Lots of Squares

So, I haven't been sewing on the skirt (so much for finishing it over the weekend), but I have been cutting those strips into squares.  Lots of squares.  I'm not sure how many, but about 5.25 yards' worth. 

We got a couple of movies from Red Box this weekend, and instead of lounging on the couch I stood at the ironing board and cut on my small mat.  My left tricep is sore from holding the ruler down!  Guess it was a good workout for that.

Speaking of workouts, I did alright this week.  One more week, and I'll be able to get 5 of the FQs I need for the Summer Star Sampler Quilt Along.  And hopefully we'll keep going from there!  By the time I get all the fabric, I will probably have to put off the actual project until next spring, but I do love the quilt Bradie Sparrow came up with, and I will [eventually] make mine!

Remnants & A Cutie

Thursday at lunch I went to JoAnn’s (had to try and use up those Coupon Commotion coupons while I could!). I ended up getting the hooks and eyes I’ll need for my dress and skirts with the coupon, but my real finds were in the remnant bin. I always check the remnant bin, because every once in a while is either a hidden gem or something you needed anyways, but for cheap. Today I found a pretty white cotton with pale lilac print – the perfect scale for a Barbie dress. I also found almost a full yard of a white and blue print I’d eyed long ago but put aside for newer fabric loves. So I grabbed that one up for the stash. The lilac will probably end up being a Christmas present for my little cousin who just turned 4. The hooks & eyes and about 1.25 yds of fabric cost me all of $3.47 (including tax). Gotta love that.

 My model got distracted by his impromptu rattle . . .

Green Skirt

The green skirt is coming along. I finally got started on it after finishing up a chain of geese and changing out my thread.  After spending an evening sewing the side seams and applying the fusible interfacing to the yoke sections, last night I put the yoke on the skirt. I did a test fit, and it looks like it will be okay, although I’m not enamored with how big it is . . . (that’s why I need to exercise, so I can get back to my old, more attractive size). Next up is the zipper. It definitely does need a lining/slip, but I’m not sure I want to figure out how to put a lining in that skirt. Yes, I made up a lining, but I think to put it in I would have to rip the yoke off and re-do it, and I don’t want to do that. I guess I could just attach it to the yoke facing and then topstitch through all layers . . . maybe I’ll try that. Once this stinking thing is finished, I’ll need to try and find some kind of green top to wear with it, otherwise I believe it will be black or white tops only. And then it will be on to the dress, which will hopefully fit well (considering all the adjustments I made to the pattern) and look flattering. I actually really want to make the jacket to go with it, but one thing at a time. I have quite a bit of scrap fabric left over from both – I’m going to cut them into my scrap sizes for quilting since the fabrics are a linen/cotton blend (55/45).  I folded it in half for this picture - shhhh!

In other news, I found out that another friend is pregnant. Now I have to figure out a quilt for her! She’s not due until early next year, so I have a little more time to get ideas for that one, thank goodness! It looks like she’s going for a bit of a jungle theme, so at least I have a starting point . . .

Stripping

I've been spending my time cutting strips for Farm Gal's Folly.  They will eventually be cut down into red and green squares and cream rectangles.  Aren't they pretty?

A Sixth Sense

I did a quick run to JoAnn’s the other day, and found some more fabric for Farm Gal’s Folly. I got 7 FQs and a yard of green fabric. The FQs were $0.99; how could I resist? Three of them were not for FGF – two were to save for the Farmer’s Wife Quilt next year because they looked like they could pass for reproduction fabrics, and one for the stash because it was cool. Well, I got home, washed the fabric, and was ironing it dry, and noticed part of a selvage on the Farmer’s Wife fabrics. Lo and behold, they were Sturbridge Village Harvest fabrics! Mwahahahahaha – designer fabrics for $0.99 from JoAnn’s! I was so frickin’ excited, and so proud of my fabric sense.

