Still Quilting, Almost Done

Some days I think I'm truly psychotic.  I have been feeling that the hand quilting on the Florabunda quilt has been taking   F O R E V E R  (said in my best teen sarcastic voice).  I'm nearly finished the quilting on the next-to-last block and was thinking how I am going to miss this when it is done.  How can I feel like I'm going to miss this and wish it was done at the same time?  Craziness.

I went to a quilt retreat two weekends ago and left the hand quilting at home.  I've been itching to do more machine sewing - actually putting together small bits of fabric into larger pieces.  I took along some scraps and sewed triangles that will eventually become a scrappy top.  But, the project I had most fun with was a small machine applique piece.  I saw on a TV sewing program a woman who teaches applique and has her students make an applique 'envelope' to hold pieces in progress without having to fold them.  I thought this was a terrific idea and decided I had to make one.  My first inclination was to make it out of some fruit fabric as the entry into my guild's challenge quilt this year.  But, when I was looking around for a pattern for this 'applique envelope', I found these terrific cat patterns by Val Spiers.  You can see her work and these designs on her blog.  Immediately, I abandoned the fruit idea and decided to make these cats.

The portfolio is a little less than 14' square and will fit nicely into the plastic tote I'm using as my applique design case.  I had to buy the foam core, but everything else is from my stash.

The other thing I accomplished on the retreat was to repair a shirt I had made for my mother-in-law some 10 years ago.  

I did this machine applique with the flowers going over the shoulder.  She gave the shirt back to me probably 2 years ago because she developed thin spots on the inside of the left sleeve.  Apparently she uses that crook of her arm to carry things.  I hesitated to do anything with it for a long time, but found it when I cleaned out the closet and decided it was high time to do this repair.  I opened up the seam on the sleeve, drew these black eyed susans, fused them to the sleeve and did a zig zag around the edges.  Just as I turned the corner on one of the middle petals, the shirt tore again.  So, the lady bug was positioned created and added to the design.

Now it's done and will soon be returned to her.  But, no more repairs - the rest of the shirt is too thin to work on.

New Car, New (old) Project

I did finally get a car.  After narrowing my choices down to 3, I test drove those 3 types one day and decided on a Mazda3.  Then it was just deciding on what I thought was a fair price, and what color I wanted.  I decided on Copper Red Mica which is, apparently, not easy to find.  I did find one at a dealer about 90 miles west of here, negotiated the price and drove the car home the day I saw it two weeks ago.  It's still strange to drive, but fun.

In the mean time, I'm still quilting on the Florabunda quilt and have 3 more blocks to do before that is complete.  This is the block I'm working on now.

I also cleaned out my craft closet (a very small space that was crammed with much too much stuff).  My guild was having a UFO auction and I used that as an excuse to clear out some stuff.  I donated some, threw out a whole bunch of junk and organized the rest.  This is what is looks like now.

 It still looks messier than I want.  I guess I should attack those flags and other decorations hanging on the door next.

Oh, and this is my entire stash (excluding the scraps I've got packed to take to a retreat soon and the plaids on the shelf below) on that shelf.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  There is really not enough of anything that goes together for a quilt, but I'm doing more scrap stuff and appliques lately, so it's probably not bad.  The shelves above and below the fabric have projects  and UFOs sorted into bags.  There are more of them than I remembered, so my plan this year is to finish as many as I can and get them to good homes.

Which brings me to this project.

This is what I'm calling a third generation UFO.  My mother-in-law bought these die-cut hexagons as a project for her mother some years ago.  Laura was my husband's grandmother who passed away 15 years ago.  After her death, my mother-in-law gave me all of her UFOs, including this packet.  I started these blocks a long time ago and they resurfaced when I cleaned out the closet.  I just finished piecing the blocks (by machine) and now I need some fabric for surrounding hexagons.  I'll probably pick up something this week.  I'm not terribly fond of this project, but I think it can look nice when completed.

Oh, and 6 of those UFO projects in my closet belonged to my husband's grandmother.  So, they're not all my fault.  I will take the blame for the other 4 in there, though.

I think I've made quite a bit of progress and have some good plans for what to work on next and for some time after that.

More Quilting, Getting Closer to a Car

It feels really boring to just keep saying "I'm doing more hand quilting", but, I'm doing more hand quilting.  I had done at least 30 minutes of quilting every day this month except for Saturday.  We had a gathering at out house and overnight guests.  Between preparations and entertaining guests, I never found the time to sneak away to the quilt hoop.  If I average out the time, I have spent WAY more than 30 minutes a day doing some sort of quilting, but I was disappointed that I missed a day.  And, the way the rest of the month is going, I may miss another day or two.  But, we'll see.

