Talking to Myself Today...

Actually talking to myself.  Out loud.

Having to tell myself "No New Starts!"

"Finish Something!!!"

So I pulled out this quilt.  

The top and these two borders have been this way since late September of 2010.

I loved working on these blocks…

So why has it been folded up in a bin for all this time?

I have no excuse.

I decided to press it and get back to work on it.  First up…dealing with that potentially wavy border on the left side.  I can see the ripples in it…and I'm pretty sure that it is 1/2" too long, but I think the larger problem is that the 1/2 square triangles border is where the problem begins.

However…I'm not sure I care to try to remedy that…it might be too much work.

(will it quilt out? )

And that mistake in the upper right corner?  Not sure I care to fix that either.

Perfection is not my issue……

But laziness is.

Now in addition to the wonky border, I have another problem

This quilt is 90" square 

It has a vine and leaves that need to be appliquéd all the way around.

I'm not so sure that I care to hold that whole quilt in my lap.

I'm thinking it will be a big pain in my ass.

Should I even admit that I don't want to have to fold the thing up every time I'm done working on it?

So this is what I'm pondering.

I'm thinking I should do the appliqué on each border and then join them to the quilt.  I can leave extra stem hanging off the end and join the ends after I sew the border on.

Do me a favor and leave me a comment…let me know how you would proceed.  I need to get this thing done.

S

A Change of Pace

The sun is out today!  It's a whopping 36* outside and if I had a brain in my head I would be outside squinting and avoiding the huge potholes that are surely opening up today and swallowing cars whole.
But instead I walked on my treadmill (in the basement) and started a new quilt (also in the basement.
Ridiculous, I know, for so many reasons.  There are 2 abandoned BOM's in bins waiting to be revisited.  Three quilts on 3 design walls waiting to be completed.  Countless others in piles and drawers….Yet I ignored them all in favor of some instant gratification.

I got the fabric a couple weeks ago at Guildcrafters Quilt Shop in Berkley, Mi. 

The Background fabric is a Michael Miller flannel and the "solids" are Quilters Linen by Robert Kaufman.  

This was a super simple quilt that I made from the Moondance pattern by Villa Rose Designs …its just a little 4x6 pattern card that cost a couple bucks that I also found it at Guildcrafters.

The quilt finished at 40"x50", so it will be super easy to quilt it myself.

That's it for now.  I just wanted to check in.  Ttyl!

Permission to Play...

Although I have literally dozens of WIP's that need to actually be finished,  I find that lately I would much rather play around and experiment with my scraps and solids….
This weekend I chose to play with orange.  This time of year I see so much orange in the fruit market, and it is such a fun, bright spot of color in what has become a very long and white winter.
I played with the idea of intersections, slash and Insert, and quilting with bias applied on top.
These are just a couple little rough sketches….and I'm sharing a peek with you.

Im not a fan of the fluorescent lighting I have in my workspace.  It makes for some terrible color distortion.

So that's that.  Just a little peek.  Not sure where I'm going to go with it…or where it will lead to next, but I'm having a good time and frankly, that's all that matters to me right now.

Today's 5-7-5

Frigid, Windy day.
Sub-zero, shockingly cold.
Takes my breath away.

A Little Experimentation

A trip to the library allowed me to check out the book Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pederson.

I enjoy the work that both of these talented women produce, and I'm a fan of the whole modern movement.  

While I have many projects on the wall (and the floor, and in bins and drawers) I wanted to play around with something different without making a huge commitment to a full size project.

So I got out my trusty black and white fabrics and decided to try out the slice and insert technique.  It's not a technique that is totally new to me, but the book inspired me to Just Do It and so I did.

 I used 5" squares of white and 1" strips of the black…..

 And my quilting lines are very close…about 1/8" apart.

 From the backside you can see that I quilted some of the black strips ……and didn't quilt others.

I like the way the un-quilted areas stand out.  I think it has a lot of possibilities.

I'm going to get this bound when I find the right fabric…I'm sure a hunt through the stash will turn something up.

I have another new project to share…it's not that new to me but it will be new to you.

However…I have a little work to do on other things before I will be able to share.

Stay Crafty!

I Don't Know About You...

But it's too damn cold outside!

I'm doing my best to stay busy indoors (because I cannot step foot outside).

I'm on Day 2 of a 5 day Yahoo dishcloth KAL…..

I love working on these…Just a few rows of knitting each day for 5 days, wondering all the while what the final outcome will be.

I made myself a new rice bag.  I zap it in the microwave for 2 minutes to help sooth my sore muscles from snow shoveling and marathon sewing……

And I have 27 Scrappy Trips blocks sewn…and a few waiting to be sewn together…..

So that's all I have to share right now……Stay warm.  Stay Crafty!

Santa Came Early!

 I found this tucked in the front door this afternoon.

Thanks Santa!