We all got sucked into Bob Ross binge watching over the holidays– in that spirit, on Saturday I had a happy little Bob Ross kind of day- except sewing, instead of painting, obviously. I gave myself the gift of one of the all sewing days I promised myself after losing some personal time to entertaining during my favorite last week of the year.

     I worked four projects along at once. I used a technique I’ve heard others talk about– people who really get things done. 1) You pin up a whole bunch of pieces to get ready to sew. 2) You move to the sewing machine and stitch them. 3) Iron. 4) Well, step four is back to step one! 

     I cycled through this process about four times doing the four projects and at a really relaxed pace– no preconceived notions about what I would finish. I did move all four ahead and even finished one of them. It was a really enjoyable day.

     First up— I finished my corn! The table runner part of it just needed a top border strip. I put this off, just because my table was a mess, I couldn’t lay it out to measure, and I also hate the border part of any project. It’s good to analyze why you get stuck on things, and wow, once I made up my mind to do it– it took no time at all. Keeping my table top clean is a top priority for this year.

      I had one pillow top of two done. For the second one, the last two corns needed their leaves. They also needed a star block. I got stuck on this, because I ran out of the background fabric– another lesson learned– plan ahead with your supplies. And on a side note– Etsy is a treasure trove of 2-3 year old fabric collections that you need more of– don’t wait much longer than three years, though.

   So Corn I am considering a “finish,” but I actually wrote in my happy planner on August 1st to quilt it and have the set ready for my living room after Labor Day. 

    Next up: A Ribbon Runs Through It. Are you tired of hearing about this yet? We’re almost there. Block Sixteen got finished yesterday. All that stands between me and a fabulous finish are a bunch of 10ft long seams, and, yes– my favorite part, again– two borders. I am absolutely determined to gut through it this week, forcing myself to do at least one seam every day. Sometimes a bit of FORCE is required in the sport of quilting, don’t you agree?

     Third project: Lori Holt’s Prairie Meadow quilt. I began and ended the day with hand stitching, and I finished Block 3. I am so happy with it! It looks so cool when all of the pieces go from glued down floppy to stitched down flat against the background. 

     This one I decided to be the boss of my own quilt and changed it up a bit– apparently, I got a little too bossy and struggled for a bit. I added more color, and some lighter lights and darker darks– that thing they told me in drawing class applies to quilt blocks, too. Lori had this mustache shaped set of leaves for her cherries, but I prefer my cherries more like the ones on a Las Vegas slot machine. I also added a little more movement by rotating the cherries like a wreath.

     Was it worth the extra time? Now that it’s finished, it certainly was, but I hope I don’t make as free with the rest of the blocks– there are other things I’d rather spend my creative time on. There is only one other block I’m not crazy about– it just has way too many circles. For now, I’m sticking with blocks I totally like– there are nine left, so there’s still plenty of choice. For the last block, I’m thinking of taking the Sew Simple shapes and making my own design– that is something that sounds really fun to me and there are plenty of shapes in the set.

     I did buy the Cute Cuts 16-1/2″ trimming template— it was wicked expensive, but I got 20% off during Christmas, and I think it will be handy to have.

     Last project of the day: The Fat Quarter Shop is having a free sew-a-long for Valentine’s Day! The quilt looks really easy to make– you can click here to go to their website and download the pattern.

    It is one big block, so you can make this really fast. I don’t need another wallhanging– I’d rather have a tablerunner, but if I make three of them, then the project is too big for my tables. 

     Then I decided to shrink the block– it did inspire me to come out with a tutorial for resizing blocks, because I am just that good at math and you can be, too. Is that something you’d be interested in? But then I wanted to use a charm pack of J. Wecker Frisch’s new collection, “Be Mine Valentine.” So cute– very vintage! I always like her collections– she’s a true artist– very illustrative. So no piece can then be bigger than a 5″ square. I would have to shrink the block way too much to get it to work, way too complicated, too many would be needed.

    

      Do you see how I get myself down the rabbit hole frequently?

I decided to make my own block– graph paper is just the best– I did that, and it came out very cute! Then, I remembered I am a machine embroiderer, and THIS BLOCK CAN BE MADE IN THE HOOP! 

   That was a really exciting moment in my day yesterday– so look for a new set in about a week, of in-the-hoop envelope blocks. Not only that, but I think we can also make a REAL fabric envelope in the hoop, and even a fun quilt label. 

    So that was my day! I really enjoyed every minute of it. I hope you can also find a day somewhere this month to go to your happy place, close the door, and work a few of those WIPs along. The world needs your completed projects, and I mean that very sincerely.

xoxo

Carol