Ladies of the Sea

These are the beginning four blocks of a Sue Garman designed quilt called "Ladies of the Sea". There are a total of 16 sailing ship blocks and then borders all around to make a queen sized quilt. The entire quilt is done using applique techniques. It is supposed to all be done by hand but I discovered I have enough arthritis in my right hand that it became a rather painful process. When I was in the Navy we called that being "underway with no way on" - meaning 'adrift'. 

I began it months ago and got part way through the initial block and then it hung on my design wall forever. Every time I looked at it, it was a downer because I don't like leaving things in an unfinished state. So one day I decided to see what would happen if I would use the sewing machine to machine applique the blocks - it certainly could not be much worse that a whole lot of fabric that would be turned into a fabric stash. Voila - it looks OK; so now I am progressing on the quilt using the machine technique, and I actually believe I have a shot at completing the quilt. 

As you may be able to tell, the design is quite complex; each block has a historic sailing ship that is in the centerpiece. The quilt instruction also have a lot of interesting historical data on each ship, that I enjoy reading. This will be the only in-process blip you will see from me until the quilt is completed - so don't hold your breath, that will be some months away. But now I can confidently say I am underway!