Hello and happy Monday! I am delighted to share that I finished all fourteen of the remaining 3B (in Kona Solid Indigo and Willow green) for my Deco quilt last night! I am especially proud of how much I got done because I got called in for jury duty on Wednesday and didn't get any sewing done on Thursday, either.
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| Deco Bed Quilt Blocks 1, 2, and 3B Completed |
Those two blank rows near the center of the quilt need eighteen of Block 3A, which is nearly identical to Block 3A except that there is one more 1" square patch and, in my version of the quilt, Block 3A will combine the Indigo (dark navy) background fabric with Kona Solid Thistle, the lighter of the two purple fabrics used in my log cabin blocks for this quilt. Sensible quilters will have followed the faster strip piecing instructions in the Deco pattern instructions from Lo & Behold, but I have cut out individual patches for all of my blocks for reasons I've rehashed in previous blog posts.
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| Nine 3A Blocks Ready for Chain Piecing |
My method for staying organized while chain piecing those last 14 3B blocks worked well for me, so that's how I'll be piecing the 3A blocks. In the photo above, I've laid out the 3A block with nine fabric patches in each stack. Once I've completed the first nine blocks, I'll lay out the last nine blocks in the same way.
Meanwhile, I bought a new task light that I'm loving, the Daylight Slimline 4 LED Floor Lamp (that's an affiliate link):
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| Finishing Up My Last Deco 3B Blocks with Daylight Slimline 4 Floor Lamp |
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| Shadows to the Left of Machine Without Task Lighting |
This was a splurge for a task lamp and I hesitated to order it online without seeing it in person, but I love it so much I'm considering purchasing another one to set up near my cutting table and/or for hand sewing away from my machine.
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| Problem Solved! |
The Daylight Slimline lamps come in a table version as well, but I ordered the floor lamp version so I'd have more flexibility with positioning the light where I needed it. The table lamp version has to either be clamped onto the edge of your table or sewing cabinet or else screwed into a table base that would take up valuable work space. Not only is this a super bright lamp (with a dimming feature in case it's TOO bright for you), but it has a high CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 95+. That means colors under the lamp look as accurate as they possibly can, so when I'm selecting thread to match/disappear against fabric or matching up one fabric to another, I am making those color decisions based on the "real" colors versus seeing muddy versions of the color and hoping for the best. I also find that quality task lighting reduces eye strain for me considerably, so I am delighted with this purchase.
I didn't set foot in my long arm quilting studio last week, so no progress on custom quilting Marybeth's sampler. Hopefully I'll get back to that this week, and I hope that sticking to my schedule of sewing a little bit each day will enable me to finish nine (at minimum) or all eighteen (super goal!) of the remaining 3A blocks for my Deco quilt. I started this quilt in the Fall of 2021 and I am ready for it to be finished so I can move on!
As you can see, I managed to get at least 30 minutes of sewing time in for 5 out of 7 days last week, 11/16 so far for the month of February, about 69%. I haven't switched my machine on yet today and I do have some errands I need to run first, but I can't wait to start adding those Thistle/Indigo Deco 3A blocks to my design wall!
Longer term goals: Once my Deco quilt top is finished, I think I want to set it aside before custom quilting it so I can shift my focus to an even older work in progress, my FrankenWhiggish Rose applique. That one is still stalled waiting for me to prep 95 little stuffed berries (prep work YUCKO!) before I can hand stitch them to the blocks (hand stitching YIPPEE!!!!!).
I hope YOU get some time to stitch today!
I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties:
MONDAY
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musings at Songbird Designs
TUESDAY
To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
THURSDAY
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
FRIDAY
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre
Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty
TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday
SUNDAY
Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué
Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch at Life in Pieces
Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework
13 comments:
You have a LOVELY quilting area, and yes... that light makes quite a noticeable difference! Despite all of the lovely lovely imagery in this entire post, the wine glass at the side of your machine caught my eye. Ha. lol. No judgement, samsies here, samsies!
Such beautiful color placement on your Deco quilt. The task light sure made a big difference.
congratulations on finishing all those blocks you sure have been working hard on it. That lamp is pretty nifty! I had to take out the old lighting that I had for the quilting frame some time back and removed it completely but have the overhead lights aimed at the quilting frame - the old bar that was across the quilting frame with attached lights would throw too many shadows when I was trying to take photos of the quilting.
Good lighting is essential to sewing. You are making progress with the Deco quilt, hope you are able to find more time this week for sewing.
Your deco quilt is eye-catching! Glad you have a nifty light source for your neat sewing area. The glass of wine is always a help for me. ;)
It's good to see you posting again, Rebecca Grace! Your new Bernina 990 looks right at home -- was the wine for you or for the machine? ;)
It's good to see you posting again, Rebecca Grace! Was the wine for you or for your lovely new Bernina 990?
Wow. Wow! Your blocks are so beautifully and intricate! Quite an accomplishment! Congratulations on your Bernina B990! They are beautiful machines! For me, at my age, task lamps are a must and well worth it! Looks like you’re all set up for fun sewing!
Those deco blocks are so beautiful! They are so bright! Glad you have found a good way to bring more light into your studio space. I'm glad you were able to sew as much as you did these past few days!
Do exciting to see such fast progress! I bet you are excited too. You are so close to being done, I have a feeling that will push you to finish the 18 blocks you have left. Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
https://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2025/02/18/wednesday-wait-loss-420
Those quilt blocks are amazing! And I am quite envious of your new Bernina - that screen is fantastic! xx
Fun to see your Deco blocks coming together! What happened to your view of the pool from your machine? I have a Slimline lamp that I love, too.👍🏻
I have the shades down when I am sewing at night! They help by reflecting artificial light back into the room that would otherwise be lost through the window glass when it’s dark outside.
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