When there's very little sewing progress, I just post cat pictures...

Not a whole lot of sewing going on here this week due to an upturn in the amount of work that's been coming my way (yay!). I'm hoping this is a good sign that things will be picking up and I can continue to freelance -- working in my sweats all day with a cat curled up on my lap has really dampened any thoughts of going back to work in an office. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I did get some cutting done at some point, though -- in anticipation of doing a "Leaders & Enders" top someday, the remains of my "Silly Safari" jelly roll became this cute little stack:

I had no sooner started taking pictures when The Inspector showed up.

First the stack just got sat next to...

Then checked for freshness...

Tested for durability...

(Yes, that's a moving pad on my piano. Not my first design choice, but it protects against manic kitty claws.)

And eventually approved.

Looks like we're good to go!

A blown budget and a new project...

Here's what my Wish List looked like when I left for the IQS on Friday morning:

I was trying to be frugal. And sensible. Though I'd been thinking about this weekend for months, I took a good look at my monumental stash and determined I really didn't need any more fabric. I had a few projects going, all of which had backing and batting and thread already apportioned -- the only thing I could think of to look for was lime thread. I use a lot of bright greens, and can never seem to locate the exact color to match. I knew in that sea of notions, there had to be a green to match.

Well, I found the lime thread. And a lot of other stuff, too.

The lime thread is there, in two different weights. So is the aqua. And the pink. The stencils are for an idea that's been percolating ever since I bought my PaintStiks last year. And I have to say, that Mistyfuse lady was mighty convincing with her iron and her feel-how-much-lighter-this-is-than-anything-else-out-there spiel. It's the same kind of salesmanship that sent me home with a Sham-Wow three years ago.

As far as the fabric goes, I'm a sucker for purple batiks. But the rest? That Jane Sassaman 5-yard bundle was $25. Those fat quarters? $10 for the bundle of six. And the yardage? Well, let's just say that happening upon a booth selling Amy Butler, Heather Bailey and Jane Sassaman fabrics for $4 a yard, combined with the idea that this was IQS' last hurrah in Chicago kind of put me over the edge.

I'm weak. And not ashamed to admit it.

When I came home from the show I was all jazzed up and ready to MAKE SOMETHING. Not yet ready to cut into my newest purchases and inspired by this Flickr group, I grabbed another stack of fabric from my UFO pile and started slicing.

You might recognize these from my failed "Geese in the Forest" attempt last spring. I had great hopes for these fabrics, but ultimately all the tiny piecing got the best of me and I gave up after Week Three of the quiltalong. They're being resurrected in a new form, which seems fitting for Spring.

So Long, Farewell, Chicago IQS....

It is with heavy, heavy hearts -- but larger wallets -- that Chicago quilters bid goodbye to the IQS. It was here for eight good years, and supposedly as a result of an attendee survey will open its doors in Cincinnati in April, 2011.

It's more likely that it wasn't so much the opinions of attendees as it was the increasingly outrageous cost of producing a show here in the Windy City that prompted this decision. Chicago has been experiencing a mass exodus of conferences as of late -- between the taxes and unions and upcharges up the wazoo, several trade associations have bugged out and are heading to smaller, more affordable places like Orlando, Indianapolis and Omaha. The Chicago Conference and Visitors Bureau held a summit recently in order to wrangle the stampede, but apparently not in time to prevent those herds of buses filled with quilt-crazed women from driving right on past us on their way to southern Ohio.

Big sigh.

I start making my IQS Wish List way back in January, and the thought of all that fabric and those notions in one place is enough to warm my heart through the harshest of Chicago winters. My co-workers used to joke that the day I took off every year to attend was my real Good Friday, my Holy Day of Obligation, such is my insistence on making the pilgrimage.

I'm 99% sure I won't be following along next year, so my trip around this year's show was an effort to take it all in and say good-bye. The crowd crawling at a glacial pace, the 24-inch rulers protruding from shoulder bags in danger of putting an eye out, the pushing and shoving at the $1 fat quarter bin, counting the number of show-goers with "A Fat Quarter is NOT a Body Part" t-shirts (14 this year), the stencils, PaintStiks, thread and other notions I never knew I needed, and miles and miles of glorious fabric...all got filed away this past weekend as wonderful memories for safe keeping.

Cinci, I hope you appreciate what you're getting.

"Leafing Large" by Laura Wasilowski (Elgin, IL)

"Bucky" by Michelle Jackson (Albuquerque, NM)

"Garden Delight" by Pat Kroth (Verona, WI)

"Petal Palette" by Jean Smith (Fort Myers, FL)

"Spring Field" by Akiko Kawata (Osaka, Japan)

"Spring Breeze" by Shirley Gisi (Colorado Springs, CO)

"Spring Breeze" detail

"Crocus" by Maggie Weiss (Evanston, IL)

"Bridging the Gap" by Robin Robboy (Decatur, GA)

"Antique Button Bazaar" by Joyce Robinson

"Antique Button Bazaar" detail

"Magic Box" by Diane Nunez (Southfield, MI)

"I Pray" by Harumi Iida (Kamakura, Japan)

"Orchards, Streams and Fields" by Laura Wasilowski (Elgin, IL)

