Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Restart

"Progress is not created by contented people."
~Frank Tyger

Quilting


Frank may be correct but taking this top apart is a funny sort of progress. And that's what I'm doing. Fortunately not all the seams are sewn but it's still a lot. Why? Because I'm very unhappy with the result.

It's not visible in this photo but there is no way to press the compass seams flat. They must twist or create a gigantic lump at the post or the point. If they twist, there's a dimple in the seam, especially because of the solid background. Even though I trimmed carefully, the points seem to wobble around although that may be an artifact of the seam/pressing issues.

The white sashing has four-pointed stars of pale green prints around purple posts
Testing compass sashing on Shadow Star quilt blocks

My choices are to force my way ahead {and continue to be dissatisfied} or to back up. I choose to back up. I intend to have this long arm quilted by a friend and she will make something beautiful in all the white space. A better solution than continuing with lumps and bumps that will make the quilting more difficult.

But oh, how I hate to rip all those seams and toss this idea.

Reading

The cover of the book, The Thief shows an amulet in a pair of handsBecause Megan Whalen Turner just published her sixth book in the Queen's Thief series, I'm rereading all of previous ones first. The Thief, written twenty years ago, won a Newbury Honor so it's listed as a children's book. Before passing this up, remember Wrinkle in Time and C.S. Lewis' Narnia are also found in the children't section. Some of the best books are.

The king's magus believes he knows where an ancient treasure is hidden. Needing a thief to assist him, he chooses Gen from prison. The story is still as good as the first time I read it. Megan based her world on ancient Greece as countries are rising from city-states but freely adds and alters to create her own setting. She is a master of clever surprises.

Warning: The second book, The Queen of Attolia, opens with a devastatingly violent scene. Still worthwhile.

Enjoy the day, Ann