crazy sewing

The tidied sewing room is staying tidy!  My promise to myself to put things away is going well!  And that makes me want to go in there and do things because I have lots of room!

So what have I been doing?

Well, you saw the completion of the 100 blocks, but I needed to determine a layout that was pleasing to the eye.  Not too many darks or lights or pinks all in one place, so I utilized my design floor last week and figured that out.

I am planning to use solid black as sashing.  Though it really doesn't look like it here, I did not use solid black in the quilt at all.  That was on purpose, as every black seems to be just a slightly different shade from every other black and I wanted to make sure there wasn't any weirdness happening with solids fighting each other.  I have purchased, washed, pressed and folded the black, but since the deadline for a top is not for about a month, that has been placed on the back burner.

Not to worry, though.  This project did have help.

Perfect spot for a little bath, right?

The Little Miss Sawtooth quilt along had another assignment pop up this past Friday.  So I got right down to business and sewed the two blocks needed...

Gabrielle

and Ava.

I opted to make one each of these, knowing the points would be a pain to match and selecting some blocks that I felt held more interest to be duplicated later.  I have no idea what order these will be assigned, so I'm just playing along as it happens.  I also made a few more alternate blocks - again as leader-enders - so I'm feeling good.

And the last quilt-along that I'm currently doing is the Single Girl.  I last showed just the arcs for a few colors, nothing set into backgrounds.  Last week, the assignment was to set at least one circle into the background.  I may have gotten a little carried away...

This layering, pinning and hand-cutting is starting to look and feel familiar!  I only cut as many as I needed, but it went well.

And then I pinned like a madwoman.  I know some folks pin less.  Some choose to glue baste.  This is what works for me - and in this instance, I do NOT sew over the pins!

How about a collage again?

See what I mean, I got carried away?  Lots of circles coming along nicely!

Gabby, of course, helped.

These have me caught up through this week, based on my schedule (the quilt-along is a bit less ambitious in what needs to be made, but I want a bigger quilt), but not to worry!  Yesterday I went through my blues, trying to decide if I wanted to do just one blue, or split blue and turquoise.  Well, really, to see if I had enough blue-blue to make a ring on its own.

I did.

These are sorted and ready to sew, but when I looked at the clock, it was far later than I anticipated, so I decided to stop here.

The turquoise pieces had been cut, but are waiting their turn.  These sew up pretty fast, but it probably isn't going to happen tonight.  It was a long, crazy day at work today (I think the game was "how many people in a row can not find their money in just one pocket?"!) and I'm exhausted.  Once chores are finished, I'm going to relax.  (And chores are almost done - just down to laundry!)

In the wash today are these fabrics:

15 fat quarters and a 1-yard and 2-yard cut of coordinating fabrics.  I'm not sure what to do with these, so anyone with suggestions for fat quarter friendly patterns, please help!  These are really not my taste, so I think they will become my charity quilt option for this month, but I'm still trying to decide on a pattern.  (Bonus points if it's a free pattern!  I have many quilt books, but stay away from the precut-friendly variety because I am TRYING to get away from those.  Apparently my mom hasn't gotten the memo!  Not that I'm complaining about free fabric, just struggling to figure out how to use it!)

And last but not least, some kitty pics!

There is an ongoing battle over who gets to sleep in the chair in my sewing room.  On this day, Freddie won.  And took full advantage of the snuggly afghan, too!

And on this day, I was snuggled up in bed reading and Gabby wormed her way between the quilt and sheets at the foot of the bed all the way up to me.  She is a wild thing, but is getting much more snuggly with the cooler weather.  We expect as much, but she also has a rowdy streak, so you always have to be careful with reaching out to pet her - it may be a trap!

No photos of Skitter.  She mostly just sleeps in a cat bed, which is very cute, but not nearly as goofy and interesting as her younger siblings!

And with that, I am off to check on the dryer and find some dinner!

Happy quilting!

Katie