Burgoyne Surrounded quilt progress
Update: First block completed. I’ve been dying to use the hand tied antique quilt in a photo. More on that another day.
Burgoyne Surrounded quilt progress: its coming along nicely.
Ok so aside from my background mess and the fact that dirty fabric makes for dirty ironing board covers (my cover was new and clean when I started piecing this) I think it’s looking pretty good. The shadowing of the seams is not attractive but will hopefully blend better after its quilted.  The blocks will 
finish at 16″ with a 9 patch in the center. The photo to your left shows 8 separate sections butted against one another. There’s still some squaring up to do and piece nine 9 patch blocks before I can assemble them.
Next will come the sashing. They will assemble much quicker than the main blocks because there aren’t as many large or small pieces. I am getting so excited and happy with my progress. It’s safe to say the starch made a huge difference and without it I would have thrown up my hands and walked away.
Normally I wont do a repeat quilt. The challenge has been so great and I love the time consumed. A repeat may be in order in different colors.   This quilt required me to stay on my toes and think about nothing else but this quilt.
Most times when I am piecing (or paper piecing) a top my mind is wondering on to the next quilt design. That means I am getting bored and need wrap it up.  Other times the who, what and why factor takes over. Answering these are very time consuming. Do you remember my Wind Rose quilt, how about the quilt covered in flying geese that I adapted from a mosaic floor?
The Wind Rose took me to the sea and exploration in 1492 AD. How difficult life must have been on the open water and the unknowns of exploring uncharted territories. Do you ever lose your sense of direction in unfamiliar areas? Imagine being in the open ocean with no landmarks to guide you home.  Seriously, how did the Wind Rose chart survive over 500 years?
The Mosaic quilt took me to Roman times. The struggle of cutting stone without modern tools was real. I mean, we are playing with fabric that cuts easily and doesn’t cut back.  Were they skilled craftsman who were paid well for their work or were they slaves? For me either scenario would have been a struggle. And how these items survived to tell their stories centuries later. See…you don’t need a book to take you to far off lands. A little history of what you are working on can go a long way with a little imagination. Just check the stresses of life at the sewing room door. Its guaranteed to be there waiting for you when you exit.
See what others are working on:
Clour inspiration Tuesday and Linky party
To do Tuesday and dont forget to wish her a happy bday while you are thereÂ
It’s interesting isn’t it, where the mind goes as you are quilting? Great progress on a lovely quilt. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss. Remember that we are linking up on Thursday this week.
Thank you for the reminder,
Thank goodness for starch! Those tiny pieces are mental! You are so precise, this is going to look amazing. Thanks for sharing at Clever Chameleon. I am so looking forward to seeing the blocks all squared and joined together.
Thank you Dione
Wow, this quilt block is impressive! I love the look of it!
Thank you, I’m really happy with it so far. Thank you for the linky party.
This is going to be a STUNNING quilt! Just the piecing amazes me!! TINY! I’ve not been quilting too long but I’ve had a few of those “need to finish or else” quilts! The 1930’s Farmer’s Wife was one. 99 blocks to make the complete book for a queen size….ended up being 67 blocks and a twin size. LOL I love your stories of your quilts. Glad I found your blog!
Thank you for visiting. I’ve looked but never attempted a farmers wife and I can relate so well. The Burgoyne was going to be a 16 block quilt. After wadding fabric for the trash to start over I decided 9 blocks were enough. Or should I say 81 blocks?
It looks lovely, in spite of some trying times for you.
The struggles are almost over. A few blocks left to square and then I can begin joining everything. Thank you for stopping by.
This quilt is going to be amazing! Thank you for linking up at TGIFF!
Thank you for the linky party.
That is really nice – such an interesting design to look at.
Thank you Susan
Love the high contrast of this block. Don’t sweat the seam show through. Light fabrics do that, but once a batting and backing is behind, the do fade.
Fingers crossed. This is the first time I’ve had seams butt against one another like this.
Oh my gosh for a small quilt this is heavy and the seams did disappear once laundered. The is such a funny little quilt. When you hold it in your hands to fold it in half, the way it moves is like a snake slithering.
I am loving how your quilt is turning out!
Thank you, and thanks for stopping by
Wow, I saw Burgoyne Surrounded for the first time today on another site (as a pattern, not a quilt) while looking for something else. Then I saw the pattern somewhere else. And then, to see you working on an actual quilt – it gave me the shivers! I love it! I’ve added your blog to my rss feed so I can see its progress! 🙂
Really? Here I struggled to find even one pattern and gave up and drew my own. None of the finished quilts I found had the graduating Irish chain blocks or the football shapes. But one photo of a finished quilt that following the same layout as all the rest had a shadow on it. Perhaps from the arm taking the photo I don’t know. The shadow made the circle look like a football shape in one section so I shaded a bottom arch on the block and loved it. Gotta make ’em your own. Thank you for stopping by. More photos to come soon.
This quilt looks to be fabulous and 3D even. I will enjoy watching it progress.
I’m really getting excited because the 3d effect is coming together as planned. Thank you for stopping by.
Your quilt is coming along great. I sometimes try to tell a story in my quilts. Color choices and patterns usually represent something. Just in my mind though. I’m taking a small break from Nostalgia. I’ll be back on it shortly. I just need to do a couple catch up things and be ready for my block swap. I signed up for too many things at my local quilt shop this year.
So you “get it”? I’m just the one trying to figure out that story or what may have been on your mind, per se. Hmm, wonder if my son and his future family would come close to what I was thinking about while making any of my quilts. LOL