Making the bigger picture

The constraints of time is a major factor in the planning and the amount of work which goes into a quilt; if everything is prepared, then a whole day spent at the sewing machine can produce wonders.

I have completed all my squares for the first two rows from the central image and have carefully cut out my fillers; now all I have to do is sit at the sewing machine and join everything together.  The only technical bit to this is making sure that everything is lined-up - this can be very time consuming.

Quilt with patches and fillers joined.

I have put the quilt together and it is looking good (my brother is coveting it!) and I am thinking 'shall I leave it this size?'  But I haven't attached my Courthouse Steps patches as yet and that colour scheme is a bit brighter than the central one, so I must rally on!

There is a lot more to quilting than one initially thinks.  A vast amount of thinking goes on behind the process - it is not just sewing pretty squares together, it is also planning and co-ordinating colours, patterns and design.  I got to this stage and it took me days to move on to the next as I had to think about how it was all going to fit together (the quilt mathematician), what other pattern did I want to incorporate into the design and also the size restraints.  After a good few days of drawing , measuring and deep thinking, I finally decided on the overall design, which was not too far off the original, and what I was going to do to fill the spaces.  All I know that time is going and if I don't get a move on, it will leave me and my creation behind!