The problem with puttering

I putter. I start this, get distracted, start that, take a quick break, see something else that needs doing, and so on and so on. This happens around the house all the time. Yesterday, I got a lot done - weeding, mulching, purging clothes we don't wear/fit anymore, purging kitchen items to get rid of, sweeping - but I didn't FINISH anything.

The same is true in the sewing room, but for the month of June, I am committed to finishing some things. I've joined up with Rubyslipperz (see the button on my sidebar?) to get some things done in June. Each finish gives me another chance to win her giveaway, but even if I don't win, at least I'll have accomplished something. I hope to:

finish the ELLA quilt for my high school friend

get caught up on the Birdie BOM - I still haven't done May or June

put a sleeve on my Great Great Grandmother's quilt - this is my entry for the quilt show at the county fair this July and it needs a sleeve

and make a couple covered dish/casserole carriers for some friends from a pattern I found in a magazine.

Last night, I actually did finish the quilting items on my to-do list for the weekend. The first was to finish the April Birdie BOM - this one is one of my favorite blocks so far, so simple. I left off the Easter eggs that were sprinkled around on the block to simplify things:

The second item on the weekend to-do list was to sandwich the Pick and Choose quilt that I sold at the Old Middlebrook Village Day last month which needs to be hand quilted this summer. I've been looking forward to the quilting, but I can't stand basting! And ironing all of the backing was misery, even with my BIG ironing board. But, it is done and in a hoop and ready for me to put some stitches in every day (that's the plan, anyway):

Of course, first, I need to come up with a plan for my quilting...

Fighting through the inertia

Do you ever WANT to quilt, but you just can't muster up the energy and enthusiasm? That has been me lately. But this weekend, I decided to fight through it and CREATE. It helps that I was home during daylight hours - I feel much more creative when it is light outside.

I started by cleaning up my sewing room a bit. I had two big quilting frames set up, but wasn't using either one except for storage, so I dismantled one, freeing up more space. I rearranged my sewing table and my ironing board so there is more natural light on my workspace. And then I started with something quick and easy - a new pillow for my dog using some super thick batting and some home dec weight fabric that was gifted to me. So far, he hasn't eaten it. Instead, he has parked himself on there, and my husband says he has to physically drag him off the pillow in the morning when he wants him to go outside. I love a gift that is loved, even if it is by a dog!

(that blue and orange thing is another gift that he loved - a duck that has been decapitated and had the stuffing eaten out of him, but the dog absolutely LOVES it!)

Then I finished up the last of the scrappy log cabin blocks. As it now stands, the quilt will be about 64" square, not quite as big as I'd like it, but I don't have enough of the center fabric to make enough blocks to make it larger on all sides. Perhaps a thin-ish border and then a piano key border of scraps? Or, there's enough for one more row of blocks, so perhaps a border and then a "pillow row" of blocks? (I don't know the actual term when you have a row of blocks that is meant to lay over the pillows...is there an actual term for that?) Any other ideas out there for making this big enough to cover a twin bed?


While working on those blocks, I made some more free pieced letters as my leader and ender project. I'm not really loving the S, so we'll see if that stays or goes. I have some ideas about how to pull it all together...


And when it is dark outside, I'd rather be curled up in bed or on the couch than in my sewing room. So on Saturday night, I turned on the TV (gasp! yes, I turned on the TV. I remembered how it worked! It has truly been a while since I've watched the boob tube.) and finished up the last few stitches in my mother's Christmas quilt (yup, gave it to her for Christmas and then took it back because I wasn't done) while watching PRETTY WOMAN.




(Another aside, does anyone else just inexplicably LOVE that movie? I could watch it a hundred times and not tire of it, but I'm not quite sure why. Well, I know Richard Gere is definitely part of the reason. I remember the first two movies I ever saw on VCR back when our family first discovered VCRs in the 80s - The Neverending Story and The Cotton Club. Richard Gere was a horn player in The Cotton Club and my adolescent self fell in love with him. That adolescent self still lives on in me.)

