Or Get off the Pot

I said I would do it and then I went and did it! 🎉

This week I was still moving a tad slow, but nowhere near last week’s level of sluggishness. And you know what? Despite the fact I was a little slow, I accomplished what I set out to do — and that’s not just quilting wise either! I got a bunch of stuff done.

I mean, that was basically my motto for the week: bind or get off the pot 😉

I finished the herringbone quilt and I think it came out very pretty. Not my very favorite I’ve ever made but damn I do love those cute little mitered corners:

In between binding this baby I was frantically studying for a finance exam and anxiously waiting to find out if we were going to have to move out.

Well, the good news is that I made a B+ on the exam. The bad news is we have to be out of our house in a matter of days. I’m afraid I won’t be quilting much in the next couple of months ☹️

I’m realizing that this is the last quilt I’ll finish in our current home and feel incredibly sad. You know, when we moved in three years ago I didn’t like it at all. Everything was all wrong. It wasn’t home. It was someone else’s home with the wall colors they chose, the plants they planted in the garden, the fridge they used for their food. