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Jalie Eleonore

9/12/2020

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I am making progress on my mission to use up my fabric stash and use patterns from the multitude of unopened, untested patterns already in my possession! (Although I am not sure how to honestly assess my progress if I am still buying more fabric...which I am.)

I have had Eleonore ever since it first came out. Only yesterday did I cut open the package and extract the pattern. I had some stretch cotton fabric I had bought a few years ago because it was advertised for shirt making, but I would never wear it as a shirt because it's too heavy and contains lycra. In fact, I would not wear it anywhere on my upper body because the feel is just too irritating—as I discovered when I made a dress from McCall's 6346 out of another fabric I bought of the same type. 

However, the fabric seemed like it might work for pants. At any rate, I am working on staying focused on the mantra "progress, not perfection." So I just dove in, traced out the pattern, and cut it out.

At first, I thought they were too tight, but when I put them on again for pictures, they were pretty comfortable.  
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The top stitching does not show up at all--maybe because of the busy pattern, maybe because this is just regular thread, not topstitching thread.
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Quilting Adventure Begins

9/9/2020

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Ohio Star

We're thinking of buying an RV. It's a Gulf Stream Vintage Cruiser, which has a cool retro design on the inside. It got me thinking about making a quilt that would go along with the view. 
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So I went through my multitude of quilting books (bought at book sales for cheap) and searched for something I liked. I didn't like things that were too busy. I had to find something the man of the house would like so no flowers and such. I came across the Ohio star pattern and liked the idea that it could kind of represent our homestead state while we were traveling. Plus it was simple and I liked how it looked.

The directions in the books were mighty complicated looking. I went searching on YouTube and found fabulous resources. The first was a great video from Theresa Down Under: Ohio star quilt block. Thanks to those directions, I was confident I could handle it. I watched a whole set of videos on Craftsy (free while they get the platform up and running again!! So excited it's back to Craftsy!): ​Quilt tutorial. This was excellent and showed the whole process of quilting from creating the blocks to binding.  

I made my first block ever out of old sheets. All I had was blue. The real one will be red and white but this was just to see if I could pull it off. It was surprisingly easy and enormously satisfying. It fit when it it was done. That is, there was nothing to fit so it couldn't disappoint. Hahahahaha.
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Then, as per usual, my ambitions started to get out of hand. I thought, after I make my quilt, I will make one for my sister, who has restored an old 15' RV and camps with it. My husband advised me to check with her before I put in the effort but I didn't want to wait* and the compromise was I made her a couple pot holders in the colors I thought she might like. I used the same Ohio start block thinking it would appeal to her for the same reasons as me. 
[*Update: the teal was the wrong color. Oh wells. ] 
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I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole quilting process. We'll see how long it lasts when I try to make a queen-sized quilt! 

Update 9/12/2020

I made larger block in red and white.  I want the final blocks to be 12" so I can make the queen-size quilt 4 blocks by 5. I will make the white border sashing wider than the picture below, wide enough that the width of the final quilt fits the proper dimensions (90" x 108").
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So here is the block I made. I cut the squares for the triangle squares 5.5" and the center and corner squares 4.5". That wasn't large enough because the final block is only 11" and that includes the 1/2" seam allowance, so all told the square is 1.5" inches too small all around.

I forgot to trim the individual triangle squares before sewing them together. Oopsie. Turns out that step matters... Still, I'm excited. I think this will be a fun project that will look cool in the end.
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    Author

    I am a wife and mother. I work fulltime. In my spare time, I sew, learn violin, do yoga, and am active in Toastmasters.

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