*Chair Dance* :D *Chair Dance*

I had an epiphany about the baby quilt!!!  I was thinking about how I have the brighter solid-looking fabric, and then the more vividly patterned fabric with the light background, and how I wanted to use a sashing/background fabric but wanted *POP* and contrast. 

I had thought if only there were some way to surround the light/patterned fabric with the bright/solid-looking fabric . . . and then this morning at like 5am Ka-pow!  Economy blocks! – the simple version (I guess a lot of people call it Square in a Square, but I have always seen that as the Economy block). 

The blocks will be set on point with sashing in between.  I had planned on doing a pieced backing, and I believe I will still be able to!  Yee-hah!  I’m excited to finally have a solution!  Don’t you love all the exclamation points?!?! 

Here are my 6 half-yards of fabric . . . I told you it was themed . . . The colors on the bottom are brighter than they appear in this picture.  Fabric is By the Sea by Johnny Karwan for Clothworks and was purchased from Fabric Shack and Over the Rainbow.  Do you know how hard it is to find cute crab fabric?

Now I want to start cutting and piecing blocks!  But I said I was going to work on the green skirt tonight . . . guess I should do that.  Oh well, now that I have a plan, I can let the crabs rest for a bit while I work on the other priorities.  I love white solid sashing, but what do you think? 

Focus

I need to focus. I am bored with all my projects and want to jump into new ones, but that is against my goals for the year. I’m not doing so swell on my goals. So this post is me re-working my plan for the rest of the year.

 

• Farm Gal’s Folly – Oi! This is so much work. I still don’t have anywhere close to enough material. I’m way behind on my daily quota of geese blocks. I love the thought of the project, but I’ve decided to scale it back by one quilt (one of the recipients I’m not so close to anymore). So 5 quilts instead of 6. Still a LOT of work. I may not make it by Christmas. But I do want these ladies to have these quilts. So I keep chugging along. What I really need are some awesome sales or a trip to a quilt shop to find some fabrics I haven’t seen yet. At least I don’t hate the geese yet. Did you see the pretty plastic containers I got for my current projects? It’s nice to have all the pieces in one place.

• Remember my Double Star Creams quilt for the master bedroom? Mary said I should think about scaling it down somewhat so I could just get it done (since I’ve been working on it for, like, 3 years or so). I was resisting, but I’m thinking now about a table runner and maybe some other small projects with the blocks. I have 13 blocks complete and several cut out, so I guess first things first is to finish sewing up the blocks and then go from there.

• A Punch of Piccadilly is coming along as a leader-ender project. I am almost finished with the 4-patch blocks and will start on the 16-patch blocks after that. I love seeing the pile of finished blocks grow. It’s fun to grow a second quilt just from a seam here and there. 

• I have a green floral skirt cut out and sitting. The lining is finished, but the skirt itself, well, I’ve been putting it off. It won’t take long, and the hardest part will be inserting the zipper, which isn’t all that hard (at least, not when I’m well rested and in a good mood).

• The gray floral dress that I cut out this weekend is waiting patiently. It really won’t take too awful long to sew up, but I am procrastinating. I tend to procrastinate on clothes because I’m scared I’ll do all this work and they won’t fit. I made alterations to the pattern based on my measurements, so I’m doubly nervous this time. I just need to suck it up and get on it.

And now for new projects I have on taps for the rest of the year (in addition to those WISPs above).

• The Summer Star Sampler Quilt Along – I totally am going to make this quilt; it just isn’t going to be at the same time as everyone else. I came up with the bright idea to bribe reward myself for exercising with fabric for this quilt. I did well the first two weeks, but have sunk into the abyss since then (see previous post about sick baby, dog recovering from surgery, and overflowing garden). I will get back on track and get the fabric and make this quilt . . . at some point. I got my first bribe reward this week in the mail, and it was so pretty! Love, love, love, love, LOVE! The custard toile is gorgeous!

