The Joy of Chain Piecing

At last, some chain piecing:  Over the past few weeks I have managed to work on traditional Log Cabin blocks: these have been made from the leftovers from my Washington Medallion block of the month, plus a few extra bits of blue, brown and cream from my stash.  The slightly tedious part was cutting all the 1 ½” strips to the right lengths for the logs, but as I had decided to be fairly random in my placement, even that became a challenge to see what different sizes I could squeeze out of the various scraps.

Then the fun started: I really do love to chain piece, sitting at the machine, just feeding in strips without too much thought required, and ending up with a delightful ‘bunting’ chain on the floor under the machine, ready to take to the ironing board.  Can anyone tell me why the pieces arrange themselves in a circle, and does the circle go the opposite way round the clock in the southern hemisphere, like water down the plughole?  Or is that another modern myth?

Anyway, in a few spare minutes here and there during the past month I have been able to piece and press 168 x 8” blocks (unfinished size) which I have joined to make a huge top (12 blocks by 14 the top measures 90” x 105”).  This will be great on a double bed and, when I have chosen a backing fabric, I am going to have it long arm quilted by my dear friend Susie Green as it is just too big for me to tackle.  It won’t quite be something for nothing by the time it is finished, but I have had the satisfaction of using my scraps - and the joy of chain piecing.