Off Script...

I had grand plans for accomplishing a lot during my light week so I could have things ready to share next week when I'll be hard pressed to spend more than ten minutes on my computer. It's only Monday of the easy week, but you know if I'm writing this - that plan is already falling apart. 

The pictures I took over the weekend? Won't download to either computer.

The yardage of cotton ribbon I bought two weeks ago? Lost in the depths of the house.

The batting I was going to use today? Equally lost - or, more likely, I used it already and forgot.

Oh, and that light week? I wound up working part of today and scheduling to work for part of Wednesday as well. I shouldn't complain. I like my job most of the time, and I certainly like having some hours - and therefore some income (without it, I'd be hard pressed to do anything crafty!). But I don't deal well with change.

On the other hand, some of the unexpected happenings today are very good. We were invited to a birthday party. We started shopping for an upcoming birthday. I blocked out a weekend to go see Family C - assuming all of our schedules continue to work as they look right now. And, we got a lovely postcard in the mail. So, sometimes unexpected can be good.

I'm off to wash fabric, and quilts, and to search my house for ribbon - which almost certainly got shoved somewhere odd on my way to let unexpected company in. Which makes finding it even more difficult. If I don't find it, I'm all for unplugging the sewing machine and heading to the kitchen to try my hand at some of the cinnamon roll recipes I've been seeing on Pinterest. 

Views and Smoke

I'm sure there are parts of the world where I could get similar views... but it's views like this that make me stop and think how happy I am to be where I am.


I wrote that on Saturday for a filler post next time I had nothing to say. Now I feel I should update it with the rest of the story.

Those photos were taken 6.9.12 at about 8:30 a.m. I didn't know then, and can't tell by looking at the photos now, but a wild fire was just beginning to burn in the mountains visible in the right side of the first photo. By that evening, we were able to take photos of the fire from out backyard. Last I heard, the fire was burning more than 52,000 acres.

6.9.12 

6.10.12 - smoke

I haven't taken any more recent photos - because right now, you can't see the mountains for all the smoke. Everything is gray and hazy, and our throats hurt from breathing the smokey air. I can't imagine how much worse it must be for those living in the path of that huge plume of smoke.

This kind of wildfire is one of the things I don't love about living in Colorado. As my husband puts it, being a semi-arid area means we're dry enough to burn but wet enough to have things to burn - and dry enough not to be able to stop it. That's what it feels like at the moment. We're lucky to be several miles from the fire, and for the most part, we've been very lucky in missing most of the smoke as well - but we have friends who haven't been so lucky, people who have smoke thick in their homes and people who have been evacuated and possibly even lost their homes.

Right now, we can hardly see our neighbors' houses - and the air is burning both eyes and lungs. Even a wind blowing the right direction wouldn't be amiss. Rain doesn't seem to be in our forecast. But I think we're all hoping it comes anyway.



Washing the quilts now is more unappealing than ever, when I know they'll smell like smoke and need re-washed again soon. But at the moment, it feels like that rewashing will have to be by the recipients - my house and water may never be smoke-smell-free again. I feel petty whining about smoke smell when I think of the people who have lost their homes or people who have to wear masks inside their homes because the smoke goes right through their house.

Progress

Wonky Stacked Coin Quilt

Awaiting washing and drying

April Showers/May Flowers I and II Quilts

I: Quilted, awaiting washing

II: Basted and turned, needs quilted, washed

Pansy Patch Project

This is hardly even started. But I need to be working on it.

Half-Square "Procrastination" Quilt

Top completed. Needs: back finished, basted, quilted, bound, washed

Monkeys and Bananas Quilt

Awaiting washing and drying

Teddy Bear Blanket

Awaiting washing and drying

Terry Cloth Bibs

Waiting for me to find snaps/fasteners. And I suppose these should be washed as well.

Welcome Baby C Package

Finish and wash all handmade items.
For Mom&Dad - what can I get new parents to make them feel special and not forgotten?
Take a final photo, then package it all up and go see Family C

My 8th Quilt: Monkeys and Bananas

Yes: I know my last shared finish was my 5th. I haven't yet revealed my 3rd or 4th. And yes, quilts 6 and 7 are still in progress. I probably should have started numbering them based off the order they were finished in, but I started numbering off when I finished the tops and I'm sticking with it.

