Olympic Quilting Madness

To be honest, I'd be getting a lot more done if I wasn't so drawn by this computer, LOL, but in spite of some time spent each day checking email and a couple of bulletin boards that I like, I've actually spent a fair amount of time quilting.

The strip blocks are in sets of four and I may start piecing them together tonight. I'd love to start quilting on this one, but I don't think I have backing here for it, though I may poke around some and see if I can piece some together. This won't have sashing or even a border, I think it will be complete on it's own with the binding being a suitable "ending" to the quilt. I won't know for sure until I get it put together and try out a few pieces for borders, just in case. The nice thing about this one is no marking required, which means I can get right to the basting and can quilt even if the lighting is less than ideal.

I pieced together the sashing for the leaf block quilt and have one of the blocks appliqued. So far this one is not thrilling me, so I'm having trouble working on it, but will continue on as often I find these "so so" quilts are gems when they are finished. I feel like the sashing is overpowering (though this is one of the lighter blocks) yet my eye still bounces back and forth between the block and the sashing so it might work out in the end. For now, I'll likely spend more time on other projects, but seeing the picture does renew my motivation on this one.

One of the perks of my husband working in the high school are the many cast offs that come our way. We've gotten bookshelves, chairs, and various other items that would otherwise be thrown out. When he called the other night, he said he had a music player. Not a cd player, he said, but you hook it to the computer somehow. It turned out to be similar to an MP3 player. There was a box full of them, brand new, still in the packages, earmarked for the garbage. The custodial staff split them up, and we got 2 of them. I had thought about suggesting an MP3 player for my birthday, but wasn't sure how much I'd really use one so nixed the idea. Here is my chance to find out how much I'll use it. The downside is it only holds one CD, but I think that will be fine for me as the most I'd be using it at a time is an hour or two. The upside is (aside from being FREE, lol) is that it's quite easy to change what music is on it. I like to walk to the store, and used to always have someone wanting to walk with me, but lately everyone is pretty busy around here. I don't really like to walk alone, but needed to walk to the store yesterday, the music player made the walk much more enjoyable.

Now for the real madness. I've planned a new project. As if 16 of the topper blocks weren't enough, I'm making 16 more for a quilt. The green will be consistent throughout the blocks, each block will be a different combination of colors. Of course, the blocks weren't enough of a project, the sashing between them will have a braid appliqued on, celtic style. The outer border will likely have some combination of appliqued celtic bias and flowers, but I may wait to decide until I see what the top "needs" to make it complete.

I spent yesterday tracing and cutting the freezer paper pieces for this quilt. I haven't decided if I'll do all the prepwork before starting to applique or not, I'll just have to see as I go along what I feel like doing. In the bag are 48 posie pieces in 3 different sizes (16 each) and 320 leaf pieces. I'm figuring I'll need to make about 180 yards of bias for the stems and appliqued sashing/border motifs. That in itself is a daunting task, but one that is quite enjoyable when I'm in the mood to do it. As this is a "no deadline" project, I can wait until I'm in the mood!

While cleaning out the garage a few days ago, Jonathan found my old table top ironing board. The cover was ripped, which I'm sure is why it was put aside, so while pictures were loading (we have dialup...loading pictures is slow!) I pulled out some batting and fabric to recover it and started pinning rows for the strip block quilt. With those two things waiting and my quilting updates complete, I'm ready to vacate this seat and get some work done. A full evening of Olympic coverage will entertain me while I work.

Of course, I can't take my leave without a Ruthie picture. She's taken to putting herself to bed many nights. She will come and give hugs and kisses and head off to her room. Sometimes she comes back out again, and other times it remains quiet, leading me to investigate to be sure she's sleeping and not into mischief. This is what I found one night, I can't imagine falling asleep in that position!

Happy Quilting!

Go USA!

Sue and Ruthie