On to the next project

I'm aiming to give several people quilts this Christmas.  Wonderful Husband found a design he thinks will work well for a particular person, and it's one I'd be interested in sewing.  But I'm making him pick the colors/fabric, preferably from my stash.

So while he's dithering on that, I've pulled out a set of sixteen muted-color four-patch blocks I got at Costume College last year, and laying them out on the bed.  Four of one fabric surrounded by the twelve of the other fabric makes sixteen, so if I do one more round and some sashing, I'll need to make another twenty blocks, but that will bring it to a good size.  I've been auditioning various fabrics from the stash.  I have one piece that will work well - but I've only enough of it for another twelve blocks.  Maybe if I do the four corners in a different fabric?

I think I just need to pick one and start pressing.

Also, I need to bite the bullet and submit my wallhanging and maybe a bed quilt to the Orange County Fair.  Maybe the crane quilt?  The deadline is tomorrow at 6pm.

A Finish!

I was good, I took pictures!  Here's the X-Plus quilt, as held up by Wonderful Husband in the shade:

It's approximately 70" x 80", made mostly from blocks won from Block Lotto simple straight-line quilting to follow the X and Plus motifs, and the binding is a bunch of black-and-white print scraps that finished it off pretty well.

And a picture of the quilt on a quilt's natural environment: a bed.  Though this one is maybe more of a sofa snuggle quilt size?  Regardless, I think it turned out well.

Vintage baby quilt salvage

I finished sewing the binding down on the X-Plus quilt last night and tossed it through the washer and dryer.  This afternoon I pulled out the next project in the queue:

I bought this baby quilt for $8 at an estate sale back in early April.  (Pictures from then. Jazzy was napping on the bed and I draped it atop him to take the photo.)

Most of the appliques had areas where they had lifted away.  I spent this afternoon repairing them.  I also hand-darned a couple of small tears - one on the ground fabric, two on a hat.  The quilting is broken all over the place but I'm not sure I have the skills or patience to fix all the breaks.

Two of the three fisherboys had lost most of their fishing lines.  I re-embroidered those.  I need to put a new binding on the quilt, but I don't have any appropriate fabric.  I do, however, have a couple gift cards to Orange Quilt Bee, so I figure I'll take this there on Wednesday and ask for help.

Then, after I repair the binding, I'm planning to soak it for a couple days in some Retro Clean and see how many of the stains come out.  And put on a label detailing what I've done to the quilt.  Then... I dunno?  It's not sturdy enough that I'd want to use it as intended, but it's also not really right for a wall hanging.  Maybe I'll ask my guildmates for suggestions.

Git R Done

HA.  Not only have I consolidated my three racks of thread spools down into two (thereby removing the one on the floor which would've been in reach of the baby when he inevitably realizes there's an area of the house into which he has not yet crawled), but ALSO I sat down yesterday evening and just JAMMED at the quilting.  Admittedly it's all straightline quilting, which is far less time consuming than free-motion, but within four hours (which includes a break for dinner) I got the X-Plus quilt all quilted.

(Yes, I'm feeling chuffed.  Thus the not-quite-random capitalizations.)

Today, around Squiddle's morning class and all the usual household folderol, I've been pressing and cutting black and white prints into strips to make the binding...

Hot Weather Has Arrived

We have apparently hit flea season.  Joy!  The cat (Sushi) got treated with Advantage II before I let him out this morning, and, as Squiddle had at least a couple dozen bites on him this morning (I actually picked one flea out of his hair) all his bedding is going through the wash on hot.  As will be the sofa covers later.  And I'm squashing every flea that I find.  Jainist I'm not.

It's turned quite hot the last couple days but is supposed to cool down again later this week.  I did take advantage of the relative coolth this morning to get the X-Plus quilt basted together.  I want to start in on quilting it!  But I know I'll be less miserable if I wait on it until midweek.  So meantime I need to find other projects (beyond the omnipresent housework) to do....

