Dresden / Butterfly top preview

Thanks to the quilt group time (in June), I managed not only to finish the fourth butterfly needed to round out the Dresden quilt, but I even pieced them into the larger blocks I needed -- and placed things together for a preview of the top!

I had just enough background fabric to piece the approximately 5 inch butterfly blocks into two 12 inch blocks.

The two butterflies closest to the Dresden plate are made from fabric pulled directly from the plates / scraps that came with the quilt. The two farther removed butterflies are partly (orange) or all (green/black) pulled from my scrap stash.

Since I had a little bit of extra time -- and not much desire to start on another project in that little bit of time -- I started practicing my planned layout:

I had thought to put the butterfly sets in the center (as shown above) but all the feedback I've gotten says to move it to the top row. I have a while to think about it, but I'm leaning towards not listening. I like it how it is now.

Right now, finished size is on goal to be around 40 - 42 inch square. I like it, but it feels just a little small. Then again, not all babies are the size of mine! Still, I'm debating adding a thin brown then a thick yellow border just to add 3 - 5 inches before the dark brown trim. I think the best option is to finish the top as designed above, then I can make the determination on adding extra borders once I see the real top.

On the other hand, I love the way it looks right now, and I really don't want to mess with it further.

Do I always end up in these kinds of situations? I think I usually do. Must be one of the reasons most people who quilt plan first and piece later...

I'm so nervous about adding those 4 little brown blocks. The quilt needs them, but those kinds of elements are exactly where my accuracy (or lack of) usually becomes incredibly obvious. But there's only 4 of them. Surely I can keep it together for that long!

July Check-In

Wow. It's July again.

In a few days, I'll have a one year old.

Wow.

I'm so not ready. And yet, every day is more fun than the last. So maybe I am.

Meanwhile, sometime soon -- when I never know -- I'll be going to the post office. Hopefully Monday or Tuesday, as these are quite overdue in the mail!

Blocks headed out, birthday presents headed out, and hand-me-on clothes headed out. And three more packages to wrap up and for sending or delivering.

And yes, I got to quilt a little today too. But I can't show you any progress.

Because the noticeable parts are all currently under a fluffy bottom that has no interest in moving from his lovely new spot.

Binding is ready to go on, but I guess that will wait until next weekend! There's no rush on this one, unless I want to ship it overseas... But I keep being told there will be a stateside visit at some point, so that's my target date for finishing. It's just my closest to a finish, and I had high hopes for getting one crossed off the ever growing list of unfinished / works in progress!

Outgoing, and Soon-to-be-Outgoing

I'm usually quite content to be sitting at home interacting with no one. But there's a big difference between having nice, quiet, introvert time alone and being wonderful, busy, Mama all the time. I'm not really alone anymore, and while my little 'co-worker' is a lot of fun these days, it's just not the same as any introvert time. Since there simply isn't more time to turn into introvert time, I'm looking for new ways to feel like I'm rebuilding myself, new ways to find a little more energy.

So, in terms of trying something new... well, what's newer for an extreme introvert than getting out and doing something interactive?

In June, I sent out a message to someone about sharing hand-me-downs, joined a local caregiver/child group, and joined a facebook group: Quilting for a Cause.

To some, that might not sound like much, but for me, that was a lot of 'risk' -- and so far, I think it is paying off.

These are the two blocks I made for the first quilt I'm participating in. I really wanted to do a #QuiltsforPulse, but I know there's not time in my life to do a whole quilt myself right now, so I'm glad to be participating in a group project.

What I learned so far? I made all my paper pieced butterflies backwards (mirrored?). Since I was working with myself, it didn't matter. But the first heart I started making for this project was mirrored, so it turns out I've been doing it wrong! I was able to print off another pattern and make another heart, but I did lose the green I'd really been hoping to use. I found an alternative -- not my favorite, but most of my greens turned out to be yellow-green, which wasn't what I needed. So, it was a surprise make-do moment, but I think it turned out alright.

I'm a little nervous my background choices on the orange one might be a little bit 'out there' too, but, I like it. I think it's more fun than the background choices on the green one.

Anyway, so I'm getting ready to ship these off.

Just participating in this, it's been a lot of fun. And yes, it's helped me feel a little better.

The other two 'outgoing' things have yet to turn into anything I can do yet, but I'm still feeling a little better than I was for a while. It's not quite getting out, or having coffee with friends, or whatever moms are supposed to do to help refill their personal cups, but it's helping.