Section 3

Section 2

My current quilt project has a center panel that is approximately three feet wide by four feet long.  This rectangular background is covered with appliqué, swirling vines and leaves and curly-cues.  To help me keep track of it all, I divided the center panel into sections.  This enabled me to work on one or two sections at a time:  choosing the fabrics, tracing the design lines, cutting out the patches, and stitching the appliqué.  Section 1 was pictured in the post Introducing my Current Quilt Project.

Sections 2 and 3 are similar to each other; in fact, section 2 is a subset of section 3.  There are two of each section, with section 2 running horizontally and section 3 running vertically.  These two sections form the spines of the design – symmetrical anchors to counter-balance the movement of the whirling vines.

Now for some stats.  There are 35 individual patches in section 3, 19 of which also appear in section 2.  Some patches – 13 of them – have a left and right, so they repeat 4 times.  The remaining patches repeat 2 times, for a total of 44 patches in section 2 and 96 patches in section 3.  I incorrectly stated in the earlier post that section 1 contained 13 individual patches.  I had, in fact, counted the dark green patch at the bottom of sections 2 and 3.  Adding in the 61 total patches from section 1, these first three sections contain 201 appliquéd patches.  As for fabric, section 2 introduced 11 new fabrics and section 3 added two more, bringing the tally to 21 different fabrics used.

Sections 1, 2 and 3 were completed by August 2009 – approximately two months time.  I get a lot of handwork done in the summer while I am at the cottage!  But I’m getting better at keeping up a good pace at home too, especially since I invested in a floor-standing Ott Light.  I find that having this good light over my easy chair in the family room means that I can stitch at any time of the day or evening.  Next week, I’ll share the method I use to prepare my fabric patches for needle-turn appliqué.