"Redwood" by Carol J. Moore (Toronto, ON)

"Laurentian Foothills, inspired by Anne Savage's Saint-Sauveur"
by Deborah Bates, Cathy Breedyk-Law, Mary Cope, Rebekah Crown,
Margaret Dunsmore, Robin Field, Meredith Fillshire, Bethany Garner,
Sandra Garner, Jean Gerster, Maggie Hannigan, Cynthia McNair,
Carol Moore, Lynn Morin, Margaret Morris, Mary Pal, Judith Popiel,
Elaine Quehl, Shirley White, Mitzi Zohar (Ottowa, ON)

"Grape Hyacinth" by Margo Fiddes (Edmonton, AB)

"Polvs Arcticvs (North Pole)" by Gloria S. Daly (Duncan, BC)

"High Heel Daze" by Diane Steffen (Lake Ozark, MO)

"Falling Through the Cracks" by Kathy York (Austin, TX)

"Falling Through the Cracks" detail

I saw this one from across the room, and recognized Kathy York's work immediately. She again used overdying and discharging techniques to produce "Building Up." I don't think my camera does her colors justice -- they're incredibly vibrant, and the piece almost jumps off the black backdrop. Definitely my favorite.

"Building Up" by Kathy York (Austin, TX)
76"x42"

It took First Place in the Small Abstract Art Quilt category at the Houston International Quilt Festival this year. She also has a fabric line based on this pattern (stamped with an irrigation stake) coming out this summer. I may have to make room for some!

"Building Up" detail

Kona goodness...

The other day Ashley over at Film in the Fridge asked if we had a favorite Kona solid. Though I'll always have a soft spot for Kona Snow, Coal -- though I haven't used it in anything yet -- is quickly worming its way into my psyche with the help of her and many folks over at the Fresh Modern Quilts Flickr pool. It brings a nice calming vibe to quilts, and is a great complement to brighter colors -- not to mention it's infinitely more practical than Snow for a baby quilt!

My Joann's doesn't usually carry a very wide selection of Kona solids and I don't remember seeing it there before (or perhaps I wasn't paying attention?), so I was happy to have found Coal and a few new colors there last week. And at $2/yard off? Virtually impossible to resist!

Candy Blue, Tarragon, Ash and Coal. Not sure yet what I'm going to do with them -- this combination is out of my usual color palette (loud), but I was just drawn to how they looked together. There's a lot of inspiration out there -- I'm hoping someday I'll see the right pattern and they'll scream at me from up on the shelf, and I'll drop everything and start cutting.

Until then, they're just really nice to look at.

Takin' a breather...

I didn't do much any sewing last week. I think recovery was in order after my last post.

So after a week of doing some actual work, tying up all the loose ends (literally!) on my charity quilts, sorting through a massive pile of scraps, and teaching myself to heat emboss (which involved more than one trip to more than one Paper Source -- and doesn't that always result in a lot of lost time and a whole mess o' trouble?), I actually felt like doing some quilting by the time Sunday rolled around.

Those darker pink blocks? Minkee!

This top, relegated to the duffle bag in the closet about two years ago, is finding new life this week. I broke away from my usual wavy line quilting and ventured back into some free motion -- I don't do it very often, and it felt good to let the walking foot rest for a change. These wonky little flowers work really well with this pattern and are so much easier for me to do than stippling.

I especially love what's happening on the Minkee backing.

I might have finished it completely had I not taken a large part of the afternoon to watch the final round of The Masters. It was good to see Freddie Couples in the hunt after all these years, and after all the hubbub over Tiger, it was wonderful to see somebody else (anybody else!) take the green jacket home -- especially my golf crush!

I'm not ashamed to proclaim it to the blogosphere: I heart Phil Mickelson!

Photo courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

Seriously, how can you not adore those dimples?

Well...

There are loose threads to tie off and labels to make and a run through the wash still needed, but here they are:

Six Quilts for Kids in six weeks. 

All those aforementioned little bits involved in getting them out the door may take another week or so (it may take a week just to get the cat hair off of them), but that wasn't factored into the original goal, anyway. I am both surprised I stuck with this project and proud of myself for doing so -- it was totally worth the time, effort, and lessons learned.

And it's nice to remind myself every once in a while that I'm not as incapable as I may think.

The last quilt was simple-simple, a last-ditch checkerboard just to get things done. I wasn't that crazy about the fabric combination on the front, but the backing brought it all together -- it's not specifically a "kid" print, but very fun, and the quilting gives it a lot of movement.

I'm not sure I'll be so ambitious next year -- maybe fewer quilts, or maybe I'll do a few tops during the year and just quilt them during Lent. It probably wasn't as difficult as I made it out to be, but I'm not used to output under pressure, and was trying to work on other projects at the same time. A deadline every once in a while? No problem. One every week? Major challenge.

But that's what the season is all about, isn't it? Creating a challenge -- whether it be swearing off chocolate or beer or working out five days a week or volunteering -- and rising up to meet it.

Mission accomplished!

It'll be down to the wire...

...but I think I'm actually going to make it! Quilt #6 has just a little more quilting to go!

Happy Easter, all!