Log Cabin, on point, QOV?

 The second border brought this Log Cabin up to 65" x 75", a better size if I decide to donate it to QOV.  I think it's a little uhhhh "fussy" for a guy, and female QOV recipients are scarce.  I'm not even sure I want to donate it  - I'm liking it a lot!  So, what do you think??  Too "fussy" for a guy?

Log Cabin, on Point

 

Between  questions, investigating, not knowing how, getting a new roof due to hail damage, hiring tree trimmers, home insurance complications, health insurance, Air Link  (helicopter)  flight insurance, new heart-healthy diet, replacing a TV that was needed to help me "rest", redoing the studio to make it more usable, cardio P.T., and the usual home maintenance, I've been infrequently working on this Patriotic Log Cabin.  For whatever reason, I kept getting mixed up with "which row?" kind of slip-ups but today it's in order.   Sometimes, when making a row on point, the blocks don't appear to be in the right order until you lay it back out, and my eternal "too many jobs" got in the way of a calm approach.  But it's almost together, and I'll finish it at next All Day Sew.   For now, it's 56 " x 56".  May add a plain border.  I still need simple corners.  Yeaaaaaaaaa  !!!!!!!!!!!  

Recovery from my "event" is going along fine, and I'm dropping some needed weight on my new diet of "no fat, no sugar, no salt" and finding many suitable and tasty substitutes.  Mostly I'm not very hungry, totally unlike my previous self.   Cardio P.T is informative and an important factor for recovery.  My many years of exercising at the Wellness Center was for flexability and building body muscle but not heart muscle.  hmmm - be aware those are different.  I'm still learning.  

New floor DONE, a finished Quarter Log Cabin Quilt, Air Link flight.

 This is the last big project for the year.  Old carpet finally GONE, and new vinyl flooring installed.  This is the family room.

The is a small pass-thru area usually piled with "stuff".   I need to find 2 strong men to slide the heavy cabinets 16 inches the other way, but I'm close to the end of this project.  The plan is to add 1 area rug here, bright and graphic, to give the room color.   

Here is the larger part of family room, needing a 2nd area rug.  

A quilt photo ... this one is probably my favorite of many.  

News:  an experience, everything is gonna be OK.

Yes, this is my arm, totally black and blue after procedures following a catheter and stent, after the ER said was a heart attack.  I think the right name is a PCI.   I was whisked from the local ER to the Air Link Helicopter in the middle of the night, too dark to see a view, to a Cardiac Hospital 3 hours (by car) east of my home.  Local hospitals can only do so much.  We (me and crew) arrived in 55 minutes, squeezed into that amazing little beast.  Frankly, I was so interested in the flight, I had no fears about the reason.  By mid-morning Tuesday, I was in surgery, all of 45 minutes, and awake, and back home Thursday, thanks to a dear friend who  came all that way and then drove me home, weak, but alive and  feeling tolerable.  The catheter and stent into my heart to clear out blocked artery kinda messed up my sewing arm for a while, but I AM RECOVERING!  Drop me a line if you have other questions.  You might remember an earlier visit to ER said Anxiety, but they did recognize immediacy the second visit.  I am blessed to have had the foresight to get to ER in time.  

Washing Faux Brick Walls

 Before and after.  

Before and After

 This was my "ruined" block yesterday, (previous post) carefully removed from the quilt top. sad day, and even worse, there were 6-8 strips of the same fabric in other parts of my quilt top.  I couldn't take the chance of "will it come out after I finish the quilting?"  I figured total removal was my only option.  Happily, this happened! 

HAPPY, HAPPY DAYYYYYY!  Here it is today, after excellent advice from Chantal, and a few other kind quilters.

Just a generous squirt of "regular" Dawn, in a bowl of warm water, some sloshing around and then sitting for approx. 15 minutes.  VOILA - no trace.  I will replace this block with another, already started, but no longer am afraid of the other 6-8 strips of that same maroon fabric already used in blocks of the top.  Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!   What a relief!  I would guess "copious amounts of water" and plenty of Dawn would be needed if washing the entire quilt."

I messed up, or was it a blessing?

This scrappy half log cabin top is layered and basted -- BIG project. but it turned out well.   Dig that border!  My machine quilting plan was straight line wedges in each block.  Great idea, and away I went with a full head of steam.  The lines were long and my ruler was short so I marked those lines in the first 2 blocks with blue pen, an old standby.  After completing 2 blocks of straight lines, my wedge quilting plan didn't seem so great, and I removed the quilting stitches and spritzed the blue lines, then went back to think about another design, while it dried.  Uh oh, Good Grief!!!!  I had forgotten the part about "testing".  Here is the ONE disastrous block after I removed it from the quilt.  The stain went thru the batting backing.  The other one block fortunately did not contain that offending fabric.

I'm unable to wash the entire quilt at this stage, or test various laundry processes or products, and to make matters worse (or better?), several unmarked blocks contain that same wicked maroon strips.  Yeahhh, I forgot the part about testing fabrics. 

I can replace the stained half square in the border and cut out the stained batting, that's the easy part.  Even inserting a new block will be easy compared to my plan to remove the 6 or 7 strips of that blasted maroon strip.  On the positive side, what if I hadn't spritzed the quilt and blindly quilted the entire thing, and years down the road, after a new owner washed it and found it bled over every part of the quilt?  I know there are laundry methods to solve the problem but I can't take a chance at this point.  There's a long road ahead of this finish!  I am groaning at my lack of thinking.