With every stitch...

At some point, the tide has GOT to turn!  I can't even make up all the things going wrong in my life right now - it's at the point of being absurd!  But my family, my friends, and my hobbies keep me sane and keep me lifted and keep me going.  Right now, as I begin hand quilting this sailboat baby quilt for a baby who is due to appear in a month's time, I am trying to focus on my many blessings with every stitch.

My family and I are healthy...stitch.

I have a job that I love...stitch.

I am free to make choices in my life...stitch.

The view off my front porch is breathtaking...stitch.

I can sleep late tomorrow if I want...stitch.

There's a pint of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in the freezer with my name on it...stitch.

Season Three of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is now on Netflix...stitch.

OK, now I'm getting silly, but I feel better.  When I take a step back and evaluate, that which seems so overwhelming really isn't.  Life may not always go according to plan, but life is good, nonetheless.  Back to stitching.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Trying to keep it all in perspective

I tried to laugh at the irony of me at work on Saturday making sailboat quilt blocks...

...while a flood raged in my basement at home.  Oh how the problems keep coming like relentless waves these days, knocking me back down just as soon as I get to my feet.  I spent yesterday reminding myself that these are all first world problems - I have a loving family, supportive friends, a roof over my head and food on the table - but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that all I wanted to do was curl up on the bed and have a good cry.

Instead, I kept active.  Yesterday, in between bailing out the basement with my Wet Vac and arranging for a plumber, I started systematically going through my fabric stash with a merciless eye.  I read recently that having TOO MUCH fabric (gasp! is there such a thing?), can stifle creativity.  I can see how that just might be true in my case; my sewing room is so crowded that I have to move stacks and piles around just to work on a project.  And honestly, scrap quilter that I am, I first go to my precut scraps when it is time to start something new, not to my yardage.  Maybe some of my yardage has to go.  I made it through three (of 13) drawers of fabric, and picked out 28 fabrics that I can live without.  I think. We'll see.  I put them in my ETSY shop, and if they sell, great, I can use some help paying for all the expenses that keep piling up around here.  If not, well, I guess they were meant to stay mine.  So that is my goal, destash another 20-25 fabrics per week and see if that makes a difference in the flow in my creative space.

Ever love a fabric but can't figure out how to use it?

I actually have two pieces of this, so it wasn't so painful to list one.

I've had and loved this for YEARS!  Why, oh why, haven't I used it? 

I have quite a few Judie Rothermel prints; time to share, I guess.

But for now, as the plumber is busy tinkering in the floodwaters of my basement, I'll go make another sailboat block and envision my destination if I could get on board and sail away...

(If you are interested, I'm selling my fabric at a $5/yard basis, $3 shipping for first items and an additional $1.25 shipping for additional items in an order, but only shipping to US.  Check it out.  More fabrics to be listed every week. Sigh.  I'm doing the right thing, right?)

When everything is going to pieces around me...

One of the benefits of having a hobby is having an outlet when everything around me seems to be going wrong.  My car just spent time in the shop, emerging after nearly $4000 in repairs.  My son gets braces this month to the tune of over $5000.  My ancient computer won't turn on, so I can no longer put off getting a new one.  Someone went through my wallet this week, so I spent had to cancel all my bank and credit card accounts and get new ones.  Granny has been agitated lately, and has woken us up three times in the middle of the night this week.  In short, I am tired, worried about money, and frustrated with things that don't work.

But through it all, I quilt.  I am a half square triangle making machine for my Carpenter's Wheel quilt.

I've made a few more blocks for my plaid quilt.

My Quilting The Basics: Log Cabin Quilts class started this week at the shop, and I've been having a ball simultaneously making class samples and taming the scrap bins.

I am so thankful to be a quilter, to be able to build quilts when things around me are falling apart.

Fiber finishes!

I've been plodding along hand quilting my green & neutral stars quilt for my bed.  With a task that big, one needs some immediate gratification thrown into the mix, don't you think?  So, in between times, I've finished off some of my knitting WIPs.  After all, the cold weather will be here before we know it, and I can't just walk around wearing a quilt!

I see myself wearing this A LOT this winter.  How wonderful will it be to be wrapped in an airy, soft alpaca/bamboo blend rainbow on cold, dreary days?

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/self-fringing-wildflower-shawl for the pattern
I used 6 skeins of Classic Elite's Chateau yarn

self fringing, so no ends to weave in - BONUS!!

I also finished this cotton/silk/rayon blend scarf.  Another lightweight accessory to ward off the chill.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seafoam-scarf--wrap for the pattern
I used 2 skeins of Noro's Tokonatsu yarn

No more progress on baby quilts, so I need to get on that this weekend.  One baby is due in October, which doesn't leave me a whole lot of time!

Going public to hold myself accountable

I'm putting it out there publicly in every possible way - I'm going to finish hand quilting this quilt for my bed by December 31, 2015!

I made this quilt top TEN YEARS AGO and keep putting off finishing the quilting.  Meanwhile, I finish projects to give to everyone else.  It's time to finish something for ME!  So, instead of always knitting at home in the evenings, I'm going to spend some time hand quilting as well.  As the evenings get cooler, this prospect becomes more and more appealing.  Help keep me accountable, people.  If you see me starting something new, remind me of my vow.

And if you're interested, I posted a challenge to others to finish something they've been working on forever over on my shop's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/stitchinpostva).  Feel free to share for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to The Stitchin' Post!

What would YOU do?

My sewing spree continues!  I finished putting my blue & white chevron quilt top together, and now it just needs sandwiching and quilting.  I have a recipient in mind, so I think I'll do that right away.

The colors look awful in this photo!  I guess that's what I get for taking photos near midnight.

I've also got most of the HSTs made and cut for my new Carpenter's Wheel quilt - I just need to do some pressing and squaring up.  One block is up on the design wall (not yet sewn together), and while I like it, I'm not sure I can see doing the whole quilt with just those 8 prints and the white.  I'd love feedback - will this work, or should I introduce more fabrics and give in to my scrappy nature?  What would YOU do?

Only 8 prints and white - not sure I can do a whole quilt like this...

New to me!

Perhaps it's because I've been sewing with the kids during Embroidery Camp this week, but whatever the reason, my quilting mojo is BACK!  I've been exhausted when I get home each day, often in the shop from 8 AM til 7 PM, but no matter - once dinner is done, I've been heading down to my sewing room to work on quilts!  I've made some progress on the sashing and cornerstone blocks for my plaid string quilt and I've got the top half of my blue and white chevron joined into one piece, but that's not all.

First of all, I really want to make this quilt for a friend's new baby.  I happened upon some red and white anchor fabric and wham!  I was inspired to pull and cut fabrics for the whole quilt.  Which, for me, is so far from normal!  I never cut out a whole quilt in advance!  Since I'm usually so scrappy, I just go along piece by piece until a quilt is done.  With the whole thing cut out, it shouldn't take much time at all to get it all pieced together.

EXCEPT...

A friend gave me a bunch of magazines and I fell in love with this Carpenter's Wheel quilt from Spring/Summer 2008 Quilt Sampler.

Love, love, LOVE!!

I love it in all its scrappy and 30s repro glory, but I don't have enough 30s repro fabrics to make it...yet.  I also don't have enough bright white.  But what I DO have is lots of natural/cream muslin and a bunch of civil war repro scraps, all somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 yard.  My brain kicked into gear - what if I made something that WASN'T scrappy?  What if I just picked 8 print fabrics to make the star points and went from there?  Not all the fabrics are actually repros, but close enough.

Can I stand to make a quilt with only 9 fabrics?  Will it hold my interest while piecing?  Will it hold my interest as a finished quilt?  We shall soon find out!

And not only am I using a limited number of fabrics, but I also used the grid method for making HSTs, so I cut all the fabric for the quilt before taking a single stitch.  Again, this is so new to me!  But, I can see how "less scrappy" can also mean "more efficient" when it comes to piecing.  I can't believe how many HSTs I have already done with so little effort!

I've never used this method before, but then, I've never made a quilt that would use so many of the same fabric combo HSTs.  I love how quick and easy this is!

32 HSTs pieced in about 5 minutes?  I love it!  There's no way I could make as many scrappy ones in the same amount of time.

Who knows, I may not like the look once I get all the pieces ready to make a block, and then I'll have a quilt's worth of HSTs left over.  But even so, I guarantee I'll find a use for them somewhere.

I see a lot of piecing ahead in my weekend plans.  How about you?