Light at the End of the Tunnel!

When last we crossed [quilters'] paths,  way back in January(!), I was just starting to build the sashing rows for my Ringo Lake quilt. 

On the design wall.

It was quite a job.  There are 49 pieces in each of 50 blocks for a total of 2450 little bitty pieces.  The 120 sashing strips have 6 pieces each, 640 in all, plus 49 cornerstones.  No wonder the top took so long!

But wait, there's more!  The blocks are set on point and the setting triangles are pieced, too.  The small ones on the corners of the quilt are 2 pieces each (4 * 2 = 8).  The large ones on the sides and ends have 5 pieces (5 * 18 = 90).  All for a grand total of 3327 pieces!!  And the seams had to match?!  And the points had to be pointy?!

But at last, this week I added first border!  Wahoo! Bonnie Hunter suggested that this pattern didn't really need a border, but I wanted the quilt to fit my bed (I am sooo over the Civil War reproduction fabrics in the current one).  So I will be adding 4 borders. 

The first one was a real challenge.  With all those pieces and seams, it was no surprise to me that the quilt was too wonky to square up.  The ends were fine, but there was a difference of over 1-1/2" between the sides -- way too much to ease in.  So I cut the two side borders the same length, then eased in 1/4" on the longer side, and eased the border 1/4" on the shorter side.  The same will happen with the rest of the borders until the two sides are the same (-ish).  Plus, there were so many points to try to keep while easing.  And the border fabric frayed like crazy!  I actually had to rip out one section and put in a replacement.  Thank goodness I had enough!  The rest should be fairly straightforward, though (so to speak).

I did get two wonderful infusions of assistance.  Above, I took the completed quilt center in to show it off to my Thursday morning quilt group and to have them help me figure out the border situation.  These women are the best!  They are so creative and have wonderful eyes for color.  They completely changed my mind about what I was thinking of doing and pulled bolts from the shelves to take them for a test drive.  I can't wait to see how this looks once all the borders are on!

The second assist came from my wonderful (and equally talented) husband.  In all the time I've been quilting, I've had to use either my bed or the kitchen island when I needed to work in a big space (determining a full layout or cutting a large piece of fabric, for instance).  The floor is no longer an option.

No, I don't know what that white thing is on top of the quilt!

After a friend volunteered her ping-pong table for sandwiching the Otsego quilts, I knew I needed something like that.  Last weekend, after my husband had just finished his own Big Winter Project (see below), I asked him if he would make a table for me.  Two days later, it was done!

The only place to put it was in the basement, where it is plenty chilly, but that doesn't bother me at all.  This puppy is STURDY!  What a joy to be able to lay the quilt out flat (well, as flat as it's ever going to be, anyway).  I think I'll start calling the basement my Quilt Deli, since I have a lot of sandwiches to make!

Trimming wavy Border #1 on a BIG, FLAT table!

And what was the man's Big Winter Project?  I'm so glad you asked.  One year it was a boat.  Then it was a dining room table.  And this year:

So, after all this, I still love the quilt, but decided that my next project will have only big pieces and no matching seams or triangles.  Whew!