Row One is finished

As I said in yesterday's post, I actually did spend the afternoon in the sewing room, working on the first row of the Past President's Project.  The block is called "Cat and Mice" and I made 4 of them in various colors. Take a look for yourself.

I followed Marcia Hohn's directions which called for 28-2 1/2" HST and 8-2 1/2" squares of background. Then all of them had to be sewn together in 6 rows or columns to make the block.  I was sure I could do this in an easier fashion and by the time I'd finished 3 of the blocks, I had it figured out and I did the 4th block that way.  Well, not such a good idea!  I got all the pieces assembled okay but there was a challenge regarding how I'd pressed the seams. When I joined the components, I had a couple of places where the seams were pressed in the same directions and didn't nest properly, resulting in a couple of big lumps that I'll have to smush down somehow.  Making the block in the suggested manner was tedious and I had to concentrate to get all the squares in their proper direction, but I had no pressing errors so I think it was worth it to simply do it as Marcia had suggested. Lesson learned.

These are 12" blocks and the row is 48" across, finished. This quilt will have a single 6" border which brings the width to 60" finished.  I spent some time working on the 3rd row which is the applique row.  I cut and pieced a strip of fabric and with a Frixion pen, sketched out where I want to lay the vine.  I found my templates for a simple flower, a leaf, and a bird and traced them on the row with the Frixion pen as well.  I'll have to make a template for the bird's wing--without a wing, it kind of looks like a big blob!  :)  And I decided to add some berries in a few places along with a stem of their own.  I like how it lays out and pretty much fills the space, so now I'll have to find some fabrics to use, beginning with a green for the vine and maybe a brown of some sort for the berries.  I also have to remember to take notes so I can write all of this up for the guild members when we get to row 3.  

Before I begin sewing again, I MUST make a trip to the garden. I want some beets and carrots to go with the green beans I already have for our dinner.  I plan on making a simple turkey gravy to go over mashed potatoes (from the garden as well) to complete the meal. Don will be home for dinner after 3 days of carousing golfing with his cousins in Milwaukee and I think he'll appreciate a meal like this.

That's all I have on my agenda for this day.  Once again, it's chilly and overcast this morning. I'd planned on washing quilts and hanging them out to dry but that's better done on a warmer day, so maybe the weekend will be better for that job.