First pair of pants - Ever!

Pirate pants, for my favorite pirate:

The shirt says "pirates rule." And, I guess they do, since I made the pants first, even though what I'm really wanting to get to is a smocked dress. Lord only knows when I'll get to it, but when I do rest assured their will be pics.

(Who knows why this whole post is underlined? Not me!)

I sew need a deadline

My whirligig blocks are multiplying at an abysmally slow rate. My last two quilts were finished in about two weeks time, but now that I'm working on something just for me, it is taking months. Interesting. So, I've taken a challenge presented by Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio: Spring to Finish. May 31 is the deadline to get your work done.

Perhaps the difference with the former two projects is that I was working toward a hard and fast birthday deadline. If so, this should be just the thing. I really miss my creative time in the sewing room, and now I have an excuse to get this quilt done. It looks so fabulous in my mind's eye - even the back is going to be amazing - that I really want to get the fabric cut and sewn.

I can't imagine that you found my blog without seeing Jackie's first, but if you've never experienced Tallgrass Prairie Studio you should check it out. She makes amazing quilts not too much like the ones your grandmother sewed at all. She inspires me.

While you were sleeping

My Grandmother tells me that she suffered from insomnia, even as a child. Everyone in her family learned to wear slippers when they got up at night, because they were likely to land their bare feet upon freshly mopped flooring. An unpleasant feeling I suppose. She just felt the need to be useful, I suppose, even if everyone else was sleeping.

At 1 am I went looking for something to help me sleep. At 2 am I gave up and went upstairs to sew. I took this old torn, much brighter than the picture shows, orange towel:

Added some funky vintage fabric I got at an estate sale:

And made this funky little mat to go under the dishrack:

I've wanted something like this for a long time. It should soak up the dripy-drips while dishes dry, and it definitely brightens up the room. It will make me smile when I'm washing dishes. Can't beet that :)

Project of the day

I have 9 quilt blocks so far. I really think this is going to turn out great.

Today, no time for quilt blocks, but I did make this little household necessity:

I used this tutorial at Crazy Mom Quilts. This time last year, check writing was so rare that I didn't keep a check book or even a register. But now, with kids in school, it seems we write checks quite frequently, so it seemed time to have a real way to keep up with them. Even though it is kind of an odious task, at least I'll smile when I see my pretty checkbook. You can make one, too. It took me about 3o minutes from start to finish.

Maybe it wasn't the first block?

I found another whirligig tutorial at Quilting on Turtle Hill, and made a block from it. Here are the two side by side:

The first is from yesterday, the second is from this morning. Which one do you like better? Can you even tell a difference (besides the fabric)? There is a bit more angle to the whirl in the second one. Maybe, I'm nit-picking, but I think the second one has a bit more movement. And movement is what I'm after in this next quilt.

I have to say, Man, I love the internet. I'm learning so much from quilting and design blogs, that would have taken me years or decades to discover otherwise. Without a local quilting mentor, I would have really floundered and probably given up. But thanks to all the wise women willing to share, I think I'm making considerable progress with my art. So, THANKS!

Yesterday Jewel felt a bit cuddly when I needed to be up and about. She got so cuddly while I was holding her that I thought the sling might be the thing. So here we are:

She was quite happy to ride around with me while I did my chores.

What a difference a day makes

Just a little time to sew and everything seems better. Is anyone else like that? Whatever the caes, this is the first block of the the new quilt.

I got to sew, today!

I haven't had a second of my own for the last few weeks. But today, I found a few minutes that I used to sew this.

This is a just a practice block (done with scraps) before I start cutting into my fabulous new stash for the next quilt. This is a whirligig block. I used this tutorial over at Bitty Bird Quilts.

Even though I haven't been at the sewing machine, I've been mulling the next quilt over in my mind. I think it will alternate whirligig blocks with plain blocks, some of which I will applique. In my head, at least, it looks fabulous!

Now I just need a few hours to get started. It might be awhile, as Mr. Waitress is heading out of town next week.