So, anyway, the quilt is done, and I hope to give it back to my mom this weekend when I hope to go visit her. (Are you reading this, Mom? If so, can I come visit on Saturday? I'll call you.)

And then, finally, last night I decided to watch the Netflix movie that has been sitting on my counter since just before Christmas (NOT joking!). DUMMY. Not me, that's the name of the movie. I don't remember picking it out, and when it arrived, I just wasn't moved to watch it. But I popped it in last night and started the Birdie Stitches BOM that I've been wanting to do.

Hmmm...just went looking for that link and found a flicker photo stream and it seems everyone else's snowmen are white. Certainly he didn't HAVE to be white, did he? I'm just gonna say mine was so cold he turned blue. And now looking at the directions, apparently I was supposed to do a back stitch. I don't even know what a back stitch is. I did stem stitch, because that is all I know so far. I hope there aren't embroidery police out there! Anyway, I enjoyed the movie much more since I was stitching. Otherwise, I don't think it is one I would have sat through until the end.

So, I feel like I'm back in the saddle again, which is good because I need to get the Cub Scout quilt's final border on and sandwich it so we can practice our knots on Monday as we tie the quilt. And truly, I'd like to give Donald his Boys Will Be Boys quilt before winter is over - that needs sandwiching and quilting. And in case you were wondering, he's been good at school two days in a row and today at homework time, HE initiated, pulled everything out of his backpack and called me over to get started and did everything with enthusiasm and a good attitude. I'll be putting Donald's photo on a milk carton because OBVIOUSLY this wasn't my kid who came home with me today, but a good-natured, homework-loving look-alike imposter. But seriously, I was so proud of him and told him how I actually enjoyed doing homework with him today. It may not last forever, but I'll bask in it as long as it does!

Sleepovers are fun!!!

After karate testing yesterday (at which both Jason and I broke boards with our hands - woo hoo!!!), Jason's best friend and his two younger sisters came over for a sleepover. What parents wouldn't want 24 hours with no kids around this time of year, right? Besides, their mom is my co-den leader for cub scouts (although make no mistake, SHE does all the work!), and this is the least I can do for her after all she's done for us. In addition, crazy as it seems, the more kids there are in my house, the more time I have for myself!

So, they went sledding outside (perfect - these photos were taken from the door of my sewing room - I could keep an eye on them while I sewed),

and I sewed binding strips together.

They did karaoke and then a rock band (yeah, I STILL haven't finished painting my basement. I would much rather sew.),

and I sewed binding strips together.

They played air hockey,

and I sewed binding strips together.

They watched Frosty the Snowman,

and I sewed binding strips together.

I helped them make Christmas presents for their mother from my stash of pre-cut 2" and 3.5" squares (my kids made presents for their teachers),

while I sewed binding strips together.

They played Charades,

and I played, too, so the teams would be even, 3 boys against 3 girls. They beat us last night, but we had a re-match this morning and soundly whipped their gloating boy tails!

So, when their dad came to pick them up 24 hours later, my boys were worn out and ready to just sit quietly with popcorn and a movie, and I have enough binding to sew onto my brother's quilt. In fact, I have enough scrappy binding to sew onto his quilt 2 and a half times!!!

I guess I got carried away! Oh well, I am prepared for the next quilt that needs a scrappy binding.

Now, it is off to find something fun and Christmasy on TV to watch while I work on quilting my GGG quilt and sew down the back of the binding on Curtis's quilt. Happy Sunday, everyone!

A day off?

Since we've been working so hard this fall, my gem of a boss gave us all an extra day off to use whenever we wanted during this holiday season. I decided to use mine yesterday.

Oh, the plans I had for myself! And then it snowed. And they closed the schools. So I went from having a blissfully silent day all to myself to having a day with a house full of snow-crazy kids. Oh well. You know what Woodie Allen said, "You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."

I did get some stuff done.

• I spent an hour hand quilting my GGG quilt. Still lots of stitching to do before that one is done. Can we slow the clock down just a bit before Christmas gets here?