My 8th Quilt: "Monkeys and Bananas" for Baby Girl N.

At this point, the quilt is just shy of 36" square. I don't expect any shrinkage in the wash/dry cycles, but surprises do happen. Total work time on the quilt was less than 6 hours from start to finish - certainly my fastest yet. Even better? All the fabric came from my stash and the batting was a bit left over from another baby size blanket.

It's hard to see, but it's backed in two pieces of striped flannel: yellow/white and green/white. I've yet to find a lighting situation where these really show. Actually, that's really true for the whole thing - I know the top tends to either be too dark or too washed out. I'll keep trying for a better picture before I give it away in a couple weeks. 

I'd hoped to bind it in the blue polka dot fabric used around the single monkey portrait frames - but an error in cutting led to a little shortage. Rather than stressing myself, I pulled another piece from the stash. It's nearly impossible to tell in any photo I've taken, but the binding fabric is a blue/aqua with slightly lighter hearts repeating in a semi-organic pattern. Like the scalloped quilting, I think this is a tiny touch that helps bring the top from something I was worried about to something I love.

From the time I began plotting the top design and running math to finishing the last stitch of attaching the binding took about 26 hours. I don't think I've ever finished a sewing or quilting project so quickly - both in actual hours of labor and in the time between beginning and end.

About the time I turned out the lights Friday morning (after completing the top) I realized I could have used some short cuts in my top assembly and save myself some time. Rather than making individual blocks with individual frames I should have thought to make longer blocks with longer frames (at least top and bottom) then cut them to size and added the side trims. When working without a direct pattern or tutorial, I never think of ways to cut corners in time - which is part of why I was so excited to try a Disappearing 9 Patch. I guess I need to keep teaching myself to think about ways to make fewer individual blocks/cuts!

2 Years Ago

Photo Credit: Life Clicks Photography

Photo Credit: Life Clicks Photography

G -

I love you for who you are, for who you will become, and for who I am because I know you.
You are my inspiration, my comic relief, my reality check, and my friend.

...

From this day on we will walk hand in hand along the same path. We will have many adventures and we will grow old together because in all that life may bring us, my love and friendship are yours.

 - A

(from my wedding vows)

My 5th Quilt: April Showers/May Flowers I

April wasn't my favorite month. We had a lot of bad news and too much stress. Amid the sleepless nights, the tears, and the frustrations, I determined to make something beautiful come out of the month. That's how my attempt at a Disappearing 9 Patch block turned into what I called my April Showers/May Flowers quilt. 

Front

When I purchased these pre-cuts, I thought the fabric was a little too wild for me but potentially perfect for a gift quilt. Initially, I was inclined to describe the pieces as 90's Florida hotel upholstery-esque.

That changed once I started working with it.

Back

By the time my top was completely sewn, I knew I'd be keeping it.

I like to think it's the beautiful flower that came out of the month's showers.

Since the patterns are so busy, I kept the quilting very simple - diagonal lines breaking it up into diamonds.

It's not a large quilt - measuring only 37" square. It's a little too small to be a comfortable lap sized quilt, at least for how I use quilts. I'm tempted to make it a wall hanging - I have some empty wall space in the bedroom that could certainly use brightening up... 

But at least for now, I'm simply going to enjoy it and be thrilled that something beautiful came out of April. 

These pictures are looking a little fuzzy when I preview the post - though they look clear enough elsewhere. Are they fuzzy looking to anyone else? 

"Monkeys and Bananas" Quilted!

Proving that every once in a blue moon I can start and finish a single project without being distracted - the quilt I started Thursday night was basted and quilted before lunch on Friday.

After a little trial and error on some scrap fabric, I settled on one of the stitch settings on my Kenmore machine. The repeating scallop pattern makes me think of the trim on Victorian houses or sweet little play houses. I think it's a slightly more girly touch to what felt like a fairly gender neutral quilt.

This was my first time quilting with anything more than a straight stitch - and I couldn't love the result more! I'm not sure if any of the other pre-set stitches would work for quilting, but I'm going to find out. As soon as I'm ready for July...