I can’t even remember how long I’ve been attempting to attach the top to the outer border pieces. It has been a nightmare.
My first, and maybe biggest, problem was that I could not find a space large enough to work on this humongous piece. I didn’t know it was going to be so big. It’s 105” x 85”, or something like that. I measured it many times and got many different measurements. The Millefiori book was written in French (with English translation), and all measurements were metric. Being totally metrically challenged, I didn’t know what size anything was. I did go to the computer and convert the centimeters to inches at one point, but then I lost the paper with the conversions and just gave up. It’ll be whatever size it turns out to be, I decided. Little did I ken that size would be practically big enough to cover Mars.
I put all the tables in my sewing room together, but that still wasn't quite as big as the quilt top. Also it severely limited my walking and working floor space.
Starting out, I was flummoxed because the joined rosette piece was hard to line up with the border pieces to make a rectangle. After a couple of days of measuring and pinning and remeasuring and repining, I decided I had it straight and began appliquéing the rosette piece onto the border. After several days of that (two or three, I think), I had it all together. But when I checked to see that everything was as it should be, I found I had a four-sided polygon that in no way added up to a rectangle.
It wasn’t quite this wonky, but it definitely could not pass as a rectangle.
For a day and a half, I thought and thought about whether I should take the entire border off and start over or try to fix it by adding pieces to make a rectangle. I finally decided on the latter. But the trouble wasn’t over yet. I still had to figure out what size pieces to add and where to add them. After a couple of missteps, I think I finally have it. I have some wonky diagonal seams that don’t show in the photo, but I’m sure a quilt show judge will find them with no problem.
In hindsight, I should have done what some others have done and appliqué the rosette unit onto a solid piece of fabric. That way the piece would have been squared up from the get-go. But I didn’t have enough of the border fabric that I’d chosen to do that, so I decided to cut the borders. And as Elvis would say, “That’s when the heartaches begin."
I’m still considering appliquéing a few EPP stars or blossoms in the border. After quilting, which I am going to have my long-arm quilting friend do, I will border it with either a brown or the dark blue of the pentagon inner border--unless I change my mind.
I want it known right here and now that there is no amount of money that would entice me to do this again,
This post was migrated from the old blog. To see the comments on the original post, CLICK HERE. To add a new comment, click "Post a Comment", below.
On 09/20/2020, Judy Cloe said ...
Congratulations on a job well done. It looks fantastic. You deserve a medal for this masterpiece
On 09/20/2020, Kathy said ...
It is so beautiful. Each and every rosette is gorgeous. A once in a lifetime project. You should be very proud!
On 09/20/2020, Barbara Anne said ...
Applause, applause for your fine workmanship, diligence, and persistence! What a tribute to yourself, my friend!!
Happy dancing for you. :)
Hugs!
On 09/20/2020, Bonnie said ...
Holy cow! It is really beautiful, and mind-boggling about all the handwork involved. My lips are sealed about the not-quite-perfect rectangle, and I bow down in admiration to your hours & hours of dedication.
On 09/20/2020, Rose said ...
It is beautiful. It makes me think of a garden of gorgeous posies.
On 09/24/2020, Jeanne Horacek said ...
Congratulations on the completion of this massive quilt. It is a true work of art and I admire your tenacity! I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't ever finish, but end up with scraps in a bucket! A year from now you will look at it and be amazed that you created such a beautiful piece. Now go enjoy yourself, you deserve a treat!
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Happy Fall, Y’all.
