Bordering the Waves

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition; 

the end to which every enterprise and labour tends.

~Samuel Johnson

Quilting

Is it just me or is anyone else having difficulty adding photos to their posts? I've sent messages to Google but have yet to see an improvement. Eventually I got two photos added; don't ask me how. 

The border idea worked. One light and one dark unit make a four-patch of triangles. {Look back here to see the basic units.} Groups of four-patches formed this border. 

Adding them only to the top and bottom made the quilt slightly rectangular. Since this quilt has become fairly large, that's a good outcome.

The last of this Kona red made a border around all sides. 

As I mentioned, the quilt has gotten pretty large. Just the OW blocks made it 85-inches square.  Nevertheless, DH and I will be very happy with this old-fashioned quilt at home.

Reading

It's too hard to try to add book cover photos but I finished two books recently. First was The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal. Her delightful Lady Astronaut series made me eager to read this new book modeled loosely on The Thin Man. A rich woman marries a detective; they are blissfully happy with a dog (who in this case is her service animal.) While on their honeymoon (a cruise from the moon to Mars) they become embroiled in a murder.  The setting was inventive as well as the Thin Man reprise but it's not my favorite book. Hopefully things will improve through the series.

Next I re-read The Pelican Brief by John Grisham because we watched the movie again one evening and I wanted to compare them. Oddly, I like the movie better; the plot is tighter. Fewer people fell in love with Darby (Julia Roberts) and the behavior of evil oil magnate Victor Mattiece was more believable.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Binding on Average

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, 

the last of the human freedoms 

- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

~Victor Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning

Quilting

Today seemed like a good time to review binding because frankly, I've gotten a bit lazy. There are many good videos on YouTube showing how to apply binding, turn the corners, and finish it off. In general I like this McCall's set of four videos but find they've missed an important step - waving edges. That happens when the binding length is not measured and fitted to each side. 

It's easy to think the quilt is perfectly squared up but that's not always true. So cutting binding to the sum of the sides isn't enough to keep the edges flat. Sewing the binding to the quilt without comparing the side and the binding lengths allows them to stretch... even when using a walking foot. 

A smarter way to attach the binding is to measure across the middle of the quilt in both directions and use those measurements for the sides. If the quilt is square like this one, measure both directions, take the average, and apply it to all four sides. 

In this case, my "perfectly square quilt" was off by 1/8-inch. The average is 42.5 inches. 

Measuring across the quilt to determine
the length of the sides of binding

Insert a pin several inches from one end of the binding. In the photo below the pin is about ten inches from the end of the binding. {You can also mark the place with a pencil or marking pen.}

Start marking the binding with a pin 

Add another pin when you reach the average length {the one measured across the middle.} You will do this four times for a total of five pins in the binding. If your pins tend to fall out, you might prefer to simply mark them with a pencil. Just make sure you mark on the "top" so it will fold inside the binding.

Insert another pin each time you reach the average length

Starting with the first pin line it up with the first quilt corner/edge. That extra ten inches will extend back over the "fourth" side. Pin the binding to the quilt at each corner until you return to the starting point with that fifth pin. 

This isn't a good photo but the binding is pinned loosely to all four sides and overlaps the original extra bit here. 

Pin the binding on the fourth side
over the original extra

Go back to ease the quilt and the binding on each side with more pins. On the fourth side, pin the last overlapping binding but remember it won't all be sewn the first time. The two ends need to be fitted together. Mark where the binding ends meet and plan to leave some space to sew them together. Again, look at the YouTube videos for a method you like.

Fold the original leader back
when pinning the binding in place

EDIT: Patty "The Quilt Lady" has a different way to sew bindings that she has used for years. It looks like her corners might be tighter than mine but she still matches the length of each binding side to the average length across the middle. 

This post is a personal sticky note that I hope helps you, too. 

Reading

Mary Robinette Kowal's latest installment of the Lady Astronaut series was my latest book. I find the the premise of this series very engaging. The Relentless Moon is the first story without Elma {the original Lady Astronaut}, who is on her way to Mars. In addition to a Martian base, humanity is creating a lunar base to evacuate more people. Post-Meteor life means women and Blacks have new opportunities but there have been several accidents that could ground the space program. Are they caused by minorities or by political extremists or are they the result of poor planning by the space program?  There is evidence to support all these reasons. 

Nicole Wargin, another of the first women astronauts and the wife of the governor of Kansas where the US government and space effort is headquartered, is sent to the moon again to help discover the truth. At fifty, she is intelligent, resourceful, and privileged but also experiences physical and mental issues - like a real person. Mary expands her book universe tremendously by developing the motivations and point of view of {previously} secondary characters.  

Well researched, well written. I enjoy the twists that happen in this alternate world including how Mary addresses racial and gender equality. 

Voting

Early voting begins today in Texas. Wherever you are, print a sample ballot; research the candidates and issues and take it with you to vote. VOTE UP THE BALLOT. That means research and vote each position on your ballot, not just the presidential race. 

My ballot has already arrived at the election office. Where is yours?

Enjoy the day, Ann

Adding Flowers to Tethys Waves

"The danger is not that America will collapse into a Depression tomorrow... The danger is that the paralysis of the American political system - its inability to tackle any big multigenerational problem anymore - will just very slowly erode our strengths and assets as a society. We will slowly choke off immigration, slowly give up our commitment to free trade, slowly allow the budgets for research in science to decline, slowly let our public schools slide into mediocrity, and only slowly face up to our energy challenge."

Thomas L. Friedman

Hot, Flat, and Crowded, p20, 2008

Friends are a blessing. The blue striped yardage from Kaja that was used to bind the Froggy Star reminded me of Tethys Waves because it's in the same family of blues. There's enough to appliqué triangles over those gaping white triangles on the sides. But then... Thinking about the AHIQ flower challenge, a better solution presented itself. You guessed it. Flowers. A small bit of red batik scrunched under some larger pieces lurked in my stash. Ah, the joys of cleaning house... Well, at least of cleaning the sewing room.

Half flower pinned on the sides

Can you tell I don't appliqué much? That's a lot of pins. But this time I wanted to see the result before sewing everything. See, this old dog can learn a new trick. After pinning three red petals and adding a blue center to one I can tell the idea works. It tones down the gaping white triangles while blending with the floral theme of the red squares.

Half flowers added to Ocean Waves

It's only eight half flowers. How long could it take? Knowing myself, much too long if handwork was involved. So these were blanket stitched by machine in matching thread. Done it a couple of hours.

Tethys Waves quilt top with side flowers

Now to find a back. And consider whether or not to add a border. And figure out a quilting design that won't take the rest of my life.

Off the Bookshelf

 I enjoyed the Lady Astronaut series so much I picked up Shades of Milk and Honey, too. It's the first of an older series by Mary Robinette Kowal set in Regency England with a small twist - magic exists. Threads of glamour can be pulled and twisted to created visible images. Young ladies of quality are expected to practice this talent along with painting and music.

Mary credits Jane Austen as her inspiration. While not as complex and deft as Jane's novels, it is an intriguing read that reminded me of Rick Riordan's first book, The Lightning Thief - another clever first book developing a coherent alternate world - that should improve throughout the series. Definitely worth the time.


Enjoy the day, Ann