Bears Paw Done

Bhu's still got his eye on the thread spool but you can see it is all for naught:  it's DONE.  The only thing that caused a delay was the fact that the skin on my fingers is shredding and splitting open.  It hurts!  I blame it on the combination of antibacterial soaps, cold medicine, and dry heat from the furnace.  So, now that it's done, what do I do with it?

Yesterday I started making a Kalico Kitty quilt for the silent auction at the Spay-ghetti dinner the local spay and neuter organization is having.  It's in a month and I plan on having the top done by Friday.  We shall see. 

xxoo Patty

So Much To Do, Part II

Remember this?  Well, I knew this wouldn't take long to make and I was right.  I finished the top yesterday in a couple of hours.  It took much longer than usual because I dawdled.  And because I decided to expand my fabric choices to include more than just those scraps in my one go-to freezer bag of 1800's repros.  That meant taking down plastic bins and moving them around, so I probably spent thirty minutes just moving stuff around . . . searching, searching, searching for just the right 2-1/2" square scrap!  I am so OCD.  Really, I had to remind myself this was an EXERCISE, not an exam!  So here is what I came up with:

I like it.  I decided to arrange it en pointe, as you can see.  I found the corner fabric in my stash (I have way too much fabric, friends) and there's plenty for the backing.  Actually, I think I have about five yards of the stuff.  For some reason it is reading grey and blue, but it is actually more of a khaki and blue; a nice, substantial cotton of unknown vintage.

The reason it isn't quilted and 100% finished yet is because I didn't think I liked the corner fabric and I was about to pull out all the stitches and try another fabric, but decided to take a photo first thinking I might ask for opinions.  My Color Muse (Sabryin) was off doing some sort of errand, otherwise I would have left it up to him.  He has one fantastic eye for color.  Anyway, as soon as I saw it on the preview screen, I changed my mind about changing my mind.  It's a keeper.  So, I will now start on the quilting.

What do you think?

One Down!

So, here it is!  I still have a lot of hanging threads to clip, but it is all done, quilted and bound.  This is not an heirloom or a masterpiece, but it is now a practical item that can be used for warmth as opposed to a bag of blocks that can be used for annoying the dipstick out of me. 

The background fabric and the binding are both VIP prints from the 80's or 90's (or both).  Do they still make VIP prints? 

It's 36 x 36 (give or take) and comes from a cat-managed home.  Loving it!  xxoo

brrrrrrr

Most of you are experiencing one form or another of The Big Chill and so am I.  I don't want to think about it.  I am in denial.  So in order to avoid thinking about it I have been trying to keep myself busy all day with tasks.  First, I crocheted a dice bag for Sabryin . . . just scrap yarn that's been hanging around the house since the last time we had this kind of weather.  Second, I darned a pair of Sabryin's socks (80's vintage and handknitted by someone in South America).  Third, I was shuffling through photos on my jump drive and found this UFO:

Seven blocks made using xmas fabrics.  So I went down into the cold, cold sewing room and found these and decided to get to work.  My dilemma:  I need nine blocks to make a small quilt.  Eureka!  Found one 9" block and added borders to it to get a 12-1/2" block.  Found two 6-1/2" blocks and two 4" blocks and added borders and sewed them together to make one 12-1/2" block.  I took an old mattress pad and cut it up to use for the batting because I decided to do a quilt-as-you-go process on this one.  By the end of the afternoon (and well after the snow stopped), I have quilted three of them.  Then I came up and made meatballs for dinner (with pasta and sauce, of course).

Tune in tomorrow to see if I've made any progress.  xxoo

So much to do

And so little motivation!!  For the past few months I have not had any interest in quilting.  Usually I love to make little quilts from the scraps and leftovers of my sewing projects, but this year it just hasn't captured my interest. 

My friend Nancy forwarded a blog post to me that featured this cute little bear's paw "quilt" and lots of other really cute, small FAST projects -- one a month.  So I decided to follow along (at least this month) and see if that will jump start my quilting habit again.  Otherwise I just do not know what I will do with all my fabric!  (Yeah, right!)

The blog is written by a professional quilt book writer and you can find it here if you are in the same quandry as I.   Of course, all the little projects will be from her books and I am not endorsing any of the stuff that she sells.  I will not be buying anything because I can draft my own patterns and I have a ton of fabric, mercibeaucoup.   She's lovely to let us come along for the ride, though and her blog is full of cute projects!

As 2014 gets off to a start, I am going to be paying more attention to myself and being less judgmental about being lazy or whimsical.  Hope you all have a happy, safe and healthy year!  xxoo