I have been having quilter's angst lately. After my magnum opus (Baltimore Album), no matter what I tried just seemed wrong. Either the colors were dull and boring or the plan needed too much tweaking or something. I did finish two quilts in the few months since I finished the Album but one was from more than 20 years ago and the other (for which I have no photos) just didn't please me. Perhaps it was the unrelenting winter weather but everything seemed flat and boring.
Yesterday I sat down to make a quilt that I have liked for quite a while but never attempted. Despite looking simple, the Wheel of Fortune variation of Grandmother's Fan is fairly complicated. Like all pieced quilts it depends on very precise cutting and sewing results but those are not as easy to achieve as one might think. I didn't want to purchase the blade cutting ruler that is on the market--I already have more rulers than any reasonable person should, including several that are either set at odd degrees (the 9 degree ruler) or have a screw that allows for different degree settings from the standard. So I traced the blade pattern on to freezer paper and then welded several layers of freezer paper together with my iron. Once I had a stack that seemed thick enough to act as a rotary blade guide, I cut out my stacked sheets. I have only made the fan section of one block so far but it seems to be working out. I will probably have to make another template as the freezer paper will get worn but my fingers are crossed right now.
What I like about the pattern is the interplay of all the different fabrics with no two blocks being the same even though they all follow the same design.
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