• I started collecting pre-cut 2" strips to sew together as binding for my String Quilt. (see comment above regarding the time left before Christmas)


• I started customizing some long-sleeved onesies for the babies I know. These cute little panels were in a box of scraps I received from Becky (I think it was Becky...) a while ago, and I thought they were perfect. So, they are fused onto the onesies, and now I'm going to go around them with a blanket stitch by hand.
  
  
  (my favorite - I'm so country...)
  
• I am always appalled by how much I spend helping Santa fill stockings every year, so I made some lilac -scented sachets to put in a couple of stockings. I didn't have to cut anything to make these; I just headed to my scrap tins for some pre-cut scrap squares and bonus triangles from other projects. I made 11 total - these 8 are the ones I brought in to work today to give to all the women who work in a support capacity in my office because they are AWESOME people!
  
  
• My custom quilt block frames arrived from Angela (and her husband, Jim), so I put my wallhangings in to see how they looked.

  
  
  FABULOUS, in my humble opinion! I need to straighten them out a bit and trim some of the backing and whatnot, but these are nearly ready to be wrapped up.

• I finally succumbed to my children's pleadings, and we decorated the tree. See my tree skirt down there? LOVE IT! Although it seems a bit to small. Whatever.
  
  
  (How do you take a decent photo of a lit up Christmas tree!?!)
  

I'm so glad that it is Friday. I foresee lots of sewing in my future this weekend, along with a sleepover for 3 of my kids' friends, karate testing (Jason and I receive our advanced Brown Belt tomorrow morning, and Donald will receive his Orange Belt), and, since the snow is still on the ground, some outdoor play. Here's hoping that your weekend is just as productive and fun as I hope mine will be!

Who inspires you?

Lately, I've been getting lots of inspiration from Beth at Love Laugh Quilt. Thanks again, Em, for pointing me her way. First, there were the house blocks for her Friendly Neighborhood. Then yesterday, as I contemplated how to make my final 12.5" block out of my GGG fabrics, I remembered a Spiral Log Cabin I had seen on her blog. Perfect! So, now all four of my 12.5" blocks are ready for quilting. I sandwiched and basted these three last night so I will have some hand work to take with me to my mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving.

My goal (here I go again with the goals!) is to have them quilted by the time I get home on Friday night. Angela tells me that the custom frames are nearly ready for shipment, so hopefully I can put the blocks in them next weekend and then they are done and ready for gifting.

I've been making good progress quilting the GGG quilt. I'm sad to leave it behind for 4 days, but next weekend, I'd love to just sit and quilt on it for hours.

My goal is to have it quilting by December 1, so I can start quilting another project - Donald's quilt. I made some progress sewing his borders together last night, and putting his whole top together shouldn't take more than a couple of hours more.

And finally, there was squishy mail waiting for me when I got home yesterday! I showed you most of the end-of-bolt fabrics I bought from Above All Fabrics - here are the three for which I couldn't find a photo. Aren't they yummy!

I'm so proud of myself for buying some COLOR! I'm gonna have to make something for ME; I'm thinking maybe a Mug Rug since I do enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. Which reminds me, I am cold and my coffee cup is empty - time to get my daily dose of hot caffeine.

Tis the season...

...for hand quilting!

When I went down to my sewing room last night after putting the kids to bed, I realized that I'm not particularly motivated to piece late at night. My windows are black, the house is quiet, and I feel closed in and uninspired. I was lamenting the fact that I had already finished the appliqueing of the Dresden Plates, because what I really wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a good movie and some hand work.

My eye fell upon my GGG quilt top, the one made from fabric rescued from a deteriorating quilt made by my Great Great Grandmom.

My goal was to have it quilted by Christmas (but we all know how meaningless my goals are). But here was a hand project that I was excited about working on, the only obstacle being that it wasn't yet basted. Have I shared yet that basting is my ABSOLUTE LEAST FAVORITE part of quilting? I actually turned to go back upstairs and get into bed with a book. But I'm proud of myself for turning back around.