Grr

My first instinct was right; even cut and pieced, the length of fabric is about five inches too narrow for the quilt top.  So I've pulled a second, coordinating, piece to turn into a roughly ten-inch strip down the center.  Of course, I'd already put the ironing board, iron, cutting mat, ruler, and rotary cutter away....  Ah well.  My own fault for jumping the gun.  I just really wanted to get this one basted today.  But now the Squiddle is up from the nap he refused to take today, and overly active.  Le sigh....

A Flimsy Finished

Got up early this morning and started sewing.  The X-Plus blocks are now a top and I've pulled some fabric for the backing.  I'm not sure it's quite enough; I need to look at it again and revisit my mental math in the morning.  And probably pull a second fabric to piece with it.  But for right now I need to go put away toddler toys and clean up the kitchen from making chicken pot pie for dinner... then shower and bed.

From Not Enough To Too Many

Block of the month quilt row fixed and added on.  It now fits; hooray!  Though I still need to make the April row. ^_^;;

I also laid out the X-Plus blocks on my bed and pinned them into rows.  Apparently I miscalculated (seems to be a theme this week) and I have one block extra.  Better one too many than one too few?  I may use it on the back or maybe I'll save it as an orphan for some other project.

But for tonight, since Jazzy has now discovered crawling in forward gear, my task is babyproofing my sewing area, getting things up and out of babyish reach.  Wish me luck!

Bollocks

My math apparently sucks.  I put the row together and it's 8" too short.  I did another round of math, and Wonderful Husband double-checked it for me... if I make one more block and sashing, and cut all the sashings down from 5/8" finished to 1/2" finished, then it should fit.

Sigh.  Let me go get my seam ripper....

Bobbing Along...

The boys had some overlapping nap time this afternoon, so (big surprise) I sewed!  The last twelve X-Plus blocks got put together and pressed.  Tomorrow I hope to do a layout on the bed and shuffle blocks around until it looks good, then get the top ready to sew together.

This evening I sewed the bottom sashing strip onto the May row of the quilt I'm doing from the Blocks of the Month I'm making up for my guild.  (...I still need to put together the April blocks for myself. ^_^;;)  And I cut the sashing strips and on-point triangles for the June row.  Every other row thus far has had twelve blocks, but I did the math and eight on-point 6" blocks maps pretty dang well to the twelve straight-set ones.  At least in theory.  I'll wait to see if the numbers actually pan out in practice!

Tonight I also submitted my limited class choices for Costume College.  Cutting it fine, eep!  For some reason I had the 19th in my head as the last date for picking classes.  It's a good thing I looked at the paperwork last night, because it's not the 19th - it's the 12th!  Anyhow, I have a significant disagreement with the way limited classes assignments have been getting decided last year and this year, but there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Caught Up, For Now

I spent Monday sewing as the chibis let me, and finished up the blocks for Block of the Month.  Yesterday was a hit-the-ground-running-errands day and I did remarkably well, crossing everything off my list except the one optional sewing item.  Though there was no family dinner.  Wonderful Husband forgot I had quilt guild that night, so when I called him half an hour after he was supposed to have left work... well, I ate while he was on the way home, left five minutes after he got here, and he and the chibis dined later.

Guild went well.  Eleven people turned in blocks for Block of the Month, which is about double usual, so I guess the spools went over well.  And next month's double bow tie block seemed intriguing to several, so we'll see.  I also won a door prize!  A book on wool applique. :/  I need another subhobby like I need gangrene, so I gave the book to one of the guild members who does do wool applique.

And right now I'm missing the meeting for the Wednesday morning guild, as my parents aren't back to watch the boys for me until next week.  Ah well - given that I'm feeling draggy this morning, it's just as well.

