lots of longarming

The crazy quilt list from a few months back is getting whittled down a fair amount.  I still have a chunk to go, but it's feeling less stressful.

This week I made a big dent, as I quilted not one but two of the quilts from the list!

First up, last Monday after I finished blogging, I loaded up the tiger:

Of course this is the last photo I have of it, but you can see I'm ready to go at least.  It took longer than I anticipated and I quilted it differently than I originally thought, but sometimes quilts do that.

The machine behaved tolerably well.  I had some issues, but got it done.  I promptly sewed on the binding, but haven't done the hand-sewing side.

(I haven't hand-sewn down the Tiny Stars binding either.  Too many other things distracting me!)

Next I moved on to Blockstep.  I finished the remaining blocks in a single sitting - they go a lot quicker than many of the quilts I've been making lately - and then it was time to figure out a layout.

This is another one that a lot of fussing isn't going to change much, so I made sure no to fabrics were touching each other (other than the grey, which is the "background" color) and sewed it together.

The border includes some single blocks, so once I got the top together, I decided what fabrics to choose for the border blocks.  They're a bit different than the inner blocks, so it was just easier than guessing what I might like.

I like it better with the borders.  Before them it looked a little chaotic and you wouldn't know the grey was supposed to be a constant.  I was worried that would happen, but am thankful for borders this time.

Saturday dawned and the hubby had disappeared.  (Okay, I know where he went, but he left without me.)  So I decided I would just quilt this.  It would go fast, right?

Again, my plan for quilting changed once I got it loaded.

And no, it did not go fast.  I'm not sure if the new idea took longer, but it was easier as far as not stopping and starting as much.  It took only 4 bobbins, but I opted for a grid, which like the Tiny Stars quilting, required a 90 degree turn to get the second half of the quilting done.

BUT.  It is done.

Currently draped over the longarm because that dang water-erasable blue pen is persisting in just a few spots.  Then it will get binding attached.  (It's made, just can't be attached to a damp quilt.)

And THEN I moved onto the Positivity quilt along.  This was a late addition to my ridiculous list, but only because it was announced when it was.  I was expecting it and planning to do it, I just didn't know WHAT it was going to be.

Now I know.  Cutting instructions were released last week and block construction was released yesterday.

So I started sewing.

It doesn't look like much yet, but Preeti has an ingenious method of constructing these blocks (yes, yes, it involves bias seams...she knows it, I know it...it will be fine) and I'm up for learning something new.

My quilt, due to my jelly roll being a half roll with only 20 strips, will be smaller than the original, but I looked up where the quilt is going and I think I'll be okay.  (The jelly roll was included in with cat hammock fabric and is unusable for those, so why not put it to use for a different charity?)

I have added another quilt to the need-to-be-done-soon longarm list, as one of the hubby's coworkers is retiring.  She has been there quite a while and he is the one who hired her all those years ago.  She doesn't work for him any more (they've both moved on and moved up), but they still have a work friendship and I know she will appreciate it.  So before I started a whole new quilt (on a tight schedule, of course, because why would we know about this ahead of time?), I offered a few that were just languishing.  He chose Tumbleweeds.

(I did make sure he understood that I would start one from scratch if needed, but he was okay with this one and I'm also okay with that!)

A back has been purchased, washed and pieced.  I thought about quilting it today (it seems Mondays are good for that), but the hubby is home and the yard is needing some attention.  So that's where my day is going.

The Woodland Wonderland quilt is also in the wings, waiting.  I did find a back for it, but wasn't enamored of it and was just going to make it work.  Then I realized it would be PERFECT for Blockstep.  So back to the search.  I did find one.  Another one that I like better, so that has also been washed and pieced.

In other news...

I put in a small garden again this year.  We used the same spot, but this year instead of lots of tomatoes, I put in just two (a slicer and a grape).  I added peppers (two plants, one spicy, one not) and herbs (dill, rosemary, basil and oregano) to fill the tomato spots.  Green beans again this year, but I'm trying radishes as well.  I'm not sure if my soil is soft enough for them, but we'll find out!

I'm going to do some research on drying/preserving the herbs, though I will also enjoy using them fresh when cooking this summer.

And Finn...oh Finn...

I'm not sure if there is something that is sprayed on the produce to make it last longer or clean it or what, but this cat cannot get enough of produce.  Carrots, celery, strawberries...we don't feed them to him (I'm not sure what is safe and I'm not sure he wants the produce itself anyways), but he sure wants to give them all the loves!  This packaging also proved VERY good at chin scritches, as you can see.

Time to go sew a bit while the hubby plays some video games...

Happy quilting!

Katie