Basting actually went pretty quickly - after all, the quilt isn't all that big - and soon I was upstairs in my room, sitting under a pool of light, happy as can be. I started by outline quilting about 1/4" inside the blocks.

Before I knew it, it was midnight and hubby was back from his scrimmage (which they won - yay!) and it was time for bed.

I LOVE having hand quilting ready and waiting for me to pick it up whenever I get the urge. I foresee many hours of this peaceful activity as the brilliant colors of fall fade into winter. I'll save piecing for those rare days when I am home and I can sew when the sun is shining and the vista outside my window inspires me to create. But for now, tis the season for hand quilting!

On the road, again!

Travel season has begun! I am posting from gate E24 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, awaiting my flight to Atlanta. Thank heavens for airports with free Wi-Fi! Of course, I have 3 books with me, but that's what I do on the plane. I hate to run out of reading material before the end of my trips, so I ration out my reading accordingly. I also have my 4th of July Tablerunner to quilt (big sigh of relief when my needles and scissors made it through security), but I thought I'd check out what was happening in blogland, first.

Besides, I got 3 (almost uninterrupted) hours of sewing in yesterday afternoon, putting the blocks from my Great Great Grandmother's Quilt into a top. Ta-da!

I love it! This is a quilt top that will definitely become an honest-to-goodness quilt sooner, rather than later.

I finished sewing it together just in time to make it to the tail end of our Quilt Guild Business Meeting (there were some very satisfying 'oohhhs' and 'aahhhs' during Show and Tell when I held this flimsy up - I'm not above wanting my work to be liked by others!), and in plenty of time for our featured speaker, Mrs. Jane Hall, foundation piecing expert. She brought quilts and slides and her sense of humor. She was prepared; I was not. I brought my camera case, but the camera was at home next to my computer. Doh!

Luckily, you can see her quilts on her website. My favorite that she brought last night was one of her most recent, Vinas Viejas.

You really have to see it in person to appreciate the complexity, though. Those borders have so much depth and texture because they are PIECED! Just awesome! I enjoyed her talk, and am envious of those in my guild who are doing an all day workshop with her today while I fritter away my time in the airport. Just know that there is a workshop that I WILL NOT MISS - Bonnie Hunter is coming to our guild in February. I don't care what is happening in the world of college admissions on that day - I will be at that workshop! (OK, everyone, all together now, knock on wood.)

Going on this trip today is not all bad. Tonight, I will be staying with my quilting buddy, Nancy, who moved away in June. On Sunday and Monday night, I'll be staying with one of my buddies from back when I lived in Atlanta, and one night will be Girls Night Out with my twin sister's college roommate who has been a friend of mine for many years. And I don't have to cook, clean, taxi anyone around, etc for 4 whole days! Both boys mock-cried and clung to me when I left this morning, but they'll be fine. And I'll be back home on Tuesday night, and our reunion will be sweet all around!

For and about Minis

I'm still considering my options for my Great-Great-Grandmother's quilt (GGG). So, instead of working on that last night, I spent some time making some more bibs. They aren't done yet - I still need to do the top stitching and add velcro closures, but aren't they CUTE! When Christmas rolls around this year, I'm going to be ready with some gifties!


Most of this fabric came from Becky at As the Quilt Turns last November when she was looking to unload some scraps. Thanks again, Becky!

Oh, and I entered another quilt in the weekly themed contest at the Quilting Gallery. I had forgotten until I got an email from someone I've never met who voted for mine. How cool - thank you Joe Tulips! This week's theme is Minatures, and I entered this little shirts and ties quilt titled Haberdashery that won me an Honorable Mention ribbon in the County Fair a couple years ago.

I took at peek at the other entries and WOW! Yet again, I am in awe of what others have done. It is a good thing I can't see everyone else's submissions before I submit my own, because I would be too humbled to put my quilt out there. I saw that Em put her House that Love Built quilt in there - love it! I encourage you to get a fresh cup of coffee or tea, and spend 10 minutes checking out the little lovelies!

