Hope’s Journey

Here we are at Wednesday again and I just can’t seem to grasp the concept of prioritizing my to-do list, mostly due to my misconception of how many hours there are in a day. The time seems to fly by, which of course means I’m having fun, but I have some HUGE commitments on my list that are not being accomplished. I’m placing the blame on Hope’s Journey (and a little on my friend Jeanne for being too inspiring :o)

Each and every block in this project was a joy to make and some were a true challenge, but I found that by working at my own pace, chapter by chapter, it was easy to fit this project into my spare time between other work. The ‘trouble’ really started when I began to pin the blocks up on my design wall and the quilt top started to take shape.

That’s when the project became an addiction for me!

I didn’t follow the piecing ‘map’ precisely as I had made some extra blocks to add into the mix, and without knowing the final layout, I hadn’t sewn many filler segments as I was going along, but I think both of these things aided in keeping my interest in the end. Piecing the various sized blocks together definitely was challenging and I did have to make some new ones to replace the ones that were not quite the right colour, signifying that I should have had this one up on the design wall much earlier. The most addictive part of it all, however, was using up all my tiny bits and pieces to create the filler segments. Little one inch squares and half square triangles, rows of tiny flying geese, and sweet four inch baskets were such a great use of my leftover scraps. It was just like eating potato chips and, as each section grew larger, I just couldn’t wait to sew one more. It was thrilling to see those scraps disappear and then magically re-appear in the quilt top, helping to create a much more cohesive composition.

I’m now gathering and folding the larger pieces of fabric to put back in the stash cupboard, but not before cutting strips off everything for my pieced border. Funny thing is, that was the one decision I had made quite early on in the project – right from the start I planned to put a border on this quilt to make it larger.  You’ll have to check back to see that at a later date but for now, I do have a flimsy to hang on the clothesline. It was another cold and windy day but I risked it for the photo yesterday…

I am so in love!

until next time, carol xox

p.s. be sure to check in with Jeanne at spiralj2.blogspot.com to see her wonderful Hope’s Journey project, too!