Progress...

Strip sets are pieced and pressed, Step Two is complete! Still a lot of cutting to do, but that can wait a little.

Taking a break from sewing to go out and cheer on the 2016 Marathon runners down the street.  It's a beautiful morning in Chicago!

A sneak peek...

I feel as though I've been cutting pieces for this quilt for weeks.

Another design I got into my head and couldn't get out, this one's for me and my bed. Archie, in his over-exuberance, has pretty much trashed my existing quilt, and it's time for a new one.

A better shot with better lighting, and a photobomb by Archie

Forty-two different yellows and blues, no repeats. And all ready for piecing this weekend.

Too many choices...

I think for now this top is done. I played with it for a couple weeks, added some blocks, took some out, added them back and then some.

I finally feel like I can't add anything else, so I'm content with leaving it this size (55" x 48" -- a decent lap size). My problem is having too many choices for the backing, which has put me in total indecision mode.

I found a beautiful turquoise/teal/tan leafy batik last week that was perfect...then in doing some digging for something else found another turquoise batik I'd have to piece with leftovers from the front...and also found a piece of Minkee the exact size I needed for this top.

If I use the leafy batik or the pieced back, I can quilt this as densely as I want, which was the original plan -- close, wavy quilting to echo the inset strips. Using the Minkee, I wouldn't be able to do that -- and I've kind of been saving that piece for a winter throw for the sofa, and I'm not sure I am in love with this enough to keep it in my living room.

I have to let it percolate for a while.  But look on the bright side:  it's a finished top, and no longer in pieces in my UFO pile. Which for me, is a big deal. I'll get it quilted...someday.

So much for pressing...

The top was draped over the ironing board next to me while I was sewing, and I watched him pull it down so he could curl up on it.

Apparently there aren't any other fabric-covered surfaces in my condo worth napping on today.

Where the heck did August go?

It's hard to believe that today is the last day of August!

I started the month out on a roll -- I quilted up a table runner and was on schedule to get it done in time to ship it off to my sister for her birthday, had a hand sewing project to work on during the Olympics...and then all hell broke loose.

Couch potato no more! There's always EPP!  Go USA!

Not possessing Wanda's foresight, I didn't heed the message that my workhorse computer was failing. Granted, I only had one day's notice, and the warning itself shouldn't have precipitated such a meltdown, but when it crashed, it crashed completely, and I lost several weeks worth of work. Stupid, I know. I'm usually conscientious about backing up my data, but I'd gotten busy and had put it off, and I'm still kicking myself two weeks later for being such an idiot.  I lost a lot of sleep mentally tallying what I could pull off email and what was irreplaceable, and eventually just accepted the fact that there were some things I would have to recreate. To add to the stress, this happened two days before a major project came my way. Between trips to the computer store to salvage my hard drives (nope) and meeting deadlines using an infinitely slower laptop, I was spending 14+ hours a day doing work and my sewing machine was gathering dust.

Early Saturday morning I delivered the first round of documents to my client, marched into the kitchen while the emails were still sending, opened the WIP bin and pulled out the first thing I laid hands on.  I needed to sew.

Looking back through my blog posts to find out when I started this, I'm ashamed (but not surprised) that these 48 5.5" batik blocks were from the spring of 2011. 2011! In 2011, my nephew was nine and came up to my shoulder. He started high school last week and is over six feet tall.

I was, at the time, trying a new technique, and apparently got tired of it because there were another ~50 blocks in the Ziploc that had been paired with inset strips but not sewn. Because of my impulsive sewing outburst Saturday morning, however, I created an conundrum for myself:  I'm pretty sure I don't want to do more of this wavy inset technique, so this has to be a medallion of sorts among the remaining solid blocks, maybe? I've laid out a couple different options, but nothing is floating my boat as of yet.

I'm afraid to go too long without making a decision with this one or it'll end up in the Duffle Bag of Doom and the leftovers to the WIP bin, so any suggestions are welcome.

And let me serve as a cautionary tale to BACK UP YOUR DATA!!!

Quilt as you go-go is done-done...

Remember this project?  Another one left sitting in a pile in my kitchen/studio, and the next on the list as I work my way down through it. I still have a few to go, some more intimidating than others, so, coward that I am, I'm getting the easy ones out of the way first.

The girls -- and I, for that matter -- ran out of steam, and vacations and school and soccer and sleepovers got in the way of them coming back for more sewing lessons this spring, so I was on my own to finish this quilt up.

I thought the sashing would calm it down, but it really didn't. It's blindingly bright -- pretty sure it will cheer up some small sick child in a hospital somewhere.

The back is much more subdued, and less likely to induce seizures. I actually like this side better than the front.

Now that it's done, I feel a little "meh" about the Quilt As You Go process. It was a great project for the girls, but it seemed less...I don't know -- satisfying? to finish the individual blocks and then sash them together. I'm glad I did it, but not sure I'll do another one.

But then again, never say never...right?

Gettin' stuff done...

I finished the flannel quilt and found yet another half-baked quilt in a pile that just needed additional quilting and a binding. My oh my, it feels good to get some of these things done! I'm on a roll!

This one was an experimental design, not for anybody in particular (started over a year ago??? Doesn't seem like it, but I posted this), so it got tossed aside when other deadlines loomed. I do that a LOT, don't I?

Ten Kona solids + Snow, 43" x 36"

It's a happy quilt, and it's fun to hang out on one side of the color wheel every once in a while. I might have to try it in other colorways at some point -- like when I run out of other projects. Hah!