Posted on by agilejack

Plugging Along and Then Wham!

After dinner I hit my sewing room to sew the blocks and rows together and get this table topper moving along. Because there are only 16 blocks, it went together in no time.

I didn’t get a photo of the blocks all sewn together, but you get a glimpse of it in this photo.

Ernie would like you to know that he thinks sewing is very boring.

Once I got that done I needed to figure out how to cut this into the shape I need. I messaged my friend Karin last night, an accomplished quilter and someone who has strong math skills. This liberal arts major can always use a little help with mathematical calculations. So I asked her if she could help me figure out how to cut my square into a hexagon.

In her quilting and mathematical brilliance, she gently pointed out that the geometric shape that I was hoping to replicate was actually an OCTAGON. This is a critical piece of information that, without, my project would have been a catastrophe.

Once I had been gently edified by Karin, I hit the inter webs and found this quick and easy video tutorial on calculating how to cut a square into an octagon.

I watched this again tonight and measured my piece and decided on my measurements based on the size of my square. Then I marked my piece with tailors chalk in preparation for cutting off the corners of the square.

After taking some verifying measurements, I made my first cut.

(take a guess where that left over triangle will be used!)

Now I was really committed. But since I had verified my measurements, I knew that I was heading in the right direction and in a few minutes I had confidently created a lovely octagon.

Since this all went together so quickly I decided to cut my border fabric and get it sewn on. I didn’t have a ton of the border fabric but I hoped that if I was efficient I would have enough for the border.

Nope.

I have enough to finish probably six of the eight sides. So I stopped. Wham. I didn’t want to finish sewing on the limited border pieces I had because there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to find that fabric quickly and would have to resort to something else in order to have this piece done in time to gift it on Christmas Day.

I am happy to see that I was right that the darker fabric would darken up this piece. It’s exactly what I was hoping for.

Here’s a closer look at those borders.

They’re really easy to put on. You just sew your border on one side of the octagon, and then trim the border off even with the angle of the sides of the octagon on either side of the border. Then you sew the next piece onto one cut edge of the border you just put on and across the next side of the octagon.

Then you just keep going all the way around the octagon. Easy peasy.

So, now my task was to see if I could find more of that fabric at my local quilt store. If not, I was prepared to pay to have a piece overnighted by one of my favorite online fabric shops.

LOCAL QUILT SHOP SUCCESS!!!

I’m hosting pickleball for my club tomorrow morning and that puts me closer to that quilting store, so I think I’ll hit that store on my way home and then I can get cracking on this table topper tomorrow night.

I decided how I’m going to quilt this piece, so once I get the borders on I’ll get the quilt sandwich made and then start quilting. I’m going to do diagonal lines through each 2 inch square. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to do straight lines or wavy lines. I’m thinking I might do wavy lines, but I don’t have to decide now. And now I think I might do straight lines.

Bender, Rico and Ernie were terribly disappointed in me this morning as it was after ten o’clock when I got a break in my morning so I could give them breakfast.

Ernie’s owner told me he usually eats breakfast at 5 am!!! So this was five hours overdue for him. My boys are more accustomed to varied meal times. It’s not unheard of for me to completely forget a meal every now and then. They usually let me know, but they are somewhat patient with a late breakfast.

Tomorrow will be my last day of work before the weekend. I made an appointment for Bender’s annual check up with his neurologist on Friday and just decided to take the entire day off. If you don’t know, Bender is epileptic. We have really good luck controlling his seizures with medication. He had a five year stretch with no seizures, then two years ago he had four seizures. After adjusting his medications, he’s almost up to another two years without another seizure. We are very lucky in this. Some border collies can be very difficult in seizure control.

I need to be sure that he’s up to date on his annual check up so that if something happens, they can make changes to his meds, and so they can give me refills. If he’s not up to date on his annual exam, it’s not legal for them to prescribe drugs.

I’m going to have some friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve and am going to completely replicate the meal I made last year… it was so good! You can see this blog post from last year to see my menu and find links to my recipes.

On Christmas Day I’ll join friends for dinner. I’m going to try to find a pickleball game in the morning.

Happy holidays to everyone! Thanks for being with me over the last year.

