Juliet Fitness

JULIET FITNESS, WAIHI BEACH, WESTERN BAY OF PLENTY
100 Days of ………??!!
 
I am a quilt competition junkie with nearly 3 decades of competing in challenges.  So when I saw the words “100 Day Project Challenge” I had to investigate further.  I decided to participate to get me into the habit of sewing every day, and I set myself the goal of 30 minutes sewing each day.  I am a keen gardener, have spent the last 3 years establishing a new garden, and often my garden beckons rather than the sewing room, though I love the latter dearly!
 
I decided I needed to work daily on a specific project rather than playing with different techniques as many other participants decided to do.  Quilting-wise my passion is paper-foundation piecing (Charlotte calls me “the Queen of Spikes”) and I had a UFO project to work on, which had been on my “to do” list for years.  This is a photocopy from a library book years ago. This quilt was made c. 1800 and is 75" x 71 3/4" and is in the Rhea Goodman Quilt Gallery Inc. It is described as an unusual design using many patches and one of the finest examples of American patchwork art to be found.  I am not sure about the asymmetrical blocks on 2 sides and initially thought I would just do 4 blocks with sashing and a border, and New York Beauty blocks in each corner. It is my variation on the quilt after all.  

I had actually made one block from Dutch chintzes for a friend in 2006, which I had put on a 12”artist’s canvas and here is a photo of the photos I took of it.
 

The 12” block was quite fiddly so I had redrawn it to a 15” block.  I had traced some parts and pieced a couple of arcs last year thinking I would make it for one of the Auckland Symposium challenges, but ran out of time and OOMPH!  Each block has 8 New York Beauty arcs and 8 strips of triangles, so an ideal project to do a little bit on each day. 

2^nd May - The first day’s work on a triangle strip with a note to self - don't leave it until the 11th hour to finish and then squeak in 20 minutes before the end of the day!  

Two days later and I was pleased with progress.

Two days later the four corner New York Beauty sections of Block 1 are complete.  Going well! 

13^th May - The four centre New York Beauty sections of Block 1 are complete. 

In the sewing room, my No. 1 helper is Tess, our lovely cat.  As you can see from the position of her tail, she is not always very helpful!  She likes to be part of whatever I am doing – my fabrics for the piecing are under her body!  Thank goodness I have a retractable rotary cutter!

20^th May - The four centre New York Beauty blocks laid on a background fabric.  This was not my final choice, too cream and too busy. 

27^th May, Block 2 – outside New York Beauty corners.  

At this point I realised my photos were pretty boring compared to others in the group, and decided to refrain from regular photo posting.  However, I checked the group’s Facebook page regularly, and one of the bonuses I hadn’t expected was the inspiration and camaraderie from other members, and making new friends online.  At a time when there was little happening in the real quilting world, with cancellations left, right and centre, there was plenty of action by 100 Day members.  And when it all came to an end in August, I really missed the daily posting, particularly Alice Jones and her cats!

20^th June – Block 2 sections all laid out.  I definitely preferred piecing the New York Beauty sections to the strips of triangles, but I persevered, working on all the sections of one block at a time.

15^th July - Block 3 sections laid out.
 
At the start Sandra Bentley suggested having a calendar with the days marked on, and crossing off each day.  This worked well for my analytical mind, and I managed to work on 75 of the 100 days, nearly always doing more than my goal of 30 minutes.

While life was relatively quiet at the start due to lockdown, I still had Aotearoa Quilters’ Aqua and Journey challenges to do, which I got completed.  Then there were a couple of Turua Patchwork Unlimited challenges, with an upcoming Exhibition, plus tackling the Hoffman Challenge.  The 100 Day Project’s last day was also the last day of Turua’s 3 day Exhibition, which I was heavily involved in. 

 

20^th August – Block 4 sections laid out on the centre fabric I chose.

 
While I was pleased with my progress, I had really hoped to have all the sections for each block sewn together and the four blocks complete during the 100 days, but that didn’t happen because of all the other things going on in my life.  But it will be finished as I have come so far, and I don’t like UFOs.  I still have to decide on a title for the quilt – having a title always helps me to finish a project.
 
I would most certainly participate in another 100 Day Challenge, but next time would try and “clear the decks” beforehand so I have less quilting challenges to get done at the same time.  I actually planned a second project in case I got bored with the black and white/cream, as I usually work in bright colours, but that didn’t happen.  So this may well be my project for another 100 Day Challenge. I still aim for 30 minutes sewing every day, but if it doesn’t happen I don’t beat myself up about it.  
 
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