Saturday, April 29, 2017

Stuck in a Rut, Spinning Wheels

I hate the feeling of spinning in circles.  It leaves me feeling out of control of my life, and that's when I start snacking when I shouldn't snack, or spending money when I shouldn't spend.

Squiddle needs to get on board the potty training wagon.  He's three and a half!  But he's refusing.  Big boy undies with dinosaurs on them and the promise of a castle bed aren't working as motivation.

The castle bed will be coming regardless; it's already ordered.  Because Jazzy is outgrowing the bassinet in Wonderful Husband and my's bedroom.  So he needs to move into Squiddle's room and the convertible bed needs to be converted back to a crib for him, and Squiddle needs to move into a proper toddler bed.

The two boys sharing a room is not rubbing Wonderful Husband right.  I don't understand why - he and I share a bedroom, they're smaller than us, they're the same gender.  Etcetera.  My sister and I shared a room almost until I hit double digits.  But he's never had to, so he doesn't have the same feelings about it as I do.  And it's making him itch to be on with the moving house thing.

Which will happen sometime in the next year-and-a-bit.  Because the elementary school down the street from us has a 1 out of 10 rating.  So we need to finish sprucing up this place and sell it and move somewhere with better schools.  And a house with at least one more bedroom!

Feeding into which is the possibility that he may, in half a year or so, be able to get permission to work permanently offsite from his job.  Which, if he does, well, that frees us up to move just about anywhere.  And a possibility that looms large (particularly given the g-d- Santa Ana winds blowing today) is the Pacific Northwest.  Which is a really long move from Anaheim, particularly with small children in tow.  Uprooting our life here!  And we'd need to be moving someplace that (a) has an office space just for him, and (b) is not too far away from other tech jobs, just in case.  I want a house with some vintage character and large yard space for kids, gardens, maybe chickens.  He wants something modern with minimal yard space needing upkeep.  Whatever we get, we'll work it out and compromise and find something we can agree on in between our two ideals.  That's what we did last time, and what makes for a strong marriage and partnership between us.  But regardless of where we move, I'm not looking forward to the growing pains!

So, this all is why I'm feeling unsettled and in a rut.  I'm working on the last of a set of cross-stitch quilt blocks, but I have a feeling what I should probably do is unleash myself on the sewing machine.

Creating something has to make me feel better...!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Catching Up

Jazzy's big baby quilt got finished on Tuesday.  So, six days start to finish.  Not bad!  It's sat in the corner of the bedroom at the moment, awaiting a photo op on mummy-and-daddy's bed.  (Jazzy is currently napping on said bed.)

Saturday, after Mommy-Baby Yoga, we all went to the quilt show.  I was quite pleased to discover that someone had given my black/orange crane quilt a $5 "I liked this" ribbon!  And Wonderful Husband and I had a discussion about my quilts.  He thinks they're fantastic, while I think I'm middle of the road.  But then I've only been quilting for three years, and the people I look at in comparison have been quilting for, literally, decades.  So I know full well it's a false comparison and I'm doing quite well for where I am.

We ended up going quite close to the end of the show (and it was a high of 93 degrees that day, ugh) so by the time we hit the garage sale, it was fill a bag for a dollar.  I spent a dollar and got lots of books and patterns and fabric.  I was pleased that of the stuff I'd donated I only recognized one bit of fabric and one book still there.  Other people liked my discards, and I liked other people's discards.  Thus is balance maintained.

One of the things I got was a flawed-in-the-printing panel for a kid's art supplies wall hanging.  I sewed a couple of tucks to minimize the worst of the flaws, quilted it, sewed pockets on, invented some ties, and bound it.  Not bad for a dollar and a day's work, it's now helping to organize some of Squiddle's stickers and crayons and markers and the like.

Today is organization day.  I had to clear all the bins and stuff that usually live on my sewing desk to quilt the big baby quilt, plus now I have an influx of new stuff, so everything not already on the shelves is getting gone through and organized.  I should also work in the garden.  The blueberries are starting to come in, and I really need to get the next bed amended and planted.

And I am finally going to get around to turning a big bin of baby clothes into a memory quilt for my mom's friend....

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Next stage met

Jazzy's quilt is spray-basted together, my sewing desk is cleared, and the machine cleaned and oiled.  I've chalk-marked the few lines I'll need guidance on, and the fresh needle and walking foot are ready.  All I need to do is pull some spools of red thread, wind a few bobbins, and go....

Nothing lacking but the will to be conscious any longer.  Bed for me, and quilting in the morning.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Thrill Seeking

The thrill of a finish, that is.  It feels like lately all I've been sewing quilt-wise is blocks.  Blocks for the block of the month, blocks for the ugly nine-patch exchange, blocks for Block Lotto....  And while I still need to sew those latter for this month, and at some point catch up on the Solstice quilt... I've been balancing that out with some reading.  Specifically, The End of the Stash and the Stash Less series.

I pulled a couple huge bags of "I love this, it's fun, but I'll never actually make anything from it" fabric-and-miscellanea from my wall'o'fabric and donated it to the garage sale attached to my guild's quilt show next weekend.  And from the big works-in-progress bin, I pulled out baby quilt blocks.

When Jazzy was born in September, my guildmates, unbeknownst to me, made up 9" I-Spy novelty blocks for me.  44 of them.  Plus one fat quarter and a label.  So I spent yesterday working out a design.  Do you know how difficult it is to find a nice layout for 44 blocks?  I pulled seven of my own fabrics, used part of that fat quarter, and made up two more blocks for a six-by-seven grid with one more block in each corner of a border.  This "baby quilt" is going to be roughly 80" x 90".  He can use it folded over until he graduates into a big-boy bed in about five years, and take it with him to his dorm when and if he goes to college. :)

I still need to figure out what fabric I'll use for the borders (and hopefully binding, as there wasn't enough of the sashing material after all), but I'm hoping to finish the top tonight and put together a backing tomorrow.  It feels really good to be working toward a finish, instead of just treading water making blocks.

Friday, April 7, 2017

This Fabric Looks Questionable To Me

I spent part of this evening sewing up nine-patches for the Ugly Fabric Nine-Patch Exchange from the material that started it all: shirtless cowboys from the trove of remnants that I stuffed into my bag at Costume College's Bargain Bazaar.

Like Bonnie Hunter says, if it's still ugly, it isn't cut small enough yet!  Amazing how slicing that fabric up into 2" squares did away with the questionableness of the subject.  All nipples save one ended up in seam allowances, blessed be!  And while a few squares still do have faces, I think I will reserve for myself the block that has a prominently placed belt buckle. :)

I made 20 blocks tonight, and still have a bit left.  I think I'll pair the remainder with a different fabric and eke out some more blocks for the exchange, just to have it all done with.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Whoopa!

Got the sample blocks for the guild done today, as well as the handout sheet.  This month (nominally in honor of our guild's quilt show later this month) I'm doing 6" spool blocks!


I added a couple variation options to the handout. For simpler blocks, a solid square in the middle.  For more complex (complexer?) blocks, string-pieced centers.  I'm hoping the guild will like it and do lots.  But then, I always hope that.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Guild Officers meeting was last night.  It kind of felt like we're starting to relax into our roles?  Of course, I say that but half of the slate have been going around the various positions for years.  (The other half of us being newbies.)  Nonetheless, it all went well and I think I've got a handle on it.  I turned in four of the five quilts I'm submitting to the quilt show.  Just one more hanging sleeve to attach!

Today I've been sewing, as the bitlets have allowed.  I've switched gears, as all that hand-sewing was making my lower arm ache.  Instead, I cut out the 18 blocks for the Block of the Month (6 for the guild board/pot, 12 for my own quilt) and sewed up my dozen.  I think it works, and I've come up with two variations (one simpler, one more complicated) for when I write up the directions sheet.

With luck, I'll get to photograph and sew up those last six blocks tomorrow, and write up the instructions.  Then I move on to the Ugly Fabric Nine-Patches, and then back to sewing on that last sleeve.  And then I'm all caught up, phew!

(And then, once the guild meeting next Tuesday has passed, I do Block Lotto blocks, and cut out and sew new jammies for Squiddle.  And then lather, rinse, and repeat everything else for next month. ^_^)