7 year itch?

This morning, I was greeted with an email greeting card from the Human Resources Department here at work. "Happy W & L Anniversary!" Apparently, this is the 7th anniversary of my first day of work here. Seven years!?!

For some of you, that's small potatos. But let me give you a little background about myself. By the time I turned 18, I had moved 25 times. No, my family wasn't military, but different circumstances - illness in extended family, unemployment, poverty, racism (my father was Black, my mother is White), perceived greener pastures elsewhere - conspired to make my family very nomadic in nature. While I was born in Camden, New Jersey, I lived in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, Oregon and mostly, Maine. I tell people I'm from Maine, when asked. Not only were many of our moves within that state, but my mom's family is also from there. That's where I lived all through middle school and high school, and it is where I went home to when I was in college.

Fast forward to the night before my twin sister, Ericka

(here she is now with my beautiful niece), graduated from college. On that night, I laid eyes upon the most handsome and intriguing man I had ever seen. He was a classmate of my sister's and would be graduating with her the next morning. He approached my sister and asked, since they were friends, if she minded if he "talked" to me. Her response, "Sure, it's not like you'll ever see her again!" So that night, I spent some time getting to know this young man. I remember telling him about all the moving I had done growing up, and how, now that I was an adult and responsible for my own whereabouts, I was going to put down some roots, enough with all this wandering about.

Both my sister and I had to eat our words that night. I've been with that man for 17 years now, married for 10 of them. And he and I have moved 14 times; some roots, huh?

Until we got here, to beautiful, idyllic Lexington, Virginia. As my email this morning reminded me, I've been working at the same place for 7 years now, and living in the same house for 6 and a half of those years. Sounds like the beginnings of some roots, doesn't it?

Speaking of longevity (OK, bad segue), I worked on my Great-Great-Grandmother's quilt more last night (I confirmed with Mom last night that it was made by her Great-Grandmother). I have completed the blocks for the center section. It isn't as big as I would like it to be, but since this was obviously a scrap quilt when it was made, I wanted to continue with that "spirit" and only use fabrics that I had on hand to re-create it. As a scrap quilter, I don't have a lot of anything, so that limited what I could use for the new fabric in my alternate blocks here. It actually isn't muslin, but rather, a delicate pale beige floral print on an off-white background. It reads as solid unless you are up close. Anyway, I've used all of it. I love the way it looks so far, but how to make this quilt bigger?

I have 4 alternate blocks (the X shape) remaining. I have a fair amount of original fabric squares and HST remaining. My thought right now is to put one of those X blocks in each corner, and then fill in sides with original fabric squares and HSTs. That would make the resulting quilt about 48" square. Not as big as I'd like, but it may just have to do. Another thought is to frame the inside of the quilt with a 2" border of a darker, solid-reading fabric from my stash before adding that outside border with the X blocks and the original fabric. That gets me up to 52" square. It might also be a good idea to frame the whole thing with a fabric from my stash to add stability to the edges - I am worried about attaching a binding to these fragile fabrics. If I were to add a 6" border all around the aforementioned 2 borders, I'd have 64" square, big enough to cuddle under on the couch. But I don't know. These are just the ideas that came to me when I got to this stopping point last night. Any ideas, anyone? I don't want to overwhelm the original fabrics with too much new stock, and I don't want to buy anything, just use what is in my stash. Any ideas are more than welcome!

Re-discovery!

I had a list for myself today.

• Bake banana bread with those bananas that are starting to attract fruit flies
• Read a book on the porch with a cup of coffee and a yummy snack
• Sweep all the floors to see how many dust puppies we can make with all the hair my dog has shed since the last time I swept
• Mop the floors to see what color they truly are
• Wash clothes since the sun is shining and the @$*!#@% dryer is on the fritz again
• Watch some TV or a movie
• Make some progress on my great-grandmother's quilt

I did everything except watch TV. Six out of seven isn't bad, now, is it? I'm feeling pretty darned good about myself!


