I started to write two blog posts, just so I could name this one “Harry Chapin Quilting Design”. I slept on it and decided the way I wanted to quilt this was straight vertical lines, then straight lines at 60 degree angles to match the large triangles on here, and finally different sizes of circles that overlapped. There is a controlled randomness in the design of the triangles and length of the strings between them, and I wanted the style of the quilting to match that. So we have triangles, circles, rectangles and parallelograms. I should give this to a math teacher!
All the while as I was quilting it, I was reminded of the song by Harry Chapin that goes like this:
Sunrise and sundown;
Moon rolls thru the nighttime;
Till the daybreak comes around.
All my life’s a circle;
But I can’t tell you why;
Season’s spinning round again;
The years keep rollin’ by.
I saw Harry in concert in 1980; I really was content to hear him sing about 60,000 pounds of bananas and while he’s probably best known for “Cat’s In A Cradle”, the one that’s always stuck with me has been this song about life being a circle. He died in a car wreck not long after I saw him which seemed ironic because his years didn’t keep rolling after that point – except of course through his music.
So that’s 54 blocks. And I finally got the binding sewed onto the Christmas quilt although it took me literally an hour to sew the final 4 inches when out of nowhere my sewing machine revolted and declared “I smite thee!“. In the end I won, but it did win a few battles along the way.
I’m finding it less stressful with the Splendid Sampler to be about 3 or 4 blocks behind, then I can choose which one to do according to the time I’ve got! I’ve not tackled the shell one yet, yours looks great 🙂
Funny you mention that. I’ve deliberately not started the last few blocks on the day they came out. I have been finding myself needing a mental break – I’m not used to spending a year on one quilt.
Gorgeous quilt and the quilting really sets it off beautifully.
Thank you so much!
Love, love, love your quilting design! Did you stop and start on every single circle?!
Thank you! They actually all connect. I have 3 half circle rulers that have 2 sizes each, so there are circles on it anywhere from I think 3″ to 12″ in diameter. In many cases, where one stops the next one starts. Occasionally I would travel back on a circle so that I could continue in a particular direction to fill in the open spots. But in general, I swapped out rulers for every single to get the randomness in terms of circle sizes since the triangles also varied in every column.
You obviously have not melted or drown….yet!!! Stitch on, my friend!!!!
Haha! I tell ya, I’m surprised we aren’t floating away again this week. It has rained – hard – every single day this week. Our standby generator was more on than off today because of the weather. Needless to say, I got a lot of sewing done today!
While I haven’t really perused tons of the quilt photos for Splendid Sampler, your fall color choices really work with this. The sampler is so busy, that some I’ve seen almost look garish, and yours is elegant. I don’t really like browns and autumn colors that much, but you are helping me to see their restful beauty.
Thank you! I backed into the color scheme. I had bought the fabric a month earlier and decided to use it for this sampler. From what I’ve seen, the darker colors are in the minority as to what other people are using; I’ve only seen one other person use the same fabric that I am. I think now that the autumn season is coming in, I am enjoying it more.
The quilts are looking wonderful (but now I’ll have that song in my head for days!)
Ha ha! I was sind my level best to watch my language but it was a challenge!
Oh those sewing machines can create such pirate talk. Lovely lyrics and pretty pictures!
Ha ha! I was doing my level best to watch my language but easier said than done!
Oh I remember that banana song, I have it on a Harry Chapin live CD of his on my iTunes, wow I have not heard that in a long time! Quilting is lovely as is shell block!
Now you’re going to be singing it!
Looking good!
Thank you!