Nothing exciting

I wish I was about to tell you an exciting story about how I spent hours and hours at my sewing machine and made the next show's best of show quilt from beginning to end and had a picture of it hanging in my living room.  Wouldn't that be nice?

But, that's not real life...and best of show quilts don't happen in a weekend and I was busy doing the stuff that makes up a life outside of being a quilter. 

I can start with one bit of exciting news.  I heard from Edyta Sitar, and she says she appreciates my pattern feedback and that my suggestions are on point.  That made me feel good.  I was a little afraid that I was off the mark, or maybe she thought I was being a little too picky, and I needed a little confirmation that my work was adding value and she gave me that.  And, another 10 page pattern to review.  The first pattern I reviewed has been released.  I saw it on her website the other day.  It's called Alaska, and you can check it out at Laundry Basket Quilts.  It's a lovely!

On Saturday, we steamed the carpets again and on Sunday, we washed windows.  What a huge difference that made.  So delightful to be able to actually see the outside again.  Dirt builds up so slow that I didn't realize how bad it needed to be done.  Now it's done, I just want to stand and look outside. 

But, despite the chores to catch up on, there has to be some time for fun.  And, I spent my fun time making more of those paper pieced arcs.  Let's just say that mistakes were made.  And, they took forever.  But, with practice they're getting easier and I hope that will make them a little faster.  This quilt is going to be a riot of color on a black background. 

It took a while to cut enough scraps to have a really good start.  It won't be enough, but it's a good start.  I have large pieces and smaller pieces for the tiny points.  It takes a lot of time to lay out the gradations and then to sew all those paper pieced seams.  And, I kept making errors where I would pick a piece of fabric that was too small, then I'd be digging through my scraps, looking for a larger piece of the same fabric, or having to choose a new fabric and make sure it wouldn't mess up the gradation.  Some errors were made, but I don't think they'll be obvious in the end.  A lot of picking out had to be done, but that was my fault for trying to make things fit instead of measuring them against the paper they needed to cover.

I'm using the freezer paper method that I learned from Judy Mathieson's books.  It's so much easier and faster than making all those traditional paper patterns.  These are re-usable at least three times, so I only need a third as many patterns as I would normally need, and they're needle punched so there is no drawing or printing on multiple pieces of paper that get taped together.  Make an arc, peel the paper off it and then use the paper to make another arc.

I also got my packing done for this week's trip to New Orleans.  We were a little worried that there would be a tropical storm while we are there, but it looks like that's moved east.  Good for us, bad for places that are still saturated from the last hurricane.  Another chance to wear my new clothes.  And, they're all ironed and folded and ready to go.

Tonight is guild and I am going to do my best to make it.  I haven't been to a guild meeting since Linda went into hospice and I miss them.  I miss being around the other quilters.  And, I have show and tell to take. 

Everybody have a great Monday.  I hope you get more time to sew than I did and that you enjoy it at least as much as I did.  Needles away!!

Lane