Crazy

My co-workers have been besieged with a whole host of illnesses and misfortunes in the past year.  It is frightening and emotionally exhausting and just sad.  But times of trouble also tend to pull people together, and I've witnessed that over the past year, too, all of us pulling together to support one of our own.  The latest is a retired professor who works with us in Admissions part time for part of the year, who just found out that he is riddled with cancer.  From what I understand, he is not going to be pursuing treatment and he is deteriorating quickly.

When he is gone, we will have lost a gem.  He is generous and funny, compassionate and brilliant, creative and dedicated, and one of the easiest people that I've ever had the pleasure to work with.  I want to visit him, but I'm afraid of breaking down in his presence and doing more harm than good.  I want to give him something, but what?  I'm a lousy cook, and besides, my oven STILL doesn't work.  His wife is a gifted and prolific quilter, so he certainly doesn't need a quilt.  Hmmm....

I decided on a quilted card.  Quilting is what I know, what I do in times of stress and trouble.  Perhaps he doesn't need a quilt, but if I can just think of what I want to say, then a quilted card seems to be the best delivery for me.

I got some cardstock and some solid scraps, choose a decorative stitch, and made a crazy quilt block card.  Now, if I can just think of what to say on the inside...

Much easier to write are the Hurricane Sandy Thank You Cards.  More went out in the mail today, and I have nearly finished addressing them all.  Whew!  But so worth it!

Stitches and stamps

My co-worker's baby came 2 months early.  Ella Clare is a cutie with LOTS of hair. Her APGAR scores were great, so the prognosis is good, but she'll be in NICU for a while yet.  I've been wearing my fingers out trying to get her quilt ready to welcome her when she gets home, and I think I'm going to make it.  I bet I have only one or two evenings left of quilting, and I hope to bind it this weekend.  This was such a fun quilt to make - I feel certain I'll be making more with different color schemes.  I love making baby quilts - they come together so quickly! 

I've addressed and about 110 Hurricane Sandy Relief Quilt Thank You postcards - halfway there! 

Running in place

We spent the last few days in Pennsylvania with my mother-in-law.  She is at home and doing OK.  It was good to spend some time with her, chatting while watching her two favorite shows - NCIS and Fraiser.  And by now, I think everyone knows what I do when I watch TV, right?  QUILT!  I worked on the rainbow rail fence quilt for hours upon hours.  With all those straight lines, I figured it needed curves, so I popped it in the hoop and quilted concentric circles using the hoop and the length of my pinkie finger as a guide.

It was a good idea in theory, but my curves just weren't uniform enough for me, so then I spent hours upon hours taking all the stitches out.  Man, I hate that!  But now that I'm back home, I plan to do some freehand baptist fans using one of my half circle rulers as a guide to get me started on each fan.  I love the way baptist fans look, so I'm happy about that, but I'm not happy about starting over - I feel like I've been running in place, doing all that work with nothing to show for it.

But the mail cheered me when I got home.  My hubby says I single-handedly keep the postal service in business.  I'll certainly be keeping them busy this week.  Know what this is?

250 thank you post cards to send out to the folks who helped me out with the Hurricane Sandy Quilt project.  If you are one of them, watch your mailbox for some love from me.

And an update on that project - I have one completed quilt and 5 being long-arm quilted right now, with a couple more still waiting for quilting.  They'll get done eventually, but not until these babies get their quilts.

OK, off to address some postcards.  Happy Easter, everyone!

Bonus!

Why do I always feel like I am disclosing on here what I DIDN'T get done? (sigh)

So, I didn't get the 2nd baby quilt top put together yet, although I did get all the Indian Hatchet blocks pieced.

I REALLY wish I had enough blue/gray fabric for one more block because this is one quilt I think I would really like to be square (8 x 8), but since I used every scrap of that fabric already, it will remain a rectangle (7 x 9).  Or perhaps I make it 7 x 8...or maybe I move the "center" further down...we'll see once I start sewing it together.

And I am forcing myself to sew these blocks together before I tackle this tempting pile of BONUS TRIANGLES!  There is a mini quilt in here just screaming to be made!

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Baby rainbow quilt #1 is pieced and ready for sandwiching and quilting.  However, another pregnant friend was taken to the hospital this weekend, and will likely be staying there until her baby makes an appearance, whether it is 2 days from now or 2 weeks.  I hope it is 2 weeks or more because she is only 32 weeks pregnant and that baby needs more time to develop before coming out to meet us.  But when he/she arrives, I want to be sure there is a quilt waiting.  So before working on rainbow quilt #2 for the other twin (the baby shower isn't until May 11), I started piecing a quilt for this other baby who seems to be in a hurry to get here.

I needed something quick and easy, as well as something scrappy and colorful, preferably something where I can use some of my pre-cut scrap squares.  I absolutely LOVE this quilt by Andie Johnson, so I decided to make something similar.  I've gotta say, though, her scraps are WAY MORE FUN than mine!  Do we all feel that way about other people's scraps?

Here's what I've got so far - blocks aren't sewn together yet.