• A throw quilt for a Christmas gift . . . I can’t give details because she may pop in here from time to time
• A themed quilt for our friends’ little one scheduled to make his/her arrival late this year. I have the fabric, but I am beyond frustrated on the design. I thought I had it all figured out, but now, I am back at square one. Gah.
• A gray jacket to go with the gray floral dress – have fabric and pattern
• A blue work skirt – have fabric and pattern
• A black work skirt – have fabric and pattern
• A (different colored) gray work skirt – have fabric and pattern
• Random Christmas Projects
• Other WIPs that have been languishing

Okay, this list is getting scary. And this is just what I’m hoping to accomplish the rest of this year! I totally know I can get it done (except maybe Farm Gal’s Folly). But, I think I need a retreat . . .

Tonight, I will get the sewing machine into the kitchen while canning carrots and work on that green skirt. It would be great to knock that one out.

In a Flitting Mood

I can’t help it; I’m a flitter.  I get bogged down in projects, and I have to have several going on at once. 

Right now, I have the Farm Gal’s Folly project (which may be doomed to failure), A Punch of Piccadilly (leader-ender project), my Double Star Creams quilt for the master bedroom (this may also get changed), a skirt, and a dress in the works.  That doesn’t include some other projects I haven’t started but need to work on soon.  But I’m tired of all of them. 

What do I want to do?  Why, start on The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt, of course.  I got the book for Christmas last year, and I want to work on it NOW.  Alas, I know I shouldn’t.  But I really, really, really want to.  I’m going to try and be a good girl and leave it be until January 1, 2011.  I’m going to make it a project for next year.  Two blocks a week, some weeks three, finishing it by the end of the year. 

For now, I guess, I need to get back to making flying geese, 4 and 16-patches, and double star blocks.  And finishing the skirt and sewing the dress.  *Sigh*

Sewing takes a hike

I haven’t been sewing much lately (again) because we’ve had a lot going on.  The biggest things are:

1)      Our dachshund slipped two discs in his back two weeks ago.  After managing his pain for a few days and some decline, we opted for surgery (something I never thought I’d do).  Now we are ten days into recovery, which could take some months.  He can tell now that he needs to go out but can’t walk, so we have to take him out several times a day, using a sling to support his hind legs.  We also have to do physical therapy exercises several times a day to keep his muscles and joints active while he’s healing. 

2)      Our son developed a cough over Independence Day weekend, which settled into his chest.  I saw him touch his ear twice and thought possible ear infection?  Luckily, we had a doctor’s appointment scheduled, so he is using a nebulizer for the chest cold and taking amoxicillin for the ear infection.  He seems to be doing better now, but we have to do the nebulizer ever 4 hours when he’s awake.  Have you ever done a breathing treatment on an active 9 month old?  It’s not pretty.

3)      Hubby has a lot going on at work, so although he helps, he’s been busy going back and forth to the barn in the evenings and leaving for work early in the mornings.  That leaves most of the baby and dog dealings to me.

 

Between the baby and the dog, I am ready for bed by 9pm most nights.  This hasn’t boded well for my house or my sewing projects.  A dress I had hoped to sew up this week hasn’t even been cut yet, and my quilting projects are just hanging by the machine. 

 

Let’s not even talk about my garden.  The poor flowers are wilting from the heat and lack of watering and TLC, and my veggie garden, well . . . it’s a veritable jungle.  A jungle with lots of produce starting to ripen . . . which means I’ll need to become a canning queen soon.  Ahhhhh!

 

So what’s a working mom cum nurse cum Jolly Green Giant to do?  Call in the troops – my mom!  She came yesterday afternoon and is going to keep the little one at home the rest of this week.  I figured it would be easier on everyone than daycare having to deal with the breathing treatments.  Not only is it great to have an extra set of hands, but she’s been helping me clean!  The bliss!  I may get to actually sit down and sew here in a day or two!

 

I promise I’m going to try to sew and try to blog more . . . it’s just a bad time of year for all that.