About the book, it was Rumor of Bones by Beverly Connor, and I really enjoyed it. It is the first of a series about an archaeologist who finds herself solving mysteries, new and old. Apparently there are 5 books in the series, and I'll be going to the library tomorrow to see if they have any more of them. It seems Beverly Connor also has another series of 9 books with another female anthropologist protagonist. I imagine I'll be checking those out eventually, too. I love finding new series to fall in love with!

And while I was on the porch reading, Donald was building a house

and Jason was working on his summer workbook

(Yeah, school starts tomorrow. I TOLD him to work on it a little every day this summer, but did he listen to me? NO! Instead, the last three days have found him poring over this book for HOURS. I feel for him, but I'm not above saying "I told you so!" I did let him eat some of the fresh-from-the-oven banana bread, though.)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my Great-Grandmother's quilt, here's what it looked like in May 2009. The story of this quilt was in my first entry for this blog in June 2009.

It was falling to pieces, with holes big enough to fit my torso through.

Even though much of it was un-useable, I told my mom I would try to resurrect it. So, I've been cutting the pieces down to 2" squares where possible, and putting them back together. Some are solid blocks, some are HST. All are extremely fragile and faded and lightweight and uber-stretchy. I love all the neat fabrics and the concept behind this project, but I ran out of steam a while back, partially because I was making blocks with no idea how to set them together.

Well, today changed all that. I had and idea and tried it out and I LOVE IT! My interest in this project has been renewed! What do you think?

And as you can see on the top of the photo, my next color word is YELLOW. A couple years ago, I realized that yellow is beautiful, a very under-appreciated color. Have you re-discovered a color, one that you once passed by but now can't get enough of?

More GGG blocks

I didn't go to karate. I didn't take the kids to the pool. I didn't make a trip to the grocery store. Instead, in a major deviation from my usual routine, I came straight home after work and sewed. Aaahhh! It was great! It is not often that I get to sew when it is still light outside.

First, I started sewing together two of my last five Pick and Choose blocks. I didn't finish them, but I plan to finish them tonight. Then, I sewed together 4 more GGG blocks (great great grandmother's quilt), bringing my total to a whopping 8. I keep telling myself that it was the turtle who won the race in the end.



I have pretty much convinced myself that I will need to include some new fabric in this quilt to help stabilize things. This fabric is so old and threadbare that it stretches out of shape at the drop of a hat. I think I will like it better anyway with the blocks framed, either with sashing or put on point with setting squares. We'll see.

I leave for vacation (again! I LOVE SUMMER!) on Saturday. At this point, I don't have a hand project to bring with me, and there is no room for my sewing machine in the car (we are going to the Outer Banks and we are bringing the dog with us for once). Hopefully I can pull something together quickly, maybe work on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. However, if I don't sew on vacation, it will be OK. I plan to swim, read, nap, ride bikes, and just RELAX!!! Oh, and there is wireless in the house where we are staying, so hopefully I can also get caught up reading everyone's blogs!

Whirlwind week!

Tuesday: My mom met me at work and came with me to the quilt show at the fair while I served as hostess (greeting visitors, making sure no one had food or beverage, handing out gloves to those who wanted to touch quilts or see the backs). Imagine my joy when I saw that Jason had won second place in the youth division! (I promise, this is the last photo of Jason and his quilt.)



After checking out all the quilts, I sat down and did some more deconstruction of my great-great-grandmother's quilt while my mother and I had a nice visit. Since my hubby had the kids at the park and pool, I took my mom out to dinner - I didn't want this grown-up evening to end!

Wednesday: I wasn't feeling very good, but after work, I took the kids to the county fair. We started with the quilt exhibit, but then moved on to the rides and the food, and finally the livestock. Three and a half hours later, I was exhausted but giddy - I love the fair!

