Sunday, March 30, 2014

The call of the quilt

Every now and then, a good friend of mine kindly host a group of quilters for an afternoon or evening of hand sewing (or embroidery or knitting/crochet).  We try to get together every few weeks, as everyone's schedule allows.  Five of us braved the rain yesterday to gather and chat about things quilting and not, while we sewed and munched on snacks (there are always delicious snacks!).  It's always a pleasure to get together and make quilting more of a group activity.  We're a varied bunch and there's always something interesting to talk about.

Our hostess is working on a beautiful anniversary quilt for her parents, another friend smashed out a couple of crocheted preemie hats, there was appliqueing aplenty, and I stitched away on the sashing for the black/white/red/yellow quilt for my niece and her husband.  I've finished and attached seven of the ten rows and am at a temporary stand-still while I await the arrival of more black Michael Miller Cotton Couture.  I guess I didn't do such a great job of estimating how much I'd need for all that shashing!





A little after noon today, I received a call from yesterday's hostess who was having a quilting emergency and needed a sympathetic ear.  After chatting for a while, I sensed that she could probably use a little company, so I offered to stop by and lend a hand.  She accepted my offer and I headed over to provide what little aid I could.  

We spent a few hours working on her quilt, then swung by City Quilter to pick up some supplies.  The staff there never seem to judge one for getting the wrong size batting or forgetting to buy thread (I am often guilty of that one), and they're always willing to offer guidance or an opinion to help resolve an issue.  No one rolled their eyes or tsk-tsked when I confessed I hadn't bought enough black fabric to finish my quilt.  (Sadly, they were out of what I needed.  Oh, the horror!)

So, while I wait patiently for my fabric shipment, I've started planning a quilt for my sister's charity walk in the fall.  I'm going for a variation on a rainbow strip-and-flip.  I haven't seen anything exactly like what I want to do, so I hope it turns out.




And, of course I still have to work on my quilt for the Quilt Alliance contest, and the baby quilt for the guild, and those other two or three (or four or five) quilts awaiting my attention.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Am I working on too many projects?

I realize that I've already failed to meet my commitment to post weekly, and I also realize that I may have spread myself a little too thin with commitments (so what else is new?).  Here's what I've been working on lately and what I've gotten done (mostly two weeks ago).

I've made more progress on my niece's black/white/red/yellow quilt.  After getting the layout set a few weeks ago, I've assembled four more rows (for a total of seven out of ten) and I've fully attached one more row (for a total of four out of ten).  My niece and her husband were here for a visit last weekend, so I was able to show them where it stands.  They seemed pleased, but of course I did nothing on it while they were here.  We spent too much time walking around the city and eating at our favorite restaurants.


Now that they've left, I'm trying to keep things moving by doing some hand stitching on the assembled rows each evening (some nights more successfully than others).



The theme for the Quilt Alliance's 2014 quilt contest, exhibition, and auction is Inspired By.  I used a Storm at Sea quilt from the Wyoming Quilt Project as my inspiration, but on a smaller scale to fit the 14"x14" requirements of the contest.  I finished the the first four pieces for my quilt-let two weeks ago.




For our February guild meeting, we asked our members to make as many 6-1/2" green and/or yellow blocks for a baby quilt as they liked.  It turns out that we received enough blocks for two quilts.  Two of us (both, coincidentally, named Andrea) agreed to take half of the blocks and design a quilt.  Despite telling our president that with everything I'm working on I most certainly would not have the top done for our meeting in April, I couldn't let the blocks sit unattended.  Two weeks ago, I added the borders to my quilt top and plan to incorporate the three extra blocks at the bottom into a pieced back. Luckily, the quilt isn't due until the fall, so I have plenty of time to finish it (famous last words!).



And, I made some progress on a mystery project that I need to finish by next weekend.  I've tried two versions of the border and still am not happy with it.  Perhaps I'll find some inspiration this weekend so that I can move on to piecing the back. 

Of course, this means that two projects that have been waiting patiently for some attention will have to wait a little bit longer.  Seriously...how did I get to a point where I have so many projects going at once?


And so, I'm off to start sewing to try to get something finished!