I have 37 more blocks to make, which will be super quick because I cut all the blue/gray fabric yesterday and the scrap tins are overflowing with pre-cut squares to sew onto the corners.  It will be 7 blocks x 9 blocks, a rectangle, because I could only cut 63 squares out of the yardage I had.  I used Bonnie Hunter's Smokey Mountain Stars tutorial to make the "Indian Hatchet" blocks.  I hope to be able to finish piecing it today and get it sandwiched to hand quilt this weekend.  Even though it is cold outside, the Drive-In is open again for the season, so we'll be there this weekend to see Wreck-It Ralph and Parental Guidance.  Thanks to my handy little hands-free LED light, I can quilt while I watch the movie in the dark.  It doesn't get much better than that!

Inquiring minds want to know

Well, then, I guess Toothbrush Rugs aren't widely known.  Basically, it is a crocheted rag rug made with strips of fabric, but I don't know how to crochet so I use a toothbrush needle.  The toothbrush needle is usually made from plastic, but some people custom make them from wood.

Back during the Depression era, they were made from toothbrushes, which nearly always had a hole at the end of the handle.  The bristle end was cut off and then filed down to a rounded "needle" point.  You tear (or cut, but I think tearing is better because you you eliminate much of the fraying that way, it is quicker, and oh so therapeutic to just RIP!) fabric strips the width of your fabric from selvage to selvage.  I don't know the exact width you are supposed to use, but I tear mine approximately 1.5" wide (but I don't measure).

Here's my first rug on a porch chair before I realized how great it would be under my sewing machine pedal. 

I learned the technique by watching the video at Rag Rug Cafe.  I have fabric that isn't really appropriate for quilting, but that I wanted to use for something.  My first round rug has been under my sewing machine pedal for months now.  I love that it keeps the pedal in place - the pedal used to always scoot around on my wood laminate floor in my sewing studio.  The rugs can be round or oval or hearts or rectangular.  I encourage you to Google "toothbrush rugs" if you want to learn more.

But after all that explanation, I haven't really worked on my rag rug since my last post.Instead, I've been focusing on cranking out some baby quilts.  First up, one of my karate instructors is having twins (girls, they say). For her birthday a couple of years ago, I made her a mini confetti quilt in rainbow colors, so I'm planning to make rainbow quilts for her babies, too.  I started with this rail fence - the blocks are made but not sewn together yet.

Inquiring minds want to know - how do you feel about square quilts?  For some reason, I am more drawn to rectangular quilts, so I am debating adding another row or two.  What do you think?

I plan to make the other twin a quilt in the same colors, but probably a chevron pattern - similar, but not the same, just like twins.  You guys know I'm an identical twin, right?  Twins hold a very special place in my heart!

Oh, and bonus for the rail fence quilt - I made the blocks using my pre-cut 5" charm squares so I wouldn't have to seek out and cut fabric.  I put the two fabrics right-sides together, sewed along two opposite ends, then cut 2" in from each sewn side, giving me two identical sets of 3.5" x 5" blocks.  I set one set aside because I only wanted each fabric to show up once in the quilt - you know, scrappy ole' me.  To the first set, I added a 2" x 5" white to each block, and voila, 5" rail fence blocks.  But now, I have a whole other set available, just awaiting the white, so I can make another baby quilt for another expecting mother some other day without too much preparation.  I love it when things work out like that!

On the home front, things are stable.  My MIL is hanging in there at home.  I'm hoping to get back up to see her during my kids' spring break later this month.  My mom has been struggling with some health issues, too, and I'd love to get up there to see her, but all the snow days have cut my kids' spring break in half, and it would be a challenge for us to make it all the way up to New Hampshire and back in just 4 days.  The boys and I have been busy with scouting (Pinewood Derby was this past weekend), and karate (my third mid-term test is this Thursday - I'm on track to test for my second-degree black belt in October).

Oh, and I gave notice at my job, so starting in July, I'll be a free agent.  I've already arranged to teach quilting to middle school aged kids at an art camp in July.  I'm ready to stop working at the breakneck pace I've been maintaining for years and be more creative.  I feel excited and proud of myself for taking this leap of faith (after all, who gives up a secure and lucrative job in a recession and sequester and in this job market???), but I'll admit, I'm a bit nauseous, too, not knowing what comes next.  I'm choosing to just believe in myself and that someone up there rewards leaps of faith.

Checking in

My goal this past week was to take time to recharge.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a ton of time available to do that, but every moment I could find to sit and stitch or read or just relax, I did it.  My latest project, beyond working on some baby quilts since everyone seems to be pregnant these days, has been making another toothbrush rug.  I had two large fabrics that aren't really right for quilting that I decided to make a rug with.  I still have a long way to go, but so far, I love it!  It is about 16 inches in diameter right now.

I have so much more to write, but it is going to have to wait.  Instead of using my weekend to recharge my batteries, I gave a friend a chance to recharge hers.  When I found out that my friend had not spent even one night alone with her husband since her first son was born over 10 years ago, I offered to have her 3 boys over for a sleepover.  This weekend was the big day.  She was a bit of a Nervous Nelly dropping them off, but the boys - aged 10, 9 and 4 - were like old pros at sleepovers, even though 2 of them had never done sleepovers before.  We played games, we ate, we watched a movie - it went well.  And hearing this morning that she slept in until 9:30 AM and then was able to drink her coffee, - uninterrupted and while it was still hot! - well, even if it hadn't gone well, it would have been worth it.  As it is, they are definitely invited to come stay again.  If there is one thing I've learned through my 10 short years as a parent, it is that I am a much better parent when I take the time to take care of myself.  When I am rested and healthy, I am so much more patient and engaged with my boys.

So instead of rambling on, I will sign off for now and go have some ME time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!