Brrrrr

 Baby, it's cold inside! My furnace stopped putting out warm air yesterday.  Took a while to notice as I was loading this quilt onto the frame.

This room is always cold (about 5-7 degrees colder that the center of the house) but about half way through loading the quilt I was thinking it was really cold. Checked the thermostat - 66 degrees. Hmmm, it is set for 68. So I cranked it up and listened - nothing. Boogers!

The heating and air technician was out this afternoon. Luckily the furnace can be fixed. Unluckily he didn't have the part on him so he'll be back tomorrow.

Thank goodness for electricity and gas fireplaces.

It doesn't put out a lot of heat but it takes the chill out of the room. I also have a little space heater that I've set up in my sewing room. I've also found no heat is good incentive to clean house...heats up those cold muscles (hehehe). 

So last week I showed a little teaser of a squirrel donation quilt...I finished it a couple of day's ago.

The panel was actually for a toddler's soft book. I cut it up and add rail strips. I love how it turned out. I had enough of the rail strips that I decided to piece a back for the dinosaur quilt...

...but it is just too cute to be a back. So I found a great teal fabric for the dinosaur quilt (it is already pinned and ready for quilting) and some soft flannel scraps to back the rail quilt. A bonus quilt!

Now, no new quilts are allowed. I must focus! As soon as the heat is back I'll finish the quilt on the frame and load the rail quilt. Or put the borders on the my February UFO Challenge quilt. Or sew the Exploding Heart top together. Or quilt....see what I mean about needing to focus.

Quiet Week

  

Last week was quiet, lots of errands / shopping / appointments, and not much sewing. To be honest, not much interest in sewing.

This coming Friday is the third Friday of the month, normally the Kiwanis' Quilts for Kids meets on this day however my little county in Oregon is on the Covid Extreme list so no meeting. I realized if we did meet I wouldn't have anything to contribute to I quickly loaded one of the quilt tops I picked up at the last meeting onto my frame....where it sat for three days.

Last night I finally quilted it. It was a wrestling match! I tried to quilt single and double loops but the machine just dragged...I know it is not the machine it is the carriage. After several attempts to figure out what was wrong I realized one of the track wheels was caked with crud. After cleaning them all things were much smoother.

Not my best quilt job but not too bad. I got it trimmed up today and found a fabric in my stash to use for the binding. Once the binding is on this will be my first finished quilt for 2021.

Someone kept trying to "help" while I was trimming the quilt. Bella does NOT like being told no. She lunges and bites - hard. Do you remember the old TV show The Honeymooners? Ralph was always telling Alice "To the moon, Alice. To the moon!" I seriously thought about teaching Bella how to fly today. Thank goodness for squirt bottles.

One of my errands last week was picking up the Sew Steady extension table for my new sewing machine. I ordered it when I purchased the machine and it finally arrived. I ordered the 24 x 24 table. It is large!

See the colorful pile of fabric in front? Since I don't have enough WIPs/UFOs I cut out a new donation quilt today. It should go together quickly. I'd really like to have a second donation quilt finished soon. What I really need to do is focus on finishing a few other quilt tops. Focus Joy. Focus!

Reality Check

 

The reality check is that if I have not made the quilt for the last 20 years due to those curves I'm not going to do it now.  If they were just curves I'd probably have it done by now, but it's not. This is the piece:

The curves are supposed to taper to points at both ends - if you look at the right point it is about 1/4 inch off. About four years ago I made enough to make one block. I probably took apart each piece at minimum twice - a LOT of bad words were said. The unfinished block was supposed to measure 12 1/2 inches. Mine measured 13 inches - if I trimmed it down I'd lose all the points.

Last Monday after writing my post I couldn't sleep. I didn't do any sewing for three days. I had just about made the decision to chuck the whole project or see if anyone else wanted it, and I was feeling okay with that decision...then I looked at all the extra fabric that was included in the kit...hmmm. I also took a second look at the pattern...hmmm. For the most part the quilt used 12 inch blocks, maybe  - maybe, I could make different 12 inch blocks?  Hmmm.

First try:

Okay, concept works but the results are really blah.

Second try:

Ummm..excuse me...

Better...A little busy, still a little blah, but I can live with it. Next week I'll brave the Y-seam mitered borders.

Just so you know it wasn't a complete loss. I made a table topper with the one block I did finish.

I know it looks pretty but I had to iron/sew in pleats to get the center to lay flat and I think each side is a different size.

If anyone wants the curved pieces and parts to make the blocks, the magazine with the pattern, and the plastic temples I had made to cut the pieces, let me know I will happily mail them to you. Just know you have been warned.

Yikes!

 

Normally the pictures on my phone/camera determine what I'm going to post here...this morning this was the only picture I had.

How boring is that? I had enough Sunny Lane scraps to make two placemats. The pieces and parts will be used to make the back for each placemat.

So the hunt was on to find something to post...Okay, how about the results of my January UFO Challenge.

I knew I wouldn't finish this cross stitch project but I am pleased with the progress and my attitude toward the project - I've enjoyed working on it this past month and I know I will continue until it is done. It is no longer a UFO but a WIP.

I also worked on my 2021 blackwork project. I'm about two weeks behind but that is okay. As I mentioned the last time I showed it, the flowers and multiple thread colors in each box are a challenge and take a little bit longer to stitch than last year's filler boxes.

Even though I made a list of new projects I wanted to make this year I'm not going to start a new one for February. I did get all of the blocks sewn and squared up for January's Exploding Heart quilt but it is going to be a lot of work putting these rows together and not screwing up.

Should we start a betting pool for how many times I screw this up? Funnies aside, I am loving this quilt and my fabric choices (I do need to move some of those yellow daisy around). Bella is not allowed in the spare bedroom while this is laid out on the bed. It would really explode if she got a hold of it.

And now my February UFO Challenge - #2 on the list...can I skip this one? NO! This is my oldest UFO and I am determined to make significant progress on it in February. I tried to see if I ever showed this before but couldn't find a post (might need to go back more than six years). I know I did work on it at one of Lynn Wilder's retreats three or four years ago.

Click on the picture and look at the date in the bottom right corner...that is when I started this project. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate dislike curved piecing? Or Y-seams? This quilt has both.

It is the first kit I ever bought - I still think the fabric and colors are beautiful. All the blocks are cut out and ready to sew...maybe we should start another betting pool on how many excuses I come up with to not work on it...or how many swear words I say as I'm piecing those curves. ;o)