Grassy Creek--Clues 5 & 6 post 4

Scrappy nine patches in the making

Clue number five contained three steps. In the first step, we made a bunch of nine patches. Bonnie's directions were to stitch strips and then sub cut the strips into segments. Next, we stitched the segments together. This is a fast way to stitch nine patches.

In looking through my "pre-cuts," I had more than enough of the orange squares as well as a bunch of the neutral and green squares so I pieced my nine patches after I laid out the squares.  The nine patches are scrappy. Having all the squares different, is my favorite part of Bonnie's patterns. I like that having one square of a fabric is fine to use. When so many different ones are used, finding that one of a kind is almost impossible! I also like how these fabrics bring a sparkle to the quilt top. She truly uses "it" all!

After the nine patches, the second step was to sew geese with neutral wings. I had cut extra wings in the previous step so I had a bunch of these already cut. It wasn't long until I was ready to start the third step which was cutting red segments. Again, my "pre-cuts" supplied a bunch! With days to spare, I was ready for clue number six!

Clue five complete

Clue six was lots of string piecing with the grey fabrics. I started stringing all the bits leftover from the previous steps first. This was a great project to stitch while I Zoomed with my Friday Sit and Sews. I felt like I had sewn all day. At the end of the day, I had pieced almost one sixth of the sections needed. 

The following morning in about an hour and a half, I pieced the same number of sections. I guess I had been talking way more than I had thought! I was concerned that I would run out of grey fabric before I finished!

String piecing the grey fabrics

Most of the grey fabrics, I purchased because this was not a color I had purchased in any quantity. I liked working with them and plan to keep a few in my stash. In the end, I had enough grey fabric.

For the final step of strings, we were to place a pair of neutral triangles on each end of the string strips. I removed the paper from one of the string strips and pieced the triangle. . .it wasn't easy. One the next string strip, I left the paper on and pieced the triangle. Leaving the paper in place made stitching the triangle much easier. 

Pulling the paper from behind that quarter inch seam was more time consuming; but, worth the trade off in how much easier and more consistent I was able to stitch the seam allowance on the triangles.

I also used the folded corners ruler to cut the angle on the ends of the strips. I used the essential triangle ruler to cut the triangles from a variety of neutral fabrics. I liked using the combination of tools. I like learning how to use a ruler in a different ways. 

With this project, I am learning what a valuable ruler that folded corners ruler is! By the end of last Friday, I had pieced all of the triangles to the grey strips. I had pieced a couple extra strips in case that I had a cutting error. . .which I did so I was happy for the extra strips!

Strings with triangles added

Last Friday, Bonnie released clue seven which was the reveal. I had mixed emotions with the reveal. There was the joy of being able to see what the end result looks like and the fun of seeing where all the parts created end up in the design. There was the let down that this was the last clue. I get excited about seeing what the next step is on Friday!

There are a lot of steps in clue seven. Easily, this clue could have been broken into three or even four weeks! It is going to take me some time to move through the steps and that is okay. This is not a race! I like how this quilt has a masculine and modern vibe. I look forward to finishing it.

I'm linking to Oh Scrap and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Regarding COVID:

Worldwide: 89.6M cases; 1.93M deaths

United States: 22.2M cases; 372K deaths

Oregon: 124K cases; 1,607 deaths

The number of cases and deaths continue to rise worldwide. 

In Oregon, the number of vaccinations being delivered is lower than was originally projected. Teachers are in the 1b group (after healthcare workers) to receive the vaccine. A 27 member committee will determine who will be next to receive the vaccine.