The State of the Bessie

 

It's been a while since we talked about Bessie. That doesn't mean that she and I have been avoiding each other!

I've completed all but four of the block sets and have been kind of "stuck" while I ponder the challenges that remain.

Plus I've had some doubts about the red-and-white check nine-patch blocks. It may be that the red is too intense. I won't know for sure until I have everything else done.

To help me figure all of this out, I did two things. First, I laid out the upper left quarter of the quilt from the blocks I've made, using plain white squares as place holders for the blocks that I'm struggling with.  The plain whites are misleading; those blocks for real are full of color. Second, I consulted with Joe, Polly, and Julie to see what they thought. It turned out that Julie and Joe focused on color and Polly on shapes, so I got lots of input. 

I'm going to share that quarter-of-a-quilt here, and at the end of this post I'll post a big picture of Bessie so that anyone who is that interested can compare.

You'll notice that the double-bordered squares are simple double-borders, not the mitered corners with busy borders that Bessie herself calls for. My preference.

The blocks in the upper left and lower right corners are the same block. They are hard to see in the Bessie photo, but trust me when I tell you that they are doozies. I dutifully cut pieces -- tiny pieces -- and sewed little seams and they got to a place where I was going to have to somehow do Y-seam insets of small bits shaped like a generous slice of pie and then the whole round thing was going to be set into a pieced frame. Sure. At this point, I don't know what is going to replace those doozies. I'll need five of them.

Moving from that upper left corner down, you'll see some dear little shapes surrounded by the thinest of circle frames. Polly believes (as does Susan who somehow got into the conversation yesterday) that I shouldn't abandon that thin circle frame; Susan has offered to lend me some silk thread to possibly make  the appliqué process tolerable. As to the centers of those circles, the jury is still out. Whatever happens, I'll need a dozen of 'em.

The five diagonal blocks above the "fingers" will be replaced by hexi-flowers; I don't particularly enjoy making these, but they are very portable and I'll work on them during summer getaways. Here's the first one: 

Finally, the six empty spaces below the "fingers" call for lovely pale X shapes that are reverse appliquéd onto a darker fabric that's been sewn to the pale background. I've never done a single reverse appliqué and the thought of two dozen of them just makes me not want to get up in the morning.

So, that's where we are, Bessie-wise, at this point. Considering trying the impossible challenges vs. substituting other blocks. Stay tuned.