Quilts by Julie Ramsey
Archive for July, 2009
Morse code 2: finished top
Jul 14th
The top is finally pieced, and I have to say I’m pretty impressed with how it turned out. It ended up a lot bigger than I’d planned, since I made the decision to space out the horizontal rows, but at least it’s very nearly twin-sized now. Unlike my first quilt in this style, it actually lays flat with no puckers, wrinkles, or wonkyness, probably because I used much bigger pieces. Overall, I’m really happy with the way it’s turning out.
Starting over
Jul 12th
Well, my second attempt at the morse code quilt ended up failing.
First try, the squares kept falling off the fusible web, which was a bit of a disaster.
Second try, I salvaged the fabric and tried to sew squares together one-by-one; sadly, I neither have the time nor the patience to tackle things that way.
So instead, it’s back to strip piecing (a la the first time I made this kind of quilt), and with a new color scheme. Isn’t it fun to start things over?
Morse code 2: problems in progress
Jul 3rd
I’m quickly becoming very grateful for gridded fusible web; I was able to lay out all of the seemingly-random squares before sewing, making sure that they’d all end up aligned correctly. Unfortunately, I learned the importance of making sure EVERY SINGLE PIECE is solidly fused to the web. Three rows in (out of thirteen), I’ve got pieces falling off and coming loose!
Luckily, I wrote which color goes on which bit of grid using magic marker, so it’s not too difficult to make sure the right bit of fabric ends up back in the correct spot. However, it’s quickly becoming tedious to double-check that all of the pieces are in each row before I begin sewing!
Morse code quilt 2
Jul 1st
I think I’m going to make another Morse code quilt, this one (potentially!) for publication. I picked an Albert Einstein quote: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.”
Translated into quilt form, it should come out something like this:
Approx. finished size (using 2.5″ finished squares) before borders should be something around 33″ x 65″, so if I get creative with the borders, I could probably stretch it out to approximately twin size. Maybe set one border around it, then “Albert” and “Einstein” in vertical strips on each side to widen it out a bit?
I think I’m going to stick to the blue/green color scheme. I picked it because the colors were right next to each other in MS paint, but I really like the effect on a white background.
Next step: counting blocks and figuring out how much fabric to buy! Sounds like a monsoon storm is headed my way, so I can’t go out for supplies today, but at least I can be well-prepared for a shopping trip tomorrow.
