tiny stars construction

I haven't done much sewing this week.  I haven't been feeling the greatest.  I have a number of symptoms that could be a result of a number of things - some better than others - so I've been taking it easy and trying to feel better.  (NOT easy for someone who is always moving, but my body throws a fit and forces me to stop when I don't listen.)

BUT!  I did get to go to the guild sew-in at the library and lay out my tiny stars!

That took forever.  And about the time I got them all on the floor, my body was starting to protest.  I powered through to get rows labelled and everything else tidied and then layed on the floor, waiting for the ick to pass.  Eventually it did, but not before the one other person who came to sew-in helped me pick up most of the rows and I decided to call my hubby to pick me up.

It took most of the day to get the blocks placed, and I was not being terribly fussy.  I felt well until about 3pm, which meant I had lots of time to gab and eat lunch and have fun before whatever is wrong with me decided to act up.

What I did not remember was a photo of the whole thing.  We talked about it (a third friend came just for lunch and stayed a while after), but none of us remembered to actually DO it!  So this post is short on photos.

And here's the strangest part: I have somewhere between 100 and 200 blocks left over.  I don't think I miscalculated THAT badly, did I?  I was putting them in bags in groups of 50, so that shouldn't be too hard to math.  I knew I had a few extras, but not that many!

Oh well, I suppose too many is better than too few?  And as I sew, I've got the leftovers sorted by color, and if I find one block I'm not particularly fond of (icky fabric, not enough contrast, etc), I replace it with one of the extras from the stash.  I may add on a row or two, but that will take 33 or 66 blocks, respectively, and definitely not the whole mess of them.  This will take a while to construct, though, so I'll have time to ponder what to do with the remainders.

Yesterday I started sewing rows together!

(hooray a photo finally!)

With my new machine and the heavier needle, it sewed nicely through all 64 seams, no problem.  At first I was flipping seams and matching them, but realized it didn't matter that much.  There are a number of different backgrounds, but I think only a few points are actually at the seam, so who is going to notice?  (And if they're close enough to do so, they're also close enough to bop on the head...)

That made things go faster.  Also, I'm not going to press the seams until all the rows are together, another time-saver.  That way I can make sure they're going in opposing directions and only have to heat my sewing room up with the iron one time, not all day long, every time.

It took probably 2 hours, but I finished the first two rows!

I decided rolling them would be the easiest method of keeping them tidy, and used the row marker pins to secure them shut.

Only 30 more to go!

(You'll notice it starts with #2 - I made 33 labels because the quilt is 32x33 blocks, and then forgot which way I was labelling...oops!)

In one of my better moments during the week before sew-in, I ventured into my sewing room to pull fabrics for the upcoming quilt-along.  I may make two, since they're smaller quilts, and I found two sets of fabrics I think will work nicely!

The selection of turquoises in the first photo and pinks in the second are quarter yards I purchased a while ago with a quilt in mind.  They've been set aside for too long and that quilt is not going to get made.  So I thought they'd be nice for this project before the remainders go back into the stash.

I may use these fabrics, I may swap things around.  The actual sewing doesn't start for almost two weeks, so I have more time to ponder and debate.  In the meantime, these are just hanging out on my cutting table, glaring at me, willing me to feel well enough to sew with them.

And just one cat photo today.  Toby likes to play "blanket monster" in the evenings.  I tap my fingers on the mattress under the covers, sometimes he can't even see them moving, and he KNOWS where they are and pounces.  Then I attack back.  Sometimes he decides he wants face scritches from the blanket monster, which is what he is doing here.

He'd stop biting and slowly close his eyes, only to pop them open and start wrestling again.  For a cat who I don't believe had any true outdoor experiences, he seems to be a very good hunter.  Even if it is just my fingers under a quilt.

Happy quilting!

Katie

PS I have made one doctor appointment and am waiting for a call about a second.  I'm going to get this figured out!