Birthday Break

I have been having lunch and doing other things that have kept me out of the sewing room for over a week, but the activity level (and mess involved) is back. Sometimes I wish I had a much larger room and lots of shelves and tables, but I would just make a bigger more unwieldy mess. I saw on one of the final shows of Project Runway that the contestant that won worked out of a closet! OK, I have a room AND a closet, a guest room with a queen size bed (the quilt bits are laid out in there right now) and a dining room with a large table (the skirt of my dress is laying out there) and the living room (where I sit with hubby in the evenings doing hand sewing) so I guess I will just be quiet now.

As I said,I am sewing again, I have a dress half made and MANY things planned, but my big focus is I am deep into the process of making a quilt, a cat quilt, for 2 birthdays and an anniversary, for the same two people. I figure if you have May and June birthdays with a July Anniversary thrown in, one quilt is a good joint gift. Considering the time involved on this project, lots of praying for the recipients.

There is also some cursing, well not really cursing, but definitely some frustration at times. I cut fabric for the sashes and after cutting them all, realized I cut them for eight inch squares and the quilt has nine inch squares. Brilliant . . . NOT! Fortunately I am not out so much fabric, but I am the kind of person who can't bear to throw away 20 one and a half by eight and a half inch strips! My brain is scrolling through 1,000 uses for miss cut strips. Submit ideas to . . . . . never mind.

I haven't quilted in quite a while, as the sewing has taken an upper hand. With so many folks to sew for and the practicality of sewing, while it feeds my need for creativity, my need for precision, my need to build and my need to have a tool for meditation, it just fits me well. I did make a small quilt for my mom with her eight great grand children featured on a small panel, but actually it wasn't quilted, it was so small it was just a panel. I realized I never posted a picture of the panel, so here it is.



And . . . I am going to lunch with friends, so sewing is delayed a bit longer today.