52 Replies to “Plugging Along and Then Wham!”

  1. Good morning Anne and warmest greetings from the Uk.
    Your octagonal quilt looks really peachy and I love how the dark border completes it. A beautiful gift.
    Thank you for all the inspirational blog posts, the tutorials and the links to helpful quilting sites. I’m so glad I found you!
    Wishing you and your readers love, peace and joy this Christmas and throughout 2024. 🎄🎄🎄

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  2. Merry Christmas, Anne! Thanks for a year of inspiring posts! Pickleball has not really caught on in Norway, or not up in our rural area anyway, but I have lots of friends in the US who love the game. You obviously love it. I especially love the doggie pictures!

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  3. Thank you Anna for the maths lesson, it will come in handy whick I will definitely have a go at.
    I wish you and the boys a very happy Christmas and a good sewing new year. X
    I get so much pleasure out of your posts and can’t wait to see what you’ll make through the new year.
    Kathleen England

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  5. I’m fairly new to your blog and enjoying your posts about quilting, pickle ball and pups! Wishing you all a healthy 2024 and a quiet Merry Christmas!

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  7. Hi! I am fairly new to following your blog nd I’m enjoying it. Love the variety of quilting, pickle ball and pups! I had no idea that dogs could have epilepsy, oh my! All the best to you in 2024 and have a quiet, enjoyable Christmas! 👍🏻🎄🙂

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  9. Good Morning Anne from Indiana! Thanks for all of your wonderful “reads”. Love seeing your furbabies and Ernie when he visits. Thanks for the inspiration you give us all through the year and the wonderful projects you share with us! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to you and yours! See you next year!

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  10. Happy Holidays Anne! It is a joy indeed when you can find that last bit of needed fabric at a local quilt store! Your lovely tabletopper has inspired me to think about a quilt made of huge hexagons (or octagons! Jeepers we quilters are so used to reading about hexies we forget about the octies…). Anyway picture a quilt made up of multiples of your tabletopper idea! Glad Bender is well, and have fun at the pickleball court : ) BTW Ernie must have been a tailor in a previous life!

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  12. Merry Christmas Anne!

    Thank you for writing and inspiring me through your own projects. Love the pups too and your pickleball enthusiasm.

    Peace,
    Nancy
    NW WA

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  13. Happy Holidays to you too! Thank you for taking us along on your life’s journey. Your posts always calm my soul. Here’s to a Happy and Healthy 2024!

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  14. Happy Christmas, Anne! Glad Bender’s seizures are well controlled with the meds. My kitty is epileptic and takes two compounded meds twice a day. Those seizures are really frightening to helplessly watch. The table topper looks grand! Cheers!

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  16. The octagon is great and the border lesson is excellent. For what it’s worth, I think straight quilting will highlight the geometric perfection of the piece!

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  21. Had my birthday/ Christmas family get together on Dec21 and I hope yours is as enjoyable as mine was. ABSOLUTELY love you octagon table topper- hope to make one for myself. Its been great having you as an new e-friend. Hope our relationship will blossom further across 2014. Have a great Christmas and well earned break

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  22. Read all 3 of your posts(emails). Really nice idea about how to measure for hexi/octagon. I saved that for future use. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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  23. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your boys Anne.
    Thanks for the great blogs – fun, smiles and plenty of wonderful information – you’re a great source of inspiration always x

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  25. I absolutely LOVE your fabric choices for the table topper – that is gorgeous! I also love all of the photos of your boys. I am hoping to adopt a Tuxedo cat today if everything works out. I had to put down my Tuxedo cat, Jingles, about 7 months ago. After 14 years together I was heartbroken, but now I think I am ready for another pet. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

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    1. So sorry to hear you lost your beloved cat. it’s so sad that our dear animals have such short lives. I’m glad you’re welcoming a new animal into your house.

      Thanks for reading!

      Anne

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  27. Merry Christmas Anne,
    Hope 2024 is filled with peace and unexpected kindnesses. You have given me smiles, chuckles and out-and-out joy this year. Thank you for sharing yourself and your magnificent creations. Hugs for the boys!
    Kate

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  28. Just wanted to wish you & the boys a Happy Holiday. Thank you for sharing your life with all of us who follow. It mostly brings a smile but that’s what we need a connection to a smile once in awhile.

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