We have been in the midst of a heat wave that has been the hottest ever on record. I took this opportunity to stay inside and work on a couple of projects. We finally finished up the blocks for Dana's quilt. I will post a picture when the quilt has been put together. I was working on the Ocean Waves quilt. I thought I was making good progress with the 80 or so blocks and then I made the mistake of actually counting the blocks...I only had 35, so my frayed nerves needed a break from the Ocean Waves and I switched over to sharpening my paper piecing skills. I have come a long way in 30 days. I started a New York Beauty wall hanging (all paper-pieced) and it is looking pretty good if I must say so. I had a few glitches, but I didn't give up. I kept reading and re-reading the instructions, taking my time and making sure everything was right and avoiding as many shortcuts as possible. I love shortcuts...instant gratification. I even made a hand drawn sample picture with my granddaughter's crayons (I have EQ6 & 7) to give me inspiration and for color placement. There are 16 blocks in the quilt. I have completed 11 with 2 more almost complete. I counted them, have confirmed that I only need 5 more and I am happy with the results. Then I was so psyched with my progress on paper piecing, I decided to do something that I have wanted to do since I started quiliting. It's crazy...I don't know where this energy is coming from but I am going full steam ahead. I have started a Double Wedding Ring. That's right, I must be nuts or suffering from heat exhaustion, but I am doing it. I have completed 20 arcs and they are perfect so far. It remains to be seen if they will fit when I put the rest of the quilt together but right now it works. I don't know anyone else who has completed a DWR quilt, so if you are reading this entry and you have completed one, please leave me some insight in the comments section. I only had one setback on the DWR so far. I mis-read the number of arcs that was required...silly me. I was so happy that I thought I only needed 28 arcs...DAH...I really need 98, but oh well. It was a temporary setback. And I only need 78 more. I am completing about 3.5 arcs per hour. So this shouldn't take me 20 years to complete! Here are pictures.
