Smiley Faces

This arrived yesterday, from a friend across the miles.  How did she know that DH always signed his notes with a Smiley Face?  Was it Serendipity?

The table is still piled with papers, notes, cards, mail, bills.  Will they ever get cleared off?

Today I sewed for one whole hour.  One Step at a Time, Slow Positive Steady Progress is what my manager husband is saying to me.

Thank you for good thoughts and kind messages and prayers.

"Steps," and Analogies

I won this clever notebook a long time ago from one of YOU, and have I ever used it on THIS project!  I am so sorry I don't remember who it was - Can I use the "senior citizen" excuse? 

I'm making a bargello-type border to surround my "Steps" quilt (aka "One Step at a Time." Making this quilt has been an incredible personal journey - yes, we've all heard that term with our quilts but this quilt is following me (or is it leading me?) right along. It represents many analogies such as "One Step at a Time," "If you get lemons, make lemonade," "If you want something different, you have to change something," "Take it Easy," "Use What you Have," "Be Happy," "Attitude Adjustment", and even "If your border (your life!) IS a little too bold, it is still beautiful!" 

Below are some of the strata units, waiting to be unsewn and resewn into bargello strips.  (huh??? )  Each one is unsewn at a different point, in order to get the movement to visually go around the quilt.  I chose the dark blue as my marker -- if you want the design to visually turn the quilt corners, you must choose one fabric and stick with it.  It's easy to get them turned around or dropped or you lose concentration, and then NOTHING works correctly (see? another life lesson!).  They should meet in the middle and at the corners.  Meeting in the middle (there's another one of those life lessons!) occasionally has to be gently re-engineered.     

Here's one corner which is exactly like the other corner to the left.  This is especially where I used the graph paper in my notebook.

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 Below is the center of the two ends, where they have to meet in the middle. And they did, with a little bit of narrow seam allowance-fussing.  I inserted 3 more units.  8-))

I've made this border before, being inspired by a Scrappy Bargello block from Quiltville.com, and am thrilled with how it goes together, looking a LOT harder than it is.  Using an even number of strips in a strata, pressing the seams in opposite directions and reasonably careful cutting of the strata, is not difficult, but it DOES take some time.  And one has to start at the outside of the border, and work towards the center, leaving the corners 'til the end, if you want the pattern to go around.   It's so orderly and graphic - And yes, I KNOW it is going to be uhhh, bold and beautiful!  8-)))

Pressing, my Least Favorite Part

This is the back of "Steps" (or maybe "One Step at at Time") , a Rebuilt Log Cabin.  The center portion is finished and this is the dreaded pressing job, on the back.  Do you also hate that job as well?  Yikes!!! -- there is NO WAY all those seams are going to stay where I want them, but I'm not worried either.  The seams are pressed open when I joined the blocks into rows, but joining the rows together - Hey I did the best I could! 

Thanks to trimming blocks to one size, they fit nicely without ooching or stretching - therefore, that part of the process went quickly.  A good press from the top will finish the pressing job, then I'm adding a 2 inch inner border,  and then I'm tackling the outer border.  My goal today (yet) is to make a sample.  I could have saved time by relying on my first instinct instead of spending hours, days, looking and wondering.

It's turning out well and I'm trying hard NOT to show it until I get the border completed.  When I take it to Quilt Guild, Show and Tell, they frequently  KNOW it's mine, even if I didn't tell them.  Perhaps I finally have a "style".   

The name, "Steps", (or "One Step at a Time") has always been a personal and professional lesson for me, as well as excellent advice for a quiltmaker or any person  when tackling a project.  And the quilt is filled with visual "Steps", as is the border-to-be.