Thursday: Woke up SICK!!! I had strep throat last month, and this felt very similar. I went to work, but made a doctor's appointment in the AM and lo and behold - strep throat AGAIN!!! I went home to rest because I had to go to New York City the next day for work - ugh! There were some bright spots in the day, though. At the doctor's office, I finally sewed the hanging sleeve onto my challenge quilt from last year. It still isn't on the wall, but that is coming. I also shaved all the hair off of my head. Maybe that doesn't seem like a bright spot to some of you, but I am a simple gal, and all that hair was driving me CRAZY! I feel light-headed now, free to swim and sweat and nap, etc, without worrying about what it will mean to my hair. Guess I need to change my avatar now...

Friday: Feeling better, but exhausted. Drove 2.5 hours to the airport, flew to NYC, did my program and fell into bed.

Saturday: Surreal day - woke up and wandered around the Upper East Side looking for breakfast before hopping on a bus to LaGuardia Airport. When I got home that evening, I built a campfire in the firepit with the kids and made smores. Aaahh, home!

(yes, that is a large cooking fork we are using to roast marshmallows - necessity is the mother of invention)

Sunday: As much as I wanted a day of rest, it wasn't in the cards. First, we had to go pick up our quilts from the fair. Jason was surprised again when he found out that not only did he get a ribbon, but he got PRIZE MONEY! Yup, he has already started picking out fabrics for next year's quilt...

We also went to karate, then to the pool. Guess what? Both my kids can now jump off the diving board into the deep end! This is going to completely change my pool-going experience! No more standing knee-deep in the kiddie pool for me. So glad I cut my hair!

Back at home, I watched 4 episodes of Gilmore Girls while I finished taking apart my great-great-grandmother's quilt. Now, all I have to do is put it back together...

Monday: I'm so glad I had the foresight to take the morning off. I got the kids off to camp, then went for a short run before spending a couple hours with my quilting buddies at City Hall. I forgot to bring an iron, so I was pretty limited with what I could do, but I did sew all of the trimmed down pieces of my great-great-grandmother's quilt together into two-patches. (I need an acroynm for that quilt; that is too much to type - GGG perhaps?) Then I treated myself to lunch and coffee with a new paperback before going in to work. After work, the kids agreed to skip karate and go clothes/shoe shopping with me - who says you need little girls to enjoy those things!?! I love shopping with my kids - they are brutally honest about things that don't look good, but when it works, they rain down the compliments. Plus, they give me permission to buy anything I want - I got a purse, a dress and THREE pairs of shoes!!!

The cherry on top of this day was the squishy mail waiting for me when I got home from This-n-That Fabrics. I think they are my new favorite online quilt shop. They have great $3/yard fabric and they ship immediately!



TODAY: I have to work, and then karate and a work-related gathering, so I'm not going to have much time to sew, but I am determined to get something done, even if it is just pressing the two-patches I sewed together yesterday. I am feeling the need to CREATE! First, though, I need to catch up on what you all have been doing...

Reconstruction begins

Since I have to work ALL weekend (ugh!), and my hubby will be out of town recruiting, I'm taking my kids to my mom's house for the weekend. While there, I want her to see and know that I've been working on her mom's/grandmom's quilt. However, I didn't want her to freak out when she saw all the bits and pieces of quilt that remain as I rip seams, so I starting sewing some of the trimmed down pieces back together last night. I find it really hard to work with fabrics with so little contrast. I keep telling myself that 70 or so years ago when this quilt was constructed, it DID have contrast. It was pretty obvious from the wear (holes!) and the much darker fabrics in the seam allowances that this quilt had been put to hard and frequent use. Luckily, the quilt was scrappy to begin with, so I don't need to be particular about how I put it back together. You'll notice that I am putting like-fabric triangles together to make diamonds in each block, though.

The finished square size is 1.5", so each of these blocks is 6" finished (6.5" as you see them). One thing I noticed is that the fabrics are VERY stretchy and hard to work with. I don't know if she cut things on the bias or if older fabrics tend to not hold their shape well, but I am already preparing myself for a quilt that is not quite square. (Who am I kidding, none of my quilts are quite square! At least I have an excuse this time.)