Designing a quilt

I forgot that I was going to be driving all day last Monday.  The trip to Dallas went well.  I was very outgoing.  Both dinners were struggles for me.  I did my usual thing where I sit with the uncool kids, which was fine, but neither table filled, so there weren't many people to engage in conversation, which meant I had to carry more of the conversation.  And, I did it.  Both nights.  Keeping the conversation moving and keeping the awkward pauses short.  And, I participated in the meetings during the day and was chauffeur to a teammate and to my boss's boss.  That was weird, but I did it with confidence and when I missed a couple turns, they never knew it and I didn't tell.  Mapping software is great!

After two days of meetings, I headed to my Dad's for the weekend.  That was a wonderful time to relax.  He is so laid back.  He hasn't been sleeping, but while I was there, he was able to get some good rest.  Maybe he just needed someone else in the house.  Anyway, that left me time to relax and rest.  We had lunch together and dinner with my sisters and their families.  We talked in the mornings napped away the afternoons and had coffee together.  It was a very nice getaway and I think we both enjoyed it.  

I had lunch with my niece and her husband while I was in Fort Worth and we talked about a quilt.  We talked about colors and themes and she shared some crib sheets she'd chosen that I could pick colors from.  

Saturday, I designed the quilt.  I knew the sheets had flowers on them, so I looked for flowery quilt patterns.  

Here's where we started.  This is Sweet Pink Daisies from Quilt magazine, sorry I don't know which issue.  Before I got too far, I figured out it's over 400 appliqué pieces.  So, I needed a little redesign.  

And, what I decided was to make the flowers larger.  A 24" square center with an 18" daisy, 4 x 12" daisies in the corners and 8 x 9" daisies between them.  I drafted that out on paper and cut the plastic templates to make it easier to trace the pattern pieces onto freezer paper.

And, then I did the math and it was still over 200 pieces.  So, I decided to halve the number of pieces by making 8 petals per flower instead of 16.  You can see the larger pieces drawn into the picture above.  I'm pretty happy with that.  

Then, the sheets got here.  While the description is pink and orange (what a combo), it's not your average pink.  It's a mauve/peach pink.  And, orange and two greens.  Here's my initial fabric pull.  But, I don't think I have it yet.  It's too orange.  I need more mauve colored fabrics.  

It's cool, tho.  I haven't been to a fabric store in a long time.  

Last week, we had Dottie spayed.  Here she is in her pink onesie that I did NOT make.  She'll need to wear it a few days, but she's doing great at not bothering the incision.  We are struggling to keep her still and quiet because she is a bundle of energy.  

Today, after about 6 weeks, they're supposed to come fix the air conditioner.  It's been working, but it's only been able to keep the house cool if we limit what we do in the hot part of the day, so no cooking big meals and no doing laundry in the afternoon, things like that.  It hasn't been too bad, but we've worried the whole time that something else would go wrong and we'd be without a/c in July in Texas.  It will be nice to be able to relax.  

Everybody have a great week!  Enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy!

Lane