They got me!

In fact, they got me good!  Those darn quilting pixies, the wee ones that sprout up in your sewing room and wreak havoc.  You know the ones.  At least, I hope you do.  I’d hate to think I’m the only one.  How else to explain those sewing days where you can’t do anything right? 

How did I sew on a border which should have been 1/4" wide and wind up with some ripply thing an eighth inch wide at its widest?  How did my little patches which should have measured 1/2" coming into said border end up measuring a sixteenth of an inch?  How many seams did I sew and take out?  When I cut the first border, measuring twice because I knew what kind of sew day I was having, how did it wind up a quarter inch too narrow?  And where did those puckers come from? 

Seriously.  I know how to quilt.  I’ve been doing it for close to twenty years now.  I have a book out.  I don’t say this to blow my own horn.  Really.  I just mean, shouldn’t having a quilt book published by a prestigious publishing house mean I know how to quilt?  All I can say is, you wouldn’t know it by the havoc that was my sewing room today.  When I went to attach that last border and found out I had cut it too short, I swear I heard little pixie giggles in the background. 

Time to admit defeat (if not lunacy).   Now, with the sewing room lights out, the iron off, and the sewing machine put to sleep, I sit here with a glass of chardonnay in hand.  And, wow, I feel so much better. 

Still, this is what perseverance in the face of supernatural opposition got me:

I liked the Kaffe Fasset medallion quilt/block so much I decided I needed to try it again with reproduction fabrics.  (Pretty much because I think anything that looks good is worth trying in reproduction fabrics.  What can I say?  We all have our addictions.)

Once again, I used EQ to find the applique design.  I started with the Birds and Leaves block from the Classic Applique: Folk Art add-on library. 

I deleted everything but the center motif.  Rotated it 45 degrees and then enlarged it to fit the block.  Easy peasy.  (I love EQ.)

So far I like the look of this little quilt, but I am a bit worried that I didn’t create enough definition and highlight with the checked border and may find myself in trouble with the square-in-a-square border that comes next.  Still, that puts me in one of my favorite territories when it comes to quilting – playing with fabric.   As for today’s various fiascos, as someone both annoying and heroic once said, “Tomorrow is another day.”

Yup.  Tomorrow morning, bloodied but unbowed, I will bravely venture forth into the sewing room once again.  Though I freely admit, if it starts off anything like today, I’m going to let the pixies call it.  I’ll head off to the library and stock up on romance novels, spend the afternoon in the rocker with a good escapist book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. 

Of course, without me to pick on, that means those wee ones will have no choice but to move on.  Fair warning.

Sweet Dreams Swap Mini

Here’s the texture quilt I sent to my swap partner for the June S.T.U.D. swap.  Her info said she liked 30’s repros and was doing a Dear Jane quilt in those fabrics. 

 

I knew right away I wanted to do a 30’s style quilt for her and decided yo-yo’s and buttons would be good texture for the time period.  This came out very cute.  Very sweet.

My husband, who has zero tolerance for cuteness (except when it comes to the dog for whom he comes all over saccharine), looked at this one for a moment and then made a gagging noise.  One thing about my dearly beloved: he always lets me know exactly what he thinks of my quilts.   (The good part of this is when he tells me he likes something, I know he does.)

I can only hope my partner, whom I remind myself likes 30’s fabrics,  has a much better response to it!

Whew!

The directions for the Messenger Bag are (finally) finished and posted on my website.  Go here to find the projects page where you can download the pdf file.

 

That’s Martha and Albert, by the way.  They’re our garden guardians, and clearly they know the secret to a long and loving relationship.  You can’t really see from the picture but Albert is wearing a beret and Martha carries a daisy.  Tres chic!

I’m hoping the instructions for the bag are clear.  Writing those directions took up a lot more time than I expected!  (Which is why the file got posted today instead of yesterday, oops).  There are a couple of pictures I wish I had taken that I didn’t and a couple of photo angles I wish I had come at differently.  Still, I’m hoping you can follow along.  But, please, do let me know if I have been unclear somewhere.  One of my most favorite phrases in the English language is “I can fix it!”  Sometimes I’m delusional when I’m telling myself this, of course, but all in all it’s been a pretty good philosophy. 

And now?  I’m going to grab a cup of coffee and go sit out on my deck and enjoy a bit of the morning.  We’ve been having some crazy weather here in Colorado this summer.  Here it is July and everything is still green, green, green!  Loving it.