When You’ve JUST Gotta SEW!

This little ditty happened last night.

It’s not done yet, by far – but I’ll get to the borders while up at the cabin. I have some ideas -

Isn’t that always the way that it gets you?  The ideas?

The LAST of the String Frenzy Wave 5 of 500 copies left the building yesterday!

The Hubster ran the last of the tubs to the post office before closing time yesterday afternoon by 4:30 pm.  

There are still a FEW international orders awaiting for global postage to be paid, and then those will be out the door on our way to the cabin.  We have a BIG day ahead – more on that later.  I want to get back to the quilt top above!

I have hardly spent any time in my studio during the month of December.  The “2 hours per evening” thing sounded good at the get-go, but as the month wore on, and the many hours of order fulfilling day in and day out meant I was too tired at the end of the day to sew.  It just didn’t happen.  It’s okay – it’s all good. It will happen in time, this was just something that had to be put on the back burner.

When I was done with the mail – all I wanted to do was come down here to my basement studio and putter.  Not sew.  Just put a movie on and just straighten things up just a little bit:

Okay.  A lot.  I needed to straighten A LOT!

You know how that goes, one area leads to another and before I knew it I was cleaning out a whole cabinet of leftover blocks, parts, pieces – and hold onto your hats, folks – I even THREW SOME STUFF AWAY!

I love small pieces.  That is what keeps me saving and saving and saving – but I actually said “BYE BYE!” and broke up with some stuff.

This means quickly putting it in a non-see-through trash bag and hauling it out to the big bin at the side of the house and walking away.

It was TOUGH LOVE!  But I did it!

My reward?  I re-discovered these!

There were 14 of them, with one being very scrappy while the others weren’t.  The consensus was to ditch the odd one and make 3 more for a total of 16.

Oh, these are OLD with a capital O!

I’m guessing at least 15 years old. I know I didn’t make them since we moved here to North Carolina and we’ve been here almost 12 years now.  Do you recognize any of these prints?

I quickly set to work with my Essential Triangle Tool, working from strips to cut 3 more blocks worth of triangle pairs and sat down to the machine….ahhhh….bliss!

I chose fabrics that would blend with my older stash in these blocks.

I LIKE IT!!

I toyed with the idea of sashing, but it was getting late and I just wanted it together.  I really like this just the way it is.  

I will confess to having to play a bit of “flip that seam!” because all of the blocks were built the same way and seams didn’t always nest when they were being sewn together block-to-block.

I am not swift enough when starting to build a stack of blocks to think about how they will need to nest in a variety of settings so I am prepared when I finally nail down how I want to place them and find that they will work.  

This would have meant two different stacks of blocks …A blocks and B blocks pressed in opposite formation, not allowing me to rearrange blocks to suit my own placement preferences after the fact.

Seams be danged!  And all points don’t exactly  meet the way they should either.  I don’t care.  I think it is charming just the way it is.

It was an evening’s quick-fix and I needed it!

I’ve packed up a couple of totes with things I think I’ll need for the next week plus of sewing at the cabin through the holidays.

Since it will be just three of us for Christmas, I’m even thinking that Christmas dinner is going to be SIMPLE – perhaps steak on the grill. Maybe a marinated pork tenderloin. 

Our theme this year for Christmas is SIMPLICITY!  And I’m ready for it to begin.

Oh, and that above mess?  It’s all cleaned, organized, vacuumed – I am ready to start 2019 with a clean slate in the studio.  It feels good to be leaving it this way knowing what I’ll be coming back to on January 3rd!

You have been placed on notice!

It wasn't just the 2,500 copies of String Frenzy that have been signed , sealed and sent. It was the copies of other books that went along with the String Frenzy - also signed.  And the rulers, the notions, the pouch sets, the ruler stickers - everything.  It's been a mad house and I'm sure I signed close to 3,500 books over the past 4 weeks.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your patience throughout the past several weeks of String Frenzy roll out!  There is another wave of 500 coming your way New Year’s Day. 

I will place in the store only what I can get out before leaving for Japan mid-January.  I’ll be gone about 3 weeks, returning February 6th as I’m teaching in Phoenix on my return from Japan and spending time with family.  

When I get back, we’ll throw another wave at you!  This is the only way I know how to do it without leaving someone’s order unattended to for 3 weeks at a time while I am away teaching.

Our December Quilty Box Gift-Away is still gathering entries! If you haven’t entered yet, I’m giving away TWO prizes!  Head on over to THAT POST to enter.  Drawing to happen on December 26th, Boxing Day.

Time to load up the van and head on out! We’ll catch you from the cabin tomorrow!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Photo shared by Kevin the Quilter.

I love the mix of fabrics I see in this quilt – the ginghams and plaids especially.  Do you ever wonder if the maker of any quilt was just happy to “use up the last of that ugly piece and call it gone?”  And here I love it so much! LOL!

Have a wonderful Saturday, folks – much love and gratitude to you!