Circling

Esther and Tera both had ruler suggestions for making DP blocks. Esther thought this one would work:

And Tera said she used this one on a recent project and liked it:

I’ll see if I can find either (both?—I like rulers) in town next time I go.

In the meantime, I found this incredibly useful tutorial on the Fabric & Flowers website. The tutorial gives step-by-step instructions and accompanying formulas for drafting any size DP block based on the radius of the circle and the finished size of the block. I spent some time yesterday morning playing around with the tutorial and drawing different DP templates with variously-sized circles in Illustrator before printing one out. I’m going to cut out and sew up some prototypes this afternoon. I am aiming for a finished block size of 10”.

Math is fun, although I like algebra better than geometry, for obvious reasons.

I also worked on the Cobbles pattern and cleaned and organized my sewing area. I am kicking around the idea of getting a new cutting table. I’ve got one of the inexpensive folding ones from Joanns, which has been adequate until now, but it’s becoming less and less stable. Every few months, I have to turn it over and get out the hex wrench and tighten up all the screws. I am looking at a similar Arrow table. I’d love some kind of permanent installation, but I need to have a portable table that can be folded up and put away when we have houseguests.

The baby quilt is basted and ready to quilt. The backing for Cobbles is pressed and ready to go. I have one side of binding left to sew down on the upsized Scrappers’s Delight quilt and then that one will get moved to our bed.

This morning will be devoted to making the graphics for the Cobbles pattern in Illustrator. Elaine and I also have one more Zoom meeting planned to finish picking music for Lent and Easter.

I would encourage you, if you have half an hour, to watch this video from Angela Walters. I took a class from her in Spokane two years ago and she’s a fabulous teacher.

Here, she talks about how she became a longarm quilter—”It’s not like you go to your guidance counselor in high school and tell him that’s what you want to be when you grow up!” It’s a lovely story involving her husband’s grandfather. There is also a plot twist with Tula Pink. The overarching message, though, is that not everything works out the first time, but everything is part of the learning process.