Friday Night Sew In: The Morning After

I arrived home from work at about 3:45 (yes, I left shortly after the students departed) and I was raring to go. Got the mail, kicked off my shoes, got something to drink… and dove right in! I needed to get moving early as I am working today… snow make-up day, don’t you know.



Lest we forget what the snow & ice was like…

First, I laid out the Lilac Hill charm squares on the bed in the “auxiliary sewing room”… aka: the guest room next to my sewing *slash* computer room.


Second, I opened up the luscious Lilac Hill jelly roll and cut the 5” and 9” strips.

Then came the sorting of the strips with coordinating charm squares. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be… divvying up the lights/darks, solids/prints, large prints/small prints, plaids/florals, etc.

I just want to know why Moda puts FORTY-TWO charms squares in a pack and FORTY strips of the SAME line in the jelly roll.
Oh well, I can take care of those two orphan charm squares with a bit of the two different pieces of coordinating fabric for the two borders.

Next, I fired up the iron and got to sewing. By 5:00, I had ten blocks sewn and pressed and it was time for a break!
(Note to self: Surfing the net during a sewing break = too long of a break!)

By 8:30, I had 40 blocks sewn together, stacked up on the bed…

…and, then, I just had to spread them out!





Not bad for a Friday Night Sew In!

This afternoon… or tomorrow… whenever, I’ll sew the leftover sections of the jelly roll strips together, as per the tutorial… then cut those into strips to make a pieced border. All that’s left is to decide how big a border and which fabrics. I won't sew the blocks together until I rescue the two orphan charm squares by making them blocks too.

Rebirth of Creativity

Two quilts completed but I was not sure where I wanted to go next.  I had been saving a lot of quilt ideas but needed inspiration.  Then, early in the spring of 2010, I found out that one of the girls in my old Girl Scout troop (now all adults) was expecting her first child.  “Ah ha! I can make Kelly a baby quilt!”   

A quick trip to my LQS was needed, of course! While getting a very nice dose of fabric therapy, I found a charm pack of Moda’s Animal Alphabet.  I loved all the bright crayon colors and the cool prints in the line and felt they would make a very cheerful baby quilt.  House Dragon had posted about a disappearing nine patch, which sounded easy to do.  While working on the the quilt top, I learned that sewing speed and accurate ¼" seams don't go together. 

During the time I working on the baby quilt, I found out that a dear friend had discovered a lump while doing her monthly breast exam and was going in for a biopsy.  Leabelle’s mother had had breast cancer at the same age and it was a scary time for Leabelle, her family and all who love her.  Of course, Leabelle needed a quilt!   And this meant another trip to my LQS!  I selected the "5 and Dime" pattern by All Washed Up and Blush fabrics by Basic Grey.  The top went together very easily and I was very pleased NOT to have to trim the pieced columns AT ALL to make them the same length because....  *drum roll*   ...my ¼" seams were
accurate!

 Added at smellslikesalad's request/demand :)

 

One unexpected thing came out of this quilt project.  While looking at fabrics for Leabelle's quilt, I found I couldn’t bring myself to make an all-pink quilt but made a quilt with pink in it.  You see, I have a thing about disorders/diseases/disabilities… probably because  I have multiple sclerosis.  

Please note the wording of “I have multiple sclerosis.”  MS is part of who I am but it is not all of who I am… not even the major part of me.  I don’t say, “MS has me” because MS doesn’t HAVE me… I have MS.  Semantics, I know… but sometimes semantics are important.   Leabelle might have cancer but the cancer was NOT going to have her!

When I gave Leabelle the quilt, I pointed out this wording to her and explained why the quilt wasn’t all pink.  Not 100% sure she completely understood the point I was trying to make… I know it’s weird… but it didn’t really matter, I suppose.  Thankfully, the biopsy showed the lump to be benign.

I had now made four quilts of various sizes and had a bit more practice with them pesky ¼” seams.  I was on a roll!  Patterns and fabrics were accumulating and I was ready to tackle The Grandbaby Quilt Project!