Custom Quilting Marybeth's circa 1984 UFO + Cranking Out Deco Blocks

Happy Monday, everyone!  Congratulations to the Eagles fans out there, and my condolences to the Chiefs fans.  Not that I watched even five minutes of the Superbowl -- I'd rather sit in my laundry room for four hours watching the clothes go round and round than sit in front of a television watching grown men run around and clobber each other over a weird-shaped, ugly ball.  So HAH!  My husband and sister-in-law are from Philly, however, so while they were up at the house cheering their team I snuck off to the quilting studio to start quilting the borders on my friend Marybeth's UFO sampler quilt that dates back to 1984.

Wasatch Bella Bella Feather Border and Corner Quilting Design

When Marybeth showed me these blocks and told me the story of the quilt, I promised her that if she finished the quilt top I would custom quilt it for her.  This was supposed to be a "big boy" quilt for her son Nathan, who is now a married father in his forties.  The blocks are hand pieced and hand appliqued in neat, even stitches and it would be an intolerable shame if the quilt never got finished at all.  

Challenges for Marybeth included finding suitable border fabric, because she didn't have enough left of the fabrics from the blocks and may have used the fabric for some other project over the years.  Although there is no purple in her quilt blocks, I think the solid purple border fabric she chose works really well because it's the right value and hue to coordinate with the other colors well.

Challenges for Rebecca included coming up with quilting designs that would complement the vintage 1980s style of the sampler blocks and fabric without overpowering them, and without skewing too modern or too formal.  Another challenge was remembering how to lay out and size a border design to fit the quilt border and to accommodate for the quilt drawing up during stitching...  Too bad I didn't revisit this Q-Matic border quilting tutorial on Bernina's We All Sew blog before I loaded this quilt.  I loaded, basted, and did all of the stitch in the ditch quilting with monofilament thread a couple of months ago, and I did not remember Bernina Educator Denise Jones' tips about marking the center and quarters of the long sides of the quilt to make placing the border designs easier.  Next time!  Here's a shot of Marybeth's quilt on my frame where it languished for weeks, waiting for me to pick a design and get up the courage to start quilting it already!

Post-SID, Pre-Border Quilting Paralysis Syndrome

And here's a shot of the entire quilt top (minus final borders and with weird color rendering) upside-down, before I loaded it on my frame:

Marybeth's Sampler Quilt, Begun in 1984

Right now, I should be back in the quilting studio working on that quilt instead of writing about it.  Ahem!

Deco Quilt Update

Meanwhile, I've been working on those Willow (green) and Indigo (navy) blocks for my Deco quilt.

Scant Quarter Inch Seam Allowance for Die Cut Patchwork Piecing

Since the two blocks I sewed last week finished about a sixteenth of an inch too small, I have adjusted my seam allowance as I am cranking out all fourteen of the remaining blocks (of this colorway) in a frenzy of batched chain piecing.  I like to use 1/4" patchwork foot #97D in a center needle position, so I am just keeping the raw fabric edges a ruler line width away from the little quarter inch mark etched on my stitch plate as shown above.  Another option (with a different foot and a zigzag plate on the machine instead of a straight stitch plate) would be to just move my needle one click to the right of center.

Chain-Piecing 14 Blocks at Once, One Row at a Time

I laid out all of my little precut squares and rectangles in rows, fourteen patches in each pile of fabric, and then I went row by row.  All fourteeen of the first two patches chain pieced, pressed open, and laid back in their place.  Then all fourteen of the next two patches chain pieced, pressed open, and laid in place.  All fourteen pairs of units chain pieced together until I had completed the first row for all fourteen blocks; then on to the first two units of the next block, and so on.  

Adjusted Seam Allowance Compensates for Turn of Cloth + Thread Bulk

I did check early on that my adjusted seam allowance was working out.  These are 1 1/2" cut squares meant to finish at 1" square and although I have a little distortion from pressing, I am much happier with the size these units are finishing.  I can work with this.  

Joining Rows, the End of These Blocks Is In Sight!

See?  In the photo above, I have finished all six block rows with fourteen stacked rows in each pile, and I've already joined rows 5 and 6 for all fourteen blocks.  Previously I was trying to sew these blocks one or two at a time and I kept getting all mixed up about which row or which block I was on, sewing the wrong row edges together, and having to reach for my seam ripper again and again.  My new method of focusing on just one row of the block at a time and churning out all of those needed units at once seems to be going a lot faster with fewer mistakes, even if I'm engrossed in listening to a history podcast (which I usually am!).

My quilting focus this week is Marybeth's sampler, and my patchwork piecing priority is my Deco quilt.  After all, I was initially drawn to the Deco quilt because I thought it would be a fun one for custom quilting, but there isn't going to be any quilting until the blocks get sewn together, is there?!

I'm linking 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

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework