Almost seven years ago I saw a flannel split rail fence quilt in a book and bought all the yardage for it with the help of my master color helper, Pattie. We bought the fabric, both flannels and homespuns, at Rosie's Calico Cupboard in San Diego. It's a behemoth of a store, taking over the business spaces in a strip mall, one by one, year after year. Once you get in there, it just seems to laterally go and go and I'm glad all the rooms are in a row so I can't get too lost. If you are in the San Diego area, eat at D.Z. Akins deli, which is like the Jewish delis I remember as a kid, with humongous sandwiches and old people who never seem to change sitting in the booths.
The kid I wanted to make the flannel/homespun quilt for wasn't too interested, so I stashed the fabric away and moved on to other quilty projects. A couple of years ago I discovered the fabric in a gigantic tangle in a paper grocery bag, all the strips sewn, and moved them to a nifty work-in-progress plastic box. And it sat some more.
The plastic box has been stacked under the cutting table for a year, and it was time. The Lady quilt was making my head hurt and I wanted to do something that was simple and boring. I wanted to finish something.
I ironed and cut the strip sets into their segments and have been sewing them into rows. Here are some squares ready to chain piece.
This type of sewing calls for some easy television to watch. I recommend The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt now streaming on Netflix because it's more verbal than visual, so I can sew and listen and laugh. Tina Fey is one of the writer/creators, so now you know what kind of verbal it is: Witty, 30 Rock-style repartee with a sunny outlook. Don't try watching The Americans or something where you might miss seeing something that moves the plot while you're beavering away chain piecing. Go for light and verbal.
So the blocks are sewn into twos, which are stacked here, then into fours, then into eights and then add six to make fourteen blocks per row.
The rows are draped everywhere, with little thought about color placement, which is the total opposite of The Lady quilt. If the same fabric pops up close to each other, who cares? This is just a quilt, a cuddly one that someone will love.
I will make fifteen rows, sew them together, and add a simple border.
In between, maybe I'll piece some trees for The Lady's forest. All this boring sewing is making me excited about The Lady quilt again.
So let's hear it for boring sewing!
I prefer to think of it as "mindless sewing" and it definitely rests the brain! Kind of like breaking open the stash boxes and sorting colors, folding and returning to the bins... and it will clear your stash to make room for more acquisitions! Enjoy...
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