Rainy SoCal Sunday

Between Renfaire yesterday and Jazzy deciding that no, he did NOT like sleeping in the crib in the other room, neither Wonderful Husband nor myself have had much oomph today.  Despite this, the vanity got shifted down to my parents' garage and Squiddle's bed moved where the vanity used to be. There still remains a general clean-up of the stuff that came off the vanity, going through the bookcase in their room, installing a ceiling hook for a second mobile, and touching up the paint on the walls.  Then the boys' room will be done for now.

Sewing-wise, I'm working my way through rereading Marie Bostwick's Threading the Needle, and have written up the directions for the June Block of the Month.  I just need to cut and sew a few more and take illustrative pictures for the handout.

Slow Saturday Morning

My boys took their nap in the car yesterday as we drove back from checking in at my parents' place.  So no sewing time.  And we're planning to go out to the Renaissance Faire today, so no sewing time today either.  But I've been embroidering the last quilt block in snatched moments, as well as rereading the Cobbled Court series by Marie Bostwick.  I found Thriftbooks and splurged and bought all eight.  So I actually have one whole new book to read (From Here To Home, as my local libraries never got a physical copy in) but I'm treating myself by rereading the others first.

And it's supposed to rain today, glory be...

Sleepy Boys Sewing Time!

The glamorous life of a stay-at-home mother-of-two means that I wish, hope, and pray for the 7-month-old and the three-year-seven-month to take an afternoon nap at the same time.  Some days I get my wish!

While they were sleeping, I sewed corners on the "x" squares for nine blocks.  And watched last night's Quilt-Cam while trimming the seam allowances.  And then worked more on embroidering the last of twelve cross-stitch quilt blocks while finishing up the video.  This evening I got the squares for the last three x-plus blocks done, and all twelve sets pressed, as well as sewing up two more Double Bowtie blocks.  So tomorrow I can start pairing pluses and "x"es to get the blocks done.

Around, you know, Squiddle's morning class, taking care of things at my parents' place, doing dishes and laundry and watering the garden, cooking, maybe a bit of cleaning.... :)

Inchworming Along

Last night was the quilt guild officers' meeting.  With no major upsets/news this time, and a few members out for various reasons, everything went very fast and we finished a half hour sooner than last month.  Today, following Wonderful Husband's suggestion, I got the minutes all typed up and everything ready to go.

I also mailed my fifty blocks for the nine-patch exchange I'm participating in and started working on the next block of the month for the guild.  For June I'm doing double bow ties, a bit like the ones here except in a 6" size.

And I sewed the "plus" parts of the X-Plus blocks, cut out all the white squares for the corners of the "x" parts, and cut a few more 4" squares to make the main parts of the "x" as well.  I should count and see how many more sets of 4" squares I need....

ARGH, GDI

Jazzy's first quilt gets used as a playmat on the floor for him, and thus needed to go through the wash.

Except when I pulled it out, the white was very clearly blue.  And this isn't the first time I've washed it!  So I tossed it through again.  Still blue.  I pulled it out and put it to the side and set the white laundry going, since that needs to go through this evening, and went over to Target and got a box of 72 color catchers.  After the whites finish, I'm putting the quilt through again with half a dozen color catchers....

Back in Control, Sorta

A day and a dollar later, as they say, I'm feeling less out of sorts.  The move will happen eventually.  (It was always going to happen eventually.)  We talked about it some and looked at some house listings and got ideas of what sort of compromises we can live with.  Then, of course, I figured out how to sort by school listings on Zillow late last night, so now I need to rejigger my search parameters with that factor in mind.

I also pulled out the next bag from my WIP bin (the X-Plus blocks from Block Lotto from a couple years ago) and laid out a few and asked Wonderful Husband what he thought.  There was a second baggie in with it with some pieces cut for more blocks, so I did my math and think I was going for a 7x8 layout.  More bits to cut, then I can start sewing the extra blocks.  I think this one will be a Christmas present.  For whom, I'm not yet sure.  I'll decide once it's together.