my poor fingers...

Well, I got the Across the Sea QAL pinbasted.
Not a good idea after cutting up your fingers from applying 40 grommets the day before.
My fingers are owie.
Hence, no work on the Hoopla today.

Still to do tomorrow:
Skill Builder block
Quilt the Across the Sea quilt?
lace up the bits of my Scrap Bag Competition piece
Make binding for bra edge
Start sewing quilt for dance partner (I want to try to get it done this week before she goes in for surgery)
TAKE PICTURES OF STUFF

Still on the to do list, just not tomorrow:
Finish quilt for 100 quilts
Start pouch design for Pretty Pouch swap
Pincushion for Sewn Spaces swap
Hoop for Hoopla

I just need to put off hand stitching for a few days til my fingers heal.
Owie.

Dad's quilt...

My dad loves color. He's got an eye for it, as does my mom.
How does that translate?
They collect art, and, art collections aside, their home is fabulous.
Right now, mine is just a mess.

But since the quilting bug bit hard this summer, I thought about making dad a quilt, a sofa sized one to curl up with.
See, he likes to nap on the sofa, usually sitting up.
But he claims he's just "resting his eyes."

I asked him what his favorite colors were to look at.
Interestingly enough, he picked my favorites: reds and purples.
I decided on some batiks and tried to decide what else to add to the mix.
It came down to a rich, fall palette....golds, reds, burgundies, and purples.
My favorites.


I'm going to have a hard time parting with this one.




It also seemed a fitting submission to Celebrate Color over at Stitched In Color.

Wish me luck. Dad's gonna love it regardless.

Hi, my name is Ella, and I'm a chronic project starter....

Because I'm not overcommitted at all...*Cough*
I finished dad's quilt. I need to trim up some loose threads and take pics.
That's on tap for tomorrow.
I'm starting my hoopla tonight.
I won a charm pack of Lola's Posies on Tea Rose Home and decided to make a quilt using Made by Rae's tutorial for 100 quilts.
Apparently, I need to sew to clear my head.
I decided NOT to pin baste the Across the Sea QAL quilt today...
see it was stressful and I was discombobulated all day.

This morning, I saw dark spots on the kitchen ceiling. I prayed the Pirate had somehow sprayed sauce there.
Nope.
Water marks. Soft spot.
See...now I'm stuck. It could be the roof (since it rained crazy yesterday) which would be the Association's responsibility...or it could be the plumbing on the floor above me, which would be my responsibility.
I can't find any wet spots in any of my plumbing...which I know doesn't completely rule out the plumbing issue.
But the spot doesn't seem to be getting larger.
Needless to say, I've been stressed all day, juggling phone calls.
Why does the universe always hit me with this stuff on a Fri?!

Also, any prayers/healthy wishes you want to send my dance partner's way would be much appreciated. It looks like lung cancer, but it appears to be confined to the spot on her lung, a quick growing tumor. She may or may not lose a lung...but her scan results at least look less bad than they could have. (I know, it feels weird viewing one tumor as a positive, but that's where we are at this point.) She gets booked for surgery soon. I've pulled fabrics to make my favorite disappearing 9 patch. I'm trying to get it done in the next two weeks. I love sewing, but I'd really much rather give friends quilts for presents on holidays rather than presents for healing. This will be my second quilt for a friend in treatment since the summer....

Tomorrow my main challenge is making my scrap bag challenge item....and at least grommetting some of the pieces.

And, I promise...pics tomorrow of dad's quilt. I want to get it in the light.

not a lot to report today...

I'm still fighting whatever I've been fighting for almost 3 weeks now. I just feel congested.
Gave in and signed up for the Pretty Little Pouch Swap.
Chose my design (I think) for the Hoopla.
Handsewed about half of dad's quilt.
Went to the chiro. Finally got praised for not waiting until I was too tense to move.

On tap for tomorrow:
finishing dad's quilt and entering it into the Celebrate Color Sept listing
work on layout for Scrap Bag challenge, test a couple of ideas.
pin baste the Across the Sea QAL

Sat:
get all the piecing/sewing done in the Scrap Bag challenge
Clean
Start grommetting.

Does this seem too ambitious?
I also have to grade a crapload of papers, do laundry, and all those sundry everyday life, non glorious things.

WIP Wed 9.21.11

I hadn't planned on actually sewing today, but I got home earlier than expected from work...and dad's quilt is begging to be done.
So....I pinbasted it.
Then I quilted it...just straight lines.
I stopped for dance class.
Then back to quilting and and sewing on binding (the machine sewing part).
I pooped out before hand sewing.
That's on tap for tomorrow or Friday.
Here it is sitting, calling my name:


I'm trying to keep up with the Across the Sea QAL...but it (and the Skill Builder) may get tabled til I get the Scrap Bag Competition piece finished.
My dance teacher lent me a grommet plier thingie...I'm hoping it might be easier than a hammer.
We'll see...
so far, the design decision is to make each corset belt panel (there are 5) be themed by kind of scrap. Layout planned for tomorrow.

Happy things came in the mail today!
Color Wheel charms:

and a win!

which is totally begging to be made into a kid quilt for charity....

Also, *cough* I may or may not (shifty eyes) have entered the Pretty Little Pouch swap.
I also have a pincushion to make for the Sewn Spaces swap and a hoop for the hoopla.
At least I have a plan for both of them.

It's a Monday.

I started today off by oversleeping.
I made it to work on time, but just barely.

I had to leave work early to go to the dermatologist. New theory. It's eczema. New medicine. Praying it works...so tired of being painfully peely and itchy.

I bought some supplies for the Misfit Quilters Hoopla.
I have yet to ponder a design.

When I got home, I pieced together the girl version of the Across the Sea QAL.
It took a while, but I really like it. I wanted to pin baste that sucker already, but it may have to wait until Friday.


Kraken had fun sitting on it. (She was actually begging for dinner. Bad cat mom was late on a meal.)


I was properly admonished.

I worked on dad's quilt.
The top is totally done, save for pressing.
The back is now pieced, but needs to be pressed and sliced open.
I also got the binding tape made.
See, here are the bits:



I'm actually dying to pin baste it and get to quilting. If I can finish this week, I'm going to enter it in the Celebrate Color show.

On the to do list:
*Finish dad's quilt (pin baste, quilt, bind)
*Baste Across the Sea QAL girl version
*Choose a design for The Misfit Quilters Hoopla
*Choose a design for the Sewn Spaces pincushion swap
*Make the belt pieces for the Scrap Bag competition (I may or may not bother finishing the prototype...I kind of feel this will either work or it won't...plus all those grommets are making me blue.) Any advice?

Playing catch up...

I spent much of the day hand sewing a block for the school quilting group.
I sewed circles til I just couldn't take it any more.
See...they weren't raw circles...we had to turn under the edges and try to hide the sewing.
It wasn't fun.



I think the quilt will be fabulous, and I'll be a raffle ticket or two to try to win it, but it didn't wow me as an introduction to the school quilting group.
I only got to hang out with the ladies once...and the project was a lot harder than it felt like it should be. I know there will be another quilt coming in the winter. Next time I might try to find out the sewing requirements before I commit.

I worked on the blocks for the back of the girl's Across the Sea QAL quilt. I still have to cut them down to size, but they're done.


This one is my favorite:


My plan tomorrow is to piece the back and finish the top and back of dad's quilt.
Wish me luck!