The Joy Post: Edition 004

As suspected, my Meadowland quilt has taken a back seat to Caroline's Granny Patch quilt. I took a sewing break to fully enjoy Caroline's Spring Break and Easter but jumped back in this week. Originally, I'd coached myself to only prep the Granny fabrics while my brain attempted to work out my color dilemmas with Meadowland. Finish before beginning again. 

As every quilter knows, I wasn't kidding anyone.

This precious mockup taunted me from my computer screen. Look how cute I am. Drop everything now and sew up the Mac and Cheese fabric.

I starched and pressed over 12 yards of fabric for the top alone. Normally, I'm not a fervent starcher but after binge listening to the Inappropriate Quilters podcast with @leslie_quilts and @doughnutwarrior, my brain couldn't let go of the idea to starch, starch, starch. 

For this project, I used two bottles of Best Press that I had on hand but am very interested in trying other DIY methods as well (read: more economical methods). Feel free to send any make your own recipes my way. I've previously used aerosol spray starches but those left an awful residue on my iron and fabrics. Side eye.

Friends, my meticulously prepared fabrics cut SO WELL. My rotary cutter glided through like Olympic skates on ice. Before I knew it, all 500+ pieces were cut and I was sewing strip sets that were an eighth of an inch too short.

I tend to say that there isn't a more humbling quilting moment than row piecing but your girl was over confident in her manual scant 1/4 inch abilities. Since my first go was only an eighth too short, I thought it a wise idea to keep going. The next set was three eighths of an inch too short. "Just eyeball it," she said.

I threw that second set across the room in a redheaded hissy fit and decided to scrub my bathtub instead. Do you also rage clean? For me, a sponge and cleaner combo constitutes some sort of grown up serotonin. That can't be normal, can it?

Later that night, I sat back down with Penny (Janome Memory Craft 6700p) and a cool head to work through my scant settings. I'd perfected my scant on my previous machine but I hadn't awarded Penny the opportunity. The first step was to remove my beloved HP foot and plate (tear, sniffle) and replace with the zig zag plate and O foot. After cruising through some scrap fabric and various needle placements, I arrived at the below setting. Perfecto!

I will add that the needle position is the farthest that it will move to the right. So, as you can imagine, a last prayer - answered! If you sew on a Janome 6700p, save this information! It's Jordan-hissy-fit approved! You can even save this as a "favorite" stitch; those instructions are included in your manual.

Side note: I used Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton (pressed to the dark), Aurifil 50 wt thread, and a Schmetz Microtex 90/14 needle to achieve this perfection.

Now that my scant is scanting, I have pieced my first block and will share more progress in the next edition.

Before I go, here's a quick update of the lettuce and spinach seedlings. We had a few frost warning nights so they had to go back under cover. Side eye, take two. I'm hoping we're past that nonsense and I can start planting my heat-loving tomato and cucumber babies. I did make the decision not to plant any squash or zucchini this year. Frankly, I don't feel like fighting squash bugs and vine borers. I'm surrounded by fantastic produce stands that I can frequent if the urge hits to fry up a squash supper. 

Jury's out on the rest of my summer crop selections. The only plan I've made is to plant more of what we truly eat and to harness more energy into my neglected flower beds. Until next time, get your scant on!

TTFN,