Long Time Gone - Gone, for now

So my original goal was to work on my Long Time Gone project a little bit at a time.  Maybe a block a week, a section a month, something along those lines.  But once I got started I figured out that this wasn't really the type of project I could easily work on every now and then.  A lot of the blocks need strips and squares that are not efficient to just cut for one block at a time.  So once I got started and was on a roll I figured I would break this project down into 3 projects.  The projects  consist of two piecing projects and one assembly project.  The first piecing project is done.  Here are all  the blocks for Sections 1 - 4.

Section 1

 Sections 1 and 2

Sections 1, 2 and  3

and Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4

I enjoyed piecing every block, a couple of blocks were first timers for me, like the Trip Around the World block and the Crosses of UK blocks.  I changed up the Jacobs Ladder blocks but other than that it's pretty much just like the pattern.

I've now packed everything up into a couple of projects boxes and plan to finish piecing Sections 5 and 6 this summer.  Then I'll assemble it all this fall, easily making my Year of Thelma deadline.

And speaking of The Year of Thelma, are you still planning to join my Miss Rosie Quilt Co sew along?  I happened to notice that I am getting very close to Lifetime Quilt Number 200, and thought my Due South sew along quilt would be a perfect 200th quilt, so I'm going to finish a couple projects before I start my Due South, but don't let that stop you from starting, and be sure to send me your progress updates.

So next up is this project, which has been on my To Do List for over a year.  A perfect project for spring I think.

The pattern Dash is by Heather Jones and available here.

I'm thinking these nice prints by V and Co for Moda would look great in that pattern and fit my need to work with spring colors.  Since spring visited us shortly in February but has now disappeared I guess I need to get my spring fix inside instead of outside.

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Long Time Gone Start

I was initially suffering from a case of analysis paralysis on my Long Time Gone project.  Once I decided to go with my Cotton + Steel fabric I thought how best to proceed would get easier, it did not.

I just kept trying to figure out what was the best way to start.

So I finally jumped in and started with these 3 inch Churn Dash blocks from Section 2.

I enjoyed piecing them and all I needed to do was pick 9 different pieces of fabric from my Cotton and Steel stash. That I could manage.

Then I moved on to these Flying Gees blocks, which only required 3 different pieces of fabric.

This block is also for Section 2.

This is a very scrappy project, and initially I thought I could cut extra strips and squares from the fabric that I was using as I went along, but I've now figured out that I need a lot of strips and squares for the checkerboard blocks, the courthouse steps blocks, pineapple blocks, log cabin blocks and the over 150 required half square triangle units.

So I picked out my 60 favorite fat quarters and just started cutting strips and squares.  It's been slow going, but they're all cut up now, so hopefully things will start to move along at a quicker pace.

As I was picking out my favorite fat quarters I ran across this dot print, which was a panel with 6 different dot prints, and thought it would make a great Bow Tie Block, for Section 3, because I think bowties should be polkadot.  The dots matching up, just a happy coincidence.

So my plan is to piece all the blocks for Sections 1 and 2, then move on to a new project, but I've already jumped ahead to Setcion 3.  Maybe I'll just designate next week Long Time Gone week then put it up until April.  Stay tuned for updates.

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