The Monster on top of the Wardrobe!

I was looking through some old photos

and found these pictures taken about 16(?) years ago

of my Mom's Monster quilt laid out in our old back garden.

I think at this point

the sheer size of it must have overwhelmed her

because she just packed it away again...

Such a lot of handwork

as it's been English Paper-pieced...

A friend who was visiting at the time,

was very keen for her to finish it

and he helped her lay it out...

But she never did.

A few years back, I made a stab at finishing it.

But I never did.

It's in a box above the wardrobe 

waiting for inspiration/enthusiasm and determination to strike.

But it hasn't. Yet.

A Sense of Scale

Firstly, Thank You to everyone who offered suggestions

on my previous post about the 'Mill-Stone Monster Quilt'.

Secondly, I thought I should actually take some photos of it

to show the scale of it:

This is me trying to hold up half of it:

This is an eighth!:

This is the half section again (heavy arms!!!):

After much thought and heeding lots of the aforementioned advice,

I have decided to take this out of the box:

And put this in the box:

I have enough of my own UFO's

that would actually make me happier to finish!

Mom doesn't care about the quilt

and although I would love to finish it for her,

she doesn't even want it for her spare room.

One of her suggestions included: "throw it in the bin" which is very sad.

One day, when I have more time and more of a plan I'll open the box,

 dust it off and give it another go...

In the meantime, my Carolina Lily's are calling my name....

So let's see if I can get those border vines and berries on!

Help Wanted!

I am at a loss as to what to do wth the 'Monster'!

I was supposed to be resting today, but with the sun shining at last

and resting being the most boring thing to do on a sunny day...

I got up and snuck into the garden to photograph the Monster Quilt.

DH caught me and so came over to help me.

It is currently in 5 sections.
4 quarters have been sewn together and then there are 4 loose quarters.
As we were laying it out he whispered:

'I don't really like it.'

The thing is doing anything with it is going to be a lot of work

and I don't really like it either....

But I sort of feel duty-bound to fix/finish it...

I was thinking of taking it back in to be a proper Lone Star,

which would involve a LOT of 'reverse sewing' (unpicking) which I hate hate hate!

I'm also concerned that the seams are fragile after 20 years

and because the papers have been removed it may prove difficult

to get the setting squares in or applique the edges to a background...

On the plus side, the wedges that would come out could be used for a smaller quilt...

(2 monsters from one LOL) 

The initial idea of squaring it up with green would just make it bigger and bigger

and I don't know if they even make beds as big as this quilt top already is!!!

There's nothing like getting a skeleton OUT of your closet!
But I don't think DH will want it on the bed LOL

Any suggestions/advice gratefully received!

Not Ready to Tackle a Monster Yet!

First, I need to categorically state that this is:

my Mother's English Paper-pieced UFO from the 1980's.

The Autumnal colour scheme is definitely not one of my choosing at all,

and the design has just spiralled out of control! ;o)

I assumed it was a Lone Star, but actually it's not star shaped at all

apart from the centre 8 diamonds....

(With the miserable weather I have not been able to lay it out

in its entirity (all 8 sections) on the grass for a photo)

.

It should have been brought back in (in my opinion),

but it extends to infinity (do I sound overwhelmed here!? LOL)

A few years back Mom bought a whole lot of green fabrics

to tie the 'star' back to the centre

and for me to square it off, but I am not sure that that's going to be possible

with the sheer size of the project...

Unfortunately, most of the papers have been removed

to make it lighter for travel

so getting it star shaped again could be tricky.

Plus I'm also thinking 'Is it a waste to unpick all this work?'

and should I maybe just square it off with a rotary cutter (Heaven Forbid?!?)

In the meantime, my sewing room looks like a dump

and I am unable to get in to sew

- the big tidy up for Mother's visit saw all sewing related clobber,

from around the house, dumped in the sewing room, making access

and movement limited :o(

The cat still likes her spot though!!:

The Monster has arrived!

My Mother has arrived safely from Cape Town to stay with us

while we await baby and hopefully for a few weeks after baby's arrival.

With her came 'the Monster'!:

An English-Paper-Pieced Lone Star that she worked on years ago.

A few years back I made a start on trying to finish this quilt top for her, but also didn't get very far...

I suggested Mom bring it over this year and we make another attempt at getting it completed.

As the weather has turned and it's rainy outside (and I have been instructed to rest)

I decided to just take a quick sneak pic of it.

More to follow when I lay it out and get my head around working on it again....

**********

Yesterday, we celebrated the boy's birthdays at a Farm party.

It was great fun and the unseasonally 27 degree centigrade weather was not wasted

on all the families that attended.

What bliss being able to sit out in the sun!

On the way home we passed our kindly neighbour

who had rescued a poorly hedgehog.

He and his wife are great animal lovers and have a veritable animal rescue centre at their house

so here's to a speedy recovery little hedgehog!!!