Friday, February 3, 2017

Never Assume

At my age, I should know better, right?  I am a read the instructions kind of person, even though I may regularly find my own way to do/sew/make whatever the item is.  However, with the Block #34 of the 150 CA Women project, from Next Step Quilt Designs, I assumed (wrongly) that the bars in the rail fence sections were all equal in width.  Nope.  So I now have some 2.5" already sewn strip sets that will maybe work their way into one of the remaining 114 blocks, or maybe into the backing, or none of the above.
Clockwise from the top right: #34 - Helen Harrison, amazing woman pilot, believed to be the first woman pilot to hold commercial licenses in 4 countries. SO sadly, and interesting wrt the Women's March, she said she "couldn't overcome her sex"; #35 - L. M. Montgomery,  whose use of the initials for her first two names, Lucy Maud, I believe, were to try to not be pre-judged (aka prejudiced against) due to her sex. Beloved author of mine, and many many others, of the Anne of Green Gables books, which sadly, because of an unfavourable contract, brought her little for the new editions, and nothing for the movies and plays; #36 - Louise Crummy McKinney - she worked hard for the Vote for Women and for prohibition, she was involved in the successful Persons Case for Canadian women to sit in the Senate. 

All three of these blocks have two different cream or white backgrounds.  The scrappier, the better IMHO.  I put that cream with dashed lines in the middle of Helen's block because it reminds me of runways; I put the old-fashioned roses and leaves ivory/taupe background and soft cream floral prints in Lucy Maud's because it is romantic.  How very glad I am that I brought my scrap box!
So is Bella glad.  This pink pile provides the best armrest!
I keep thinking, enough with the caption about each woman, yet I continue to be amazed, truly amazed at these brave soul's accomplishments and take no sh*t attitude.  Never assume that because I am female I am a lesser human.  Never assume that a person's sex dictates her abilities.  Right?! For a terrific post from a quilter who rode 6 hours on a bus to get to that Women's March in DC, click here. She made a quilt as her sign too!đź’“

In a time when diversity and tolerance are forefront in the world news, you may also want to check out this post by a vet/avid reader/quilter I follow, Based On A True Story.  I can relate to her post because both of my daughters loved The Babysitter's Club books, and I remember all too well the one that was set in our home town, Edmonton, Alberta, so exciting, where the protagonist could look out and see the beautiful Rockies from her porch, a 3-hour drive away!  Last time I checked, a human being could not see a nearly 300 km distance!  I remember how annoyed and insulted the girls and I felt, that an author could not even take the time to investigate for accuracy.  Only 4 short years ago when I was teaching, my favourite grade and subject to teach was always grade 7 English, with grade 7 French a close second.  The novels and several of the short stories I taught dealt with the themes of prejudice and intolerance.  Wow, did we have some wonderful, incredible discussions!  I think today's young adults are much more open to the global culture of our beautiful planet, the richness various cultures and religions bring when viewed and accepted with open minds.  There isn't just one way to anything: whether constructing or binding a quilt, making cookies, finding nirvana or heaven or ultimate supreme love, solving math problems, building a home, etc. etc., there are many ways, all good.

I am a bit closer to finishing another one of my Q1 goals, Radiance, Aidan's quilt for his new home.
A finally finished flimsy!

I got the migrating geese done! They are 8" unfinished in width, so will add 15" to the length of the quilt, perfect for a tall young nephew!  I brought backing here with me, but forgot the beautiful orange threads I'd picked up from Connecting Threads on sale, drat.  Ah well, I might go pick up some orange variegated, as Tish suggested.  Here is a lengthwise shot so you get the idea of it now being a rectangle.  This is Triangle Transparency by Quilting Jetgirl, to which I added the migrating geese.

Never assume that your pattern will be recreated exactly like you designed it!  And that, in my opinion is what I love about the artistry in quilting.  Take someone's idea and build upon or run with it.

Finally, for those of you that are not on Instagram, here are my two most recent designs.  There is still plenty of time to join us!  The challenge runs until March 15, and there are two more bi-weekly draws for gift cards to Melody's shop, The Red Hen Shop, as well as the grand prizes.
'Scarlet Ice', a two blocks design, and 'Shades of Love', only one block, "Square Upon Squares"

Driving up to yoga takes nearly an hour each way, so I've been making good use of the time playing with the Quiltography app for iPad.  Very worthy and user-friendly little app for a very reasonable price.  Remember you don't have to have an Instagram account just to look!  Click here if you'd like to see the (currently) 94 designs!  You will notice you do not have to submit digital ones either. Hand drawn are just fine. The more the merrier!

Linking up
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts




11 comments:

  1. With the 150 blocks, I have been sewing the half square triangles starting with 2 full squares of contrasting fabrics. I also have some spare 2.5 inch blocks left over, and am saving these for a rainy day, or to use in another block further on. To march, with your own quilty banner, how wonderful is that !!! What a story to tell. And reality in any fictional book, sometimes writers really do need to research things first. Yes, I did read the different widths for that block, it is next on my cutting mat. Hope I get them in the right order.

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  2. Our nephew will LOVE the quilt! Beautiful!!!
    Oh Bella! <3

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  3. Your radiance quilt is just gorgeous - I love the colours, what a blast of sunshine :)

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  4. That orange quilt is so striking... LOVE it!!

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  5. I love the addition you made to the Triangle Transparency pattern and have enjoyed watching the quilt top progression. :)

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  6. Hi Sandra: I love the scrappiness of the women's quilt Looking forward to seeing some of your designs when they become quilts.

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  7. Your Women's quilt blocks look great. Love Radiance! It's gorgeous. Literary license can be very annoying.

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  8. The geese look amazing on the top and bottom of triangle transparency. And your designs are so fun.

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  9. Errr, I commented under the snap in bloglovin , it doesn't seem to have transported to the original post . Anyhow .... my daughter would have loved your English class, she always loved books were the protagonist was crusading either for herself or for an underdog . Malorie Blackman was a great favourite of hers , and Jacqueline Wilson a British author. As for me, I'm loving your Canadian woman blocks

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  10. Do keep up with the captions of the women blocks, a little knowledge about the women who came before is always welcome. They endured so that we could become the women of today, with all the rights and privileges they should have had but sadly didn't.

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  11. I've often made the mistake of assuming as well. It never works out. I've been collecting orange to make my own Triangle Transparency.

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