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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Piles

Yesterday I went into my quilt room and was confronted by a mess of piles on my cutting island.  I couldn't stand it anymore!  I started going through things.  On top were half-finished bags that I'm making with the petals, off to the side was my Speck disaster, in another corner were the pieces I've been cutting for my king-size star quilt, and mixed in were pieces and parts to another project:  adding a fabric band to the bottom of some curtains to lengthen them.  I should have photographed the disaster, but it was a bit embarrassing.  So I set to work organizing.

The truth is that Monday night, I got a fabric delivery for a new project and I wanted to start playing with that, but I decided I need to tackle the other stuff first.

The bags are at a stopping point while they wait for some hand work to be completed, so I put away all the extra strips and fabrics.

The bed quilt stars are not going to get done all at once, so I put the pieces in a bin and set it aside for now.

I have one set of the curtains completed, but the other pair needs to be done.  I have to be in the "right mood" for doing them, because it involves long measurements and if I'm not in the right frame of mind, I know I will make a cutting/measuring mistake.  The pieces I need are already cut, so I put them in a "safe place" and put the rest of that mess away.

That just left Speck.



Speck, if you remember, is September's Schnibble project.  I've been seeing some really excellent ones appearing out there in blogland, but here I'm stuggling.  I think I need "Speckacles" or something.  My first struggle is with the pressing--some of it seemed counter-intuitve to me, so I was constantly needing to repress.  (I MUST add that the pressing instructions make the blocks go together like a dream, though, so it was worth it.)  My next problem was with fabric selection.  I've noticed that whenever I'm stuggling with one of these Schnibbles it is because of making a poor choice.  I really struggled to find a "background" fabric that would go with the charm pack that I chose.  I wasn't "in love" with the project from the get-go, but I had the required 20 blocks done when I realized that the color balance wasn't good, so I started 5-6 more blocks and once again pressed them incorrectly.  That was the mess I unearthed yesterday.

I managed to finish the 5-6 blocks and laid them out.  I still didn't like it!  So I tried something else, and then a third idea, and I could live with that, so I sewed everything together.  I'll share pics and more details later towards the end of the month.  The important thing for yesterday was that I finished something!

I had a few minutes to play with my new stuff, but then I had to get ready to go to guild!

It was my first visit to the local guild and I was excited.  The guild has a night meeting and a day meeting each month.  Last night was the night one and Friday morning I plan to go to the day meeting.  I met some really wonderful ladies last night.  One thing going on was to vote for the yearly challenge quilt.  The instructions were to select a magazine, turn to an assigned page number, and make a quilt (28" x 30") based on inspiration from that page.  The quilts were lots of fun to look at, but reading the artist statement was great, too.  The program consisted of a presentation of an upcoming "expo" put on by a local shop.  They are bringing in instructors and teaching lots of fun projects.  I ended up signing up for one.  That will be in the middle of October, so it gives me something to look forward to.  I also mentioned when I stood to introduce myself that I was interested in getting into a Bee, and three different people approached me to invite me to their bees!  I felt so welcomed.

Have a Great Day!
JoAnne

6 comments:

  1. I know that feeling . I haven't finished decorating my sewing room yet and I am getting too stressed out with all the piles of stuff.
    I am glad you found a bee to join it's a lot more fun when you can chat and sew. Melanie xxxxx

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  2. Oh, I am having trouble with my piles too! We are getting new carpet next week so I will have to move things around. If all of my piles end up in one spot it may look like a mountain "sigh". I opened up Speck yesterday. Thanks for your comments about the pressing. I'll be sure to pay attention to what I'm doing. Especially since I've pressed things wrong on some of the others, then had to repress. Not my favorite thing to do. It's great that you have found a wonderful, welcoming quilt group :-)

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  3. So glad to hear you've found a good guild with such welcoming folks!

    Hate the cleaning/straightening up stuff but it's a necessary evil, yes?

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  4. I know exactly how you feel about working with these Schnibbles sometimes. I try to use fabric from my stash as the background every month, but that's not always easy!

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  5. Isn't it nice to be welcomed into a new group? For me straightening up is both good and bad....I hate doing it, but it sure feels good after!! Looking forward to seeing some of your finished projects!

    chris

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  6. How wonderful for you that you found a welcoming guild, and how lucky for that guild. They will certainly be a better guild for all your contributions, I am sure!
    I hear you about a messy work space...I tend to jump from one project to another sometimes and after while you just need to clear things away...clears your mind too.
    Looking forward to some photos...

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