I have finished quilting the 8th block on Florabunda and have 4 more to go.  I love making progress.

I may have found a car.  I found one on-line at a dealer 80 miles away.  I called to see if they would meet my price and they will.  I have an appointment to take it for a test drive this weekend.  We'll see how it goes, but I may have a new car in the next couple of weeks.

A Challenge Gets Me Going

I joined Beth's challenge and have successfully done at least what I promised every day for a week.  I wasn't sure I wanted to join because I have some commitments in February that will make it difficult to quilt.  We had folks over last Saturday night and on Sunday for the Super Bowl.  Since I do most of my quilting in the evening, I wasn't sure I could fit any in, but I managed.  There was also an evening that I was feeling less than cheerful and didn't really feel like picking up a needle and thread, but I remembered that challenge and did.

So far, I've put in about 14 hours and completed another block.  If I can keep this up and complete a block a week, I should have the quilting done by the end of March.  That seems like a doable goal.

I'm north west of Boston and was caught in the blizzard yesterday.  It looks like we got 25" of snow, but it's hard to tell because of all the wind and drifting.

I decided to use the front door this morning because I didn't have a shovel inside and the back door just wasn't accessible.

But, we're all shoveled out now.  I set up my BirdCam to take a picture once a second and DH converted it into a video.  Unfortunately, most of the snowfall took place after dark.  The video is less than a minute long and you can really see the snow building up against the bumper of the car after dawn.  And, it looks like we took no time at all to clear off the driveway.

I have a few more chores to complete today then it's time for more hand quilting.

Drop and Give Me Twenty Challenge

After much thought and flip-flopping on my decision, I'm making the commitment to this challenge.  So...

I, Mair (known more formally as Maryann), a quilter of reasonably sound body and questionably sound mind, do commit, for the month of February, 2013, to spend at least 30 minutes each and every day doing some quilting, piecing, cutting, ironing, or some other activity that will bring me closer to having one or more of my current projects completed.  I am planning to work on completing the hand quilting on my Florabunda quilt (which needs 12 more blocks quilted), adding borders to the S-Charm quilt (which will then complete the top), and preparing the backing and basting the iris quilt.  I may not finish any of these projects, but seeing them get closer to completion will be a huge  accomplishment.

If you want to enter, take a look at Beth Helfter's rules here, and her blog here.  Beth (AKA Quilting Hottie) is a funny, talented quilter and designer who is hosting this challenge for the second year.  Take a look to see what everybody has pledged to complete.

Completed Socks

Fresh off the needles.  I  enjoyed making these.  My knitting experience is limited and the rib stitch for the leg was just complicated enough to keep me interested but not so complicated that I needed to keep checking a chart.  This is only my third pair of socks and I'm still not totally confident in the heel and toe.  I think these socks will be very warm.

The next socks will be another over-all pattern on the leg and top of the foot.  But, it's time to get back to quilting.  This was a good diversion and now I'm itching to get back to hand quilting.

New Socks, New Car?

I have decided to give into my restlessness and start a pair of socks. I started them on the 8th and finished the first sock last night and cast on the second.  I figure it was like a craving - if I didn't give in to the urge, it would build and build and I would have spent more time looking at knitting and not gotten anything done on anything else.  At least that's my justification.

I was toying with the idea of delaying the second sock while I did some more quilting, but I want to do the second while the pattern is still fresh in my mind.  Another justification.

The other thing that is now occupying  my thoughts is a new car.  My '97 Taurus turned over 200,000 miles in October and it was my plan to start looking for a new vehicle once I reached that milestone.  The car body is getting rusty and every time I take it to my mechanic he clicks his tongue and says " ... it's awful rusty under there...".  He's assured me it's still safe, but parts are getting fused together and it's getting harder and harder to repair.

This is the most miles I've put onto a single vehicle and, after having owned this for nearly 14 years (I bought it used), I've got to find something else.  The question is, what?  I've narrowed it down to small, 4-door sedan.  I took a trip to the library today to check out Consumer Reports and have a list of 4-6 cars that I need to check out.  I guess I'll go and do some test drives this weekend.  Honestly, the whole process of buying a new car doesn't excite me.  I'm hoping a test drive or two will help.