I think I am coming along pretty well with my Border of the Month project. Here she is, all but the bottom border. The blocks are all made; I just need to sew them together and attach the border to the bottom of the quilt top. You can get a great idea of what the finished quilt will look like. There is at least one more border to go I believe.
I’m telling you, it took me so much longer to sew all these blocks due to every darn seam needing to be pressed open. Then the fussing required to get the chain blocks all turned right, not duplicating fabrics next to each other, and planning the color placement…this was quite labor intensive. Now, you could avoid most of that if you just went scrappy. I think you would still need to press open, though.
The results make for a fairly unique-looking quilt, and I love it.
I would have finished the darn thing yesterday if we hadn’t had a plumbing problem. Our house is built on a hill, and we have a sump pump under the house in a lower-level storage area. Waste is pumped up the hill to the main sewer line on the street, which is at a higher level than the house. Every now and then, the thing gets clogged, and an alarm we had installed goes off. This means we can’t flush toilets, take showers, or run water down the drains. It is such a terrible inconvenience. And of course the alarm went off Sunday night. I spent half of Monday begging our local plumbing service to send someone out. They did come, and we are all sorted out now. I’ve got us set up for twice-yearly maintenance checks, so with luck that will be our last emergency.
Hope everyone’s week got off to a great start! Dennis is off getting his infusions, and Eva’s dad and stepmom are off to Alaska, so Eva will stay with me for a week. Wouldn’t you know she has water polo training that starts at 6 AM every day. We will be up at 5, making smoothies so she can have something in her tummy.
26 Responses
Wow! That is dedication! And by that I refer to making the border AND getting up at 5! My lastest quilty reflection is that it takes me a long time to get anything done. I’m in the market for a quicker hobby. Any ideas, anyone?
I really enjoy journaling. I use scrappy paper and stickers to decorate the pages and find it so meditatively peaceful to both do the decorating and write things out by hand. I’ll have to show some pictures of what I do. I keep a reading journal as well as a daily journal.
I love that you got your mojo back! I think mine melted with the summer heat. I always finish one before starting another but somehow have 3 table runners to sandwich and quilt and a large lap quilt to bind ( by hand ).
My go to craft Carol is cross stitch, but felt ornaments are so much fun! I just bought 3 more on Etsy last night.
I have tried so hard to explore both knitting and embroidery, but never progressed very far. Now that my eyes aren’t so sharp, I think embroidery is out, but I bet I could still knit. I’ve never gone beyond making scarves though!
I wouldn’t say my mojo is back 100%, but I suspect once Eva is in school all day and I don’t have to leave the house to drive her somewhere two times each morning I will be able to immerse myself in my projects better.
Nicole I am in the same boat. I had my sixth leak downstairs last week. My copper pipes are wearing out. I had the ceiling repaired the first two times but he thinks there will be more so now my ceiling looks like Swiss cheese. Unfortunately they are in or near the guest room my son uses when he comes home. My two grandsons are in college in the town I live in. I take them out for lunch a couple times a week so my sewing is almost nonexistent.
Before we had the alarm put on our sump pump, it overflowed one time. It was a real mess, like a Hazmat situation; everything under the house had to be washed out, tarps laid down, tents put up-it was insane. And extremely costly. The alarm has saved us from going through that again, but we still have issues.
I don’t know what it is about knowing I am going to be interrupted that keeps me from sewing. Logically, I could work on something, take a break, and go back to it, but knowing that I will have to set things aside and have my flow disrupted keeps me from even starting anything.
Exactly!
It’s great that you love it since it’s been so difficult. I like your color choices too.
Such a good grandma to get up so early! Soon she’ll be driving?!
Yes! She is so responsible I am sure her parents will provide her with a car to get around in.
This morning, when I had to drive her to school for her weight training, it was still darkish at 5:45, and my eyes don’t work so well under those circumstances. Luckily, it is a short trip.
Your sewing skills are so good! Thanks for the book reviews.
Doris, I really appreciate you sayng you enjoy my book reviews. They take a long time to write and knowing that others may pick them up and enjoy them as well gives me a lot of pleasure.
Not duplicating fabrics is challenging but it really pays off in the overall look! Great job! Echoing Doris, I share your book reviews with my sister who passes them along to her friend, so there’s definitely a ripple-effect happening! Thanks for putting in the effort! Have a great week with Eva! It’s a win-win for both of you!
I am so glad you and your friend find the book reviews useful!
Eva and I are having a peaceful time of it so far this week.
5:00 a.m.? ugh. sump pump problems? double ugh. I bet Archie is thrilled to have Eva staying with you. You and Eva should have fun with your meals. Eat some junk. Have snack food for dinner and just relax in the evening. Eva may not fall asleep by 7:00 p.m. but you sure will.
the border has been a pain but it looks fantastic. I am currently trying to sew together all the blocks to an applique quilt I’ve finished so that I can start my next one. I feel so disorganized. ;p
I am usually awake at that time, so it isn’t too much of a hardship. However, I am not usually moving around much at that time of day! I staggered out of my room at 5:30 and she was up already and said “We need to leave in ten minutes”. Ugh.
Unfortunately, evenings are kind of disrupted as well. She has to go back to the pool for more practice from 5 to 7 PM. Her coach is determined to get those girls in top physical shape. They all look amazing. Strong healthy girls.
Oh, to be young and fit!
Those girls on the team are at their peak of health and beauty. Somehow, they all seem to be very slim in spite of having to eat 8000 calories per day due to all the exercise the coach makes them do! Eva is always starving, is 5′ 7′ and weighs 118. Not an ounce of it is fat.
I love the borders! I’m much like you, if I know I’m going to be interupted or need to leave the house.
I have a notebook of recommended books…from your book list. I reserve books frequently from our library. Thasks for taking the time to review your books. I try to read every evening!
Thank you for the kind words Gloria. You are wise to borrow from the library!
Say it isn’t so! Can Eva carpool with another swimmer so you can sleep in?
Love, love, love your border for this sweet quilt!!
We’ve had 1.3″ of rain in the last 24 hours and I wish I could store some of it up or share it with dry areas.
Hugs!
CARPOOL! best idea EVer.
We only live a half mile from school so it isn’t a big deal to hop in the car and go. None of her team mates seem to live near us, so a carpool isn’t practical. I am up at 5:30 or so every morning anyway, just not moving around too much! I typically sit very still with my coffee until I am fully conscious!
Kudos to you getting up so early. But then you get to see Eva in action. But it is nice to get up early while the day is fresh – and a bit cooler! Best time of the day.
That border is looking great – I do love the green fabrics and the dotty peachy one. It all looks very pretty.
Oh gosh, we are in the midst of an awful heatwave right now. It is going to be over 100 C all week. Moroning is the only time it is tolerable to be outside. And there is a bad fire that started yesterday that is about 10 miles away. Those poor fire fighters.
I hope the fire is brought under control quickly, seems to be a terrible year for fires – very dry and a lot of fires popping up here and there in the UK too – I don’t think as bad as up in Canada and Washington State – sounds horrendous.
Your color placement is so nice, and I really like the dark gray. I might make a simplified version that goes out to the second gray and white borders.
My sister enjoys your book reviews. There aren’t many sources of book reviews, so yours are helpful. She checks them out from the public library. Our sister and her daughter are librarians, so we are lucky with our access to books.