I started this post a month ago. A MONTH!
Let's try this again:
Hello October! One of my favorite months!
We experienced so many weeks with triple digit temps that even
die-hard summer-lovers were relieved to see fall arrive.
A little rain and temps in the 70's & 80's: thank you, God!
What a year it's been [understatement] so far. And now it's week 40!
I have much (!) to catch up on today so I suggest grabbing a cuppa.
Here we go.
Yes, it's been months since I last checked in. For a time, there wasn't
much quilty stuff to share. I've also been focused on the new home.
Instead of fabric, I've been playing with other mediums like
flooring, brick, countertops, tiles, faucets and hardware.
I spent a lot of time on Youtube geeking out on decor vids.
Just fyi, I recommend Homazine. Over the summer, the releases
were all about design and styles which really helped me feel more
confident in tackling our grand new chez. Right now, the vibe has
switched to fall decor which, sadly, isn't something I can actually do
yet (no house!) but I really enjoy having the vids going while I sew.
I always avoided decorating because I just thought it's not my thing
but guess what I've learned? It's really not all that different from
a quilt. You need a nice mix of patterns, colors/tones and textures.
Sometimes you want light bouncing around; you want points
of interest as well as spaces of visual peace. And so on.
Imagining different elements together in a quilt? Fairly easy.
Imagining how all the fixtures, textiles and surfaces will look together
over a 3-story home: new territory! Working on these decisions for
hours at a time for weeks months had my eyes crossed and brain
exploding more than a few times but we're nearing the end and it'll
all be worth it. We're confident in our decisions; I'm just not quite
confident that it'll all flow together.
But I guess occasionally I feel like that with a quilt too.
First world problems, eh? Yes, I've still been using my creativity
but it's so nice to head back to the sewing room where I'm more
at ease in making decisions and a sense of order with a medium
I more fully understand. That's my comfort zone.
When we last visited about quilty stuff, I had these pieced.
And these yet to tackle. (Unity QAL by Primitive Gatherings.)
Well, voila! All 144 blocks are complete.
Without a design wall, I had to set them aside. OH do I hate
Without a design wall, I had to set them aside. OH do I hate
setting projects aside but sometimes it just can't be helped.
I do have a few projects that were meant to be slow burns but with
events of the last year or so, they had stalled out completely.
I finally took advantage of this time to complete as much as I can.
Without my design wall and my longarm I've only been able to go
so far but it's going to be great to quickly finish them when I get into
the new studio. And then: a clean slate for starting all new projects!
So bright! So many windows, so much space!
Back in the temporary sewing room, I pulled out my next UFO.
There were only a few blocks made so I put my head down
and the pedal to the metal. Now all 80 are completed.
Yee-freaking-haw.
(Pattern/book by Edyta Sitar)
Next I tackled a random (no pattern) basket quilt (more HSTs!).
Another scrappy side-project with no pressure. Thankfully, I had
one block made so I could see what the plan was. I now have 39
blocks made but because the on-point setting math is a bit tricky
and I only have so much of that fabric, I thought I'd better,
once again, wait until I have my design wall.
But hey, I now have only two UFOs in the closet!
1) Farmer's Wife: another no-hurry side-project
2) Hand-quilting project: One of my first quilts.
No hurry but I really need to finish it.
Full disclosure: a sort-of 3rd
I started making these blocks with any fabric-appropriate scraps
from current projects. The 3.5" blocks use an HST method that
requires trimming--a bit rough on the ol' messed-up shoulder.
Thus it has to be another slow-burn project. The original pattern,
found in Civil War Legacies by Carol Hopkins, is meant to be a mini
but I've always envisioned mine to be more along the lines of
an omigosh quilt so right now I have 98 of these cuties made.
A FULL STOP!
Hey, I don't have enough going on. How about a little knee surgery?
I've been walking around (and golfing) on a large meniscus tear
(w/a few other issues) for many months. When we moved into the
rental last March, things got worse and my knee has been swollen
ever since. Next, some insane lag time for getting an MRI, seeing the
orthopedic dr and then finally getting a surgery scheduled. (OY!)
Suffice to say, I was probably the most excited to show up for
surgery that late August day.
I was up and down those first few days but I was very determined
to have a quick recovery. I hit the PT hard, chucked my crutches
5 days later (helps when DD is my PT) and less than 4 weeks later,
I was back to walking--no cart!--and playing full rounds of golf.
I should finish PT next week.
(Very sick of going to appts even if I do get to see my daughter!)
One major thing I learned from this:
It's SO important to stay in shape as we age. All those miles I put
in on the golf course? All the stretching I do before every round?
I'm convinced it's had a huge impact on my recovery.
Back to crafty/sewy things...
I have four dishcloths (one not pic'd) made for the new kitchen.
Well, kitchens--the butler's pantry is basically a second kitchen.
I'd hoped to be much farther along in my knitting by now but
I'm not going to stress it...too much anyway. Speaking of stress,
I really should move onto socks and maybe even a first-sweater
but these darned dishcloths are my go-to destresser thing.
I should be challenging myself but darn it, these are addictive.
Quilty things ahead:
A friend and I recently attended an estate quilt sale. Yes, this lady had
so much stored up that her quilt possessions required an entire sale
all by itself in a large outbuilding! Dear Lord, please don't let me ever
get a 1/4 of that much stored up! Still, I appreciated the opportunity
to shop someone else's stash and we were convinced she was smiling
down as she watched us enjoy the finds she once enjoyed herself.
As if that wasn't enough, our annual Shop Hop is this week!
My fabric in/out hasn't been great so there'll likely be some guilt but
I do have the rest of the year to bring myself back around. The mojo
wasn't great this summer but I've since found it and things are
rolling along--more slowly than I'd prefer but I'm getting there.
Fabric in: 77 yds
Fabric out: 35.6 yds
Low numbers compared to other years but still off-balance.
It's just not fair being without my design wall because I could be
finishing up quilts, chewing through fabric (esp with the backings)
and staying ahead of this fabric tracking game but, as I've said,
it's just a highly unusual year with two moves and building a house.
So what am I working on right now? I've really appreciated having
a Cheddar & Coal III (Pam Buda) jelly roll on display in my cabinet
but, being fall and all, it's now time to work with it. I ended up
choosing the Studio Star quilt (BLOCK vol 3, is 1) not because I have
any fondness for the pattern but because I thought it would be
best for the fabric.
(One has to put the fabric before oneself!)
After I figured out Jenny's odd cutting/construction method
(I really prefer to do all the cutting and then all the sewing!),
these blocks became very fun to put together. 14 done so far.
Because I love the fabric so much, I'm sewing up the trimmings
into little HST's as I go--so cute--but what shall I do with them?
And lastly, what do I have simmering on the back burner?
So, so much! But I'll just drop this teaser and stop for the day.
I'm not sure this will be my very next project but I hope to start this
very soon and be able to gift it this Christmas but our move-in date
is rather up in the air. It has been pushed very close to Christmas.
I don't have to tell you how stressed that has me but either way,
who has time to quilt in the middle of a move and the holidays?
(So much for being in "well-before Thanksgiving"!!)
And that ol' messed up shoulder? That's coming up, too.
I suddenly decided pain stinks; this is my year to fix all the issues.
I hope you've enjoyed this little lengthy catch-up. Until next week,
when I share my shop hop goodies and hopefully decent progress,
happy quilting!
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