've actually been doing a lot of hand sewing lately (and probably will be for the next couple years!) because it's so easy to take with me on the go. On my birthday, some of you might remember, I started on an epic endeavor, my City Weekend Double Wedding Ring Quilt. I really need to find a better name for it. I am aware that this project will probably span a couple years. My goal is to have it finished before my 40th birthday.

Today marks the end of the first month on this project. And I have made some headway. There are so many little pieces and they all came jumbled together in one big bas so it took me a bit of time to sort through them all. But I thought it was important to have them separated because the intersection pieces are very similar to the outer ring pieces that join the rings to the intersections. I don't know what else to call them, so I hope I'm using the right terminology.

So, I mentioned that idea I had about changing up the centers and making it more scrappy. A couple days after that post, I was at my friend Ramona's house and she pulled me into her bedroom to show me her double wedding ring quilt. She had done a "scrappy" version and it gave me a great visual of how it could look and assured me that I wasn't crazy. Still, I went home and sketched out my idea. I think I just need the small, oval slices to stay consistent to make it work. I really would like to do a Kona Ash because gray is my favorite go-to neutral, but I think Know Snow would probably be a better choice because of the true white accents in the City Weekend line. I think it might get too muddy if I start introducing yet another color. I don't know. What do you think?

I started on the intersection pieces. My plan is to alternate the four patch intersection between the two square prints in the line. And I am happy to say that I got all of those pieces basted this month. It sounds like a bigger accomplishment than it is though. The paper piece kit I bought will make 36 blocks that measure 10" each, creating a 45" x 45" quilt. Honestly I think that's too small for what I want so I'm planning to possibly double the pattern. Go big or go home, right? (Talk to me in six months when I've decided that 45" is just fine.) But for now, that means I've got exactly half of the intersection pieces basted. I can't do the other half until I have the pattern pieces liberated.

After I finished those, which actually did feel good, I started on the mountain of teeny, tiny inner ring pieces. And it really looks like I've made a ton of headway with these, doesn't it?

Until you see how many are still left to go. But one month in and I'm making waves.

My husband thinks I'm completely insane. I keep the naked pieces and the completed intersections in a box in my studio so I don't lose anything. Then I keep the pieces I'm working on currently in my travel bag, along with needles, thread and scissors. This bag goes with me everywhere. And I mean everywhere. If I find myself with even a spare moment I quickly speed through basting a piece. My hands are always busy it seems. I even clocked myself when I was making the intersection pieces. I was basting one about every two minutes. The intersection pieces needed a little more precision at the corners. The smaller internal ring pieces move much faster, but there are much more of them. So there we are. One month in and many, many more to go. Let's just hope I'm not sick of the sight of it by the time I finish this marathon.