Euroa Quilt Update

Remember this one? I barely did. In the last year and a bit I think I’ve made 3 little blocks, just 3. I need 100 for the whole quilt, so that doesn’t exactly amount to much progress. Full transparency: I started this quilt in 2016. Frankly, I just wasn’t in the mood. I had other things to play with (shiny object syndrome).

Lately, however, I’ve been wanting to sit in the quiet. Maybe some music, maybe a show, but mostly just sitting still. The season for slow stitching returns. I pulled this out of the closet, hung up what I have finished, and got excited to stitch again. Sure, I’ve always been sewing, but the desire for this English Paper Piecing was gone. After those two hand work projects of 2023 I wanted more of that slow stitch time.

Turns out I only need 26 blocks to finish this. That means I am 3/4 of the way through. That isn’t that much, really. I’ve never timed how long it takes me from start to finish on one block, but I would venture that it is a few hours. That includes picking the fabric and prepping the pieces, basting, then stitching the block together. After that there is stitching block to block to block to block (I use 4 to make a larger, mega block). Then I have to assemble rows. Finally, add rows to each other. It’s all done by hand. I would guess I have at least 120 hours of stitching in front of me. Now, if I could sit down every day for hours a day, well, it wouldn’t take that long! But this, like most of my quilt making, is a side project to life.

Actually, this kind of slow stitching is life. No, I don’t mean that I am living for it. More that it is a big part of me and what makes me whole, calm, and living creatively. So yeah, it’s time to come back to this.

August Morning Make 2021

August was set to be a busy month with a lot of motion. Camping and a vacation in between the reality of working and caring for kids. I started the month wanting something portable and to keep scratching the hand stitch itch. Committing to the Euroa quilt was an obvious choice.

From start to finish in the month I made 7 whole blocks. That might not sound like much but considering that, on average, I made 20 blocks per year for the past 3 years I think that is pretty good! This gets me to 70/100 in my goal for this quilt. I started the month cutting fabric and prepping to baste and piece the first block. I worked one or two blocks at a time, the same way I’ve been making the entire quilt. So some days I was prepping, some basting, some assembling. Some days I had an hour or more, some days only 20 minutes. But like always, I was doing my Morning Make before consuming anything - social media, caffeine, the news, or even hot water in the shower.

We had the opportunity to go camping a few times in August, once to the Jasper area and once to the Sheep River. It was about connections with family we haven’t seen and connections with the outdoors. I still started the day with Morning Make though! Then we could hike and kayak and and swim and wander the forest and laugh together. The best of all worlds, even with the dirt and outhouses. Later in the month we visited Waterton for more of the same, but we splurged on a hotel. This was to make up for a cancelled lake vacation because of forest fires. Still more family connections, kayak time, forest time, and sewing in a fancy lodge while tourists stared at me slightly less than the magnificent scenery!

Morning Make is often portable, unless I commit to a sewing machine project, so there is no excuse to miss it. Besides, while vacation is also good for my mental health, the daily creative practice of Morning Make is even more important.

Euroa Quilt Update - Passed the Halfway Mark

When I passed the halfway mark a few weeks ago I must admit that I had conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I was thrilled that I’d made it this far. On the other, I’d only made it this far?

My trip to Australia was nearly 4 years ago, and that is where the original inspiration for this quilt came from. The threshold to a cafe in a little town called Euroa. Turns out that tile was pretty common in Australia as I’ve heard from many people since that they or their grandparents had it in their house. I made the first block… let me check now… in April of 2017.

It took me almost 3 years to get halfway.

I do recall not touching the blocks when I had a bout of tennis elbow. That was months and months of no hand stitching (completely solved by getting a new pillow, by the way). Some weeks and months the work is constant in any down the or pool deck or outside the dance studio time. Then I may not touch a block for a few weeks.

So yeah, I may be a bit bummed that it’s taken almost 3 years to get this far, I can fully acknowledge and appreciate that life is life. Also, I am doing this entirely by hand. That’s a lot of work adding up to something glorious. Well, I think it’s glorious.

In the end, I have no doubt that this will be a special quilt. For the memories of the inspiration, gratefulness for the moments of making, gratitude for my hands and body being able to bring this together, and pure love for the beauty. If it takes me another 3 years to finish, then so be it.

All I know is that I wold love to go back to Euroa when it is done to take a picture in its inspirational namesake.

For those curious…

• Each block contains 16 pieces. I can print the templates on a piece of card stock. Indeed, I designed the templates so that they could be printed easily, that’s why each block is 8’’ square.

• I pick the fabric for each block in a way I would refer to as controlled random. I have a stack of fabric and try not to have the same fabric too close to itself. Otherwise, I am not too fussy about it.

• Each block gets prepped by cutting apart the template, picking the fabric, glueing the template to the fabric with a dab from a glue stick, then trimming excess fabric.

• Thread basting works best for me. It is the most portable, a must have option for me. Also, it’s a great way to use the bit of thread left on a bobbin or spool that would otherwise be wasted.

• Once I have all 16 pieces basted I stitch them together with a flat back stitch.

• 4 blocks together become a mega block. 5 mega blocks become a column. There will be 5 columns in the finished quilt.

Euroa Quilt Update

And done.

Not the quilt, just the second row. It seems I am on track for one row a year as I started this quilt a little over two years ago. I haven’t quite worked up the energy to assemble the two rows together. More accurately, I haven’t found the time to clear the dining room table to do so because that is the only place I can do it.

This whole thing is sewn together via the flat back stitch. I love it! Unlike a whip stitch, which most of us seem to use for EPP, the stitches totally disappear with the flat back stitch. On the small scale it is no less portable than the whip stitch. I always have my sketch book with me so I tape my pieces together on then get right to stitching. On the large scale though, like when I have a mega block together or am assembling a row like this, I need to go back to my old stand by - the dining room table.

In time for summer I should have the two rows together and the next batch of blocks ready for work. Slow and steady on this project. I will say that finishing this row is motivation. Yes it is only row two out of five, but seeing it all together is exciting! It reminds me that my work is indeed getting me somewhere. One block at a time it seems interminably slow, but I am drinking in the process. Camping, road trips, and the odd lazy afternoon are coming up, perfect for a little more assembly. Probably by the time I get the third row done it will be dandelion season again!