Losing Focus

I've been much better this year than I usually am about getting UFOs and not starting new projects.  Each quarter, I've been setting goals and meeting them.  But I can already tell that this won't be a good quarter for me.  I have 2 quilt tops left to complete and a never-ending cross stitch project to finish before the end of September. 

Here's the selvage project that I worked on last weekend.

 

 

 

I only have 4 blocks.  If I sew them together and call it done, the quilt will be approximately 48 x48 inches.  Good size for a baby quilt, but the selvages are stiff, and I don't think it would make a good baby quilt.  A wall hanging, maybe?  But I have no wall space, and don't really like it well enough to hang it up.  So it needs to be bigger, and I don't feel like string piecing. I'm putting it away for now.

 

I added six fat quarters to my stash this week, so I can make cubes to put in my one block wonder quilt.  I'd like to do that this afternoon, but I'll be cleaning instead because we're having friends over for dinner.

 

Used this week: 0 yards

Used Year to Date: 64.75 yards

Added this week: 1.5  yards

Added year to date: 31.5 yards

Net Used: 33.25  yards

One Block Wonder Color Flow

In class this week, we worked on the color flow of our blocks.  We sorted them  into color families and tried to arrange them on the design wall so that each block somehow related to the blocks next to it.  That is hard to do when you have six- sided blocks:  each block needs to somehow relate to the six blocks next to it.  The teacher asked us to take pictures so that we could tell if there were any blocks that didn't fit into the quilt. 

Arranging  blocks is not something I do much of.  I make mostly scrap quilts and don't usually worry too much about color flow.  I know there are quilters who put blocks up on their design walls and rearrange them until they get the perfect quilt.  That's not me.  I get them sewed together, see where I could have made better choices and move on.

I don't have any wall space for a design wall, so I usually use my floor.  Thursday night, though, I decided to use my son's bed.  He is off to college, and will never know.  I put down batting first so that when I get the perfect arrangement, I can roll up the whole thing and move it into my bedroom/sewing room.

 

 

I am mostly satisfied with the layout.  I like the top green corner fading into pink/purple and down into the green corner.  I am less satisfied with the right side of the quilt, but I think that may be as good as it gets.  I've spent several hours moving blocks around.  Enough!  Time to get the cube blocks made.

 

Blue Beard Blooming

About 3 years ago, I decided I didn't have many flowers blooming in my yard in the fall.  I went out and bought 3 blue beard plants.  They were just little twigs then, and I planted them what I thought was a good distance apart.  Now they are overgrown, too close to a baby crepe mytle, and need to be moved. I wanted to wait until they bloomed one more time.

 

They attract lots of bees and butterflies.

 

 

Chase and Keeper went out with me this morning when I was taking pictures.

 

 

Keeper watched me from the patio.  He doesn't like to walk on grass.  I suspect he was raised in a kennel with cement floors.  He was found wandering around in the woods about 3 years ago.  He had Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, double ear infections, worms and was about 15 lb. underweight.  Now he is healthy, and you wouldn't suspect his past unless you look at his ears, which are shredded at the edges.  I also think he was fixed by an amateur because the first vet he saw, couldn't say for sure if he had been neutered or not.  He is timid and very independent.  He has just decided that he likes to be petted, but he doesn't understand how to fetch or play. 

 

 

Chase is our watch dog. He is always alert and lets me know when there are any birds in the yard or people in the cul-de-sac.  He is nine years old,  about 30 lb., built like a corgi but with the coat and tail or a golden.  He loves to play and do tricks.  We call him our circus dog.  He can roll over, give high fives, spin, and fetch a ball.  Chase is neurotic and axious. He was getting over-dependent on me which is why we took in Keeper, hoping the canine company would help him.  

 

 

 

One Block Wonder and the Die Cutter

At my class last night we focused on getting our fabrics lined up and getting them cut.  The plan was to use the store's die cutter to speed up the cutting.  But the die cutter was acting up and not cutting cleanly.  The owner tried several things to fix it, but none of them worked.  About 1/3 of my 'blocks' got cut out, so I will have to go back again next week.  Here are 30 sets all cut out.

In theory, the die cutter saves cutting time and also trimming time since there are no dog ears.  It is a little frustrating, though, to have to go back. No one in the class got all their triangles cut. There was a lady from Williamsburg in the class who did not get hers finished either, and she has to drive an hour to come back to the shop.  I hope things get figured out before I go back.

This weekend will be consumed with a soccer tournament, so no sewing until next week.

Stash Report, Plus Eight Yards

This week I added 8 yards of fabric to my stash for  a stack and whack class  I'm takingThursday night.  This was the most expensive fabric I've ever bought ($11.49/yard!), but I liked it, and I had a gift certificate to use.

I used Marti Michell's Magic Mirrors to see what kind of blocks I can expect to have.

Used this week: 0  yards

Used Year to Date: 64.75 yards

Added this week: 8  yards

Added year to date:  30 yards

Net Used: 34.75  yards

Spider Web Quilt Top Done, Stash Report

This week I got the spider web quilt top put together.  It's not quilted yet because I quilt by checkbook, and we have 2 college tuition payments coming up soon.

Used this week: 5.5  yards

Used Year to Date: 64.75 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added year to date: 22 yards

Net Used: 42.75 yards

World Yo Yo Contest

One of my kids is competing in the World Yo-Yo Contest in Orlando Florida this weekend.  Bet most of you didn't even know there was such a thing.  Here's the link to the live feed:

http://www.worldyoyocontest.com/2012worlds/

Yo-yo players compete in the trick ladder ( a list of tricks that gets consequently harder), off-string yo-yoing (yo-yo not attached to a string), free style (yo-yoing to music) and yo-yoing with a counterweight on the end of the string.  There are also top  and diablo contests.  Most of the players are boys and young men.  It takes a lot of coordination and practice to learn the tricks. 

When my son first got interested in yo-yos, my husband would take him down for the competition.  Later, all of us would go down as a family and hit Disney while we were down there.  This year, it's just my husband and son again.  He is being sponsored this year by G Squared, a newish company.  When you are sponsored by a yo-yo company, you usually get your registration fee paid for competitions.  You also get free t-shirts.  You don't get rich!

How does this relate to quilting?  I want to make my son a t-shirt quilt out of his yo-yo shirts.  He has quite a collection.  Most of them are black or another dark color (the better to see the yo-yo string).  If you have any words of wisdom for making t-shirt quilts, please let me know. I have also been looking for novelty fabric with yo-yos on it.  Once in a while I find something printed with old fashioned toys, but those prints are generally too babyish for a 20 year old guy.  So let me know if you ever see a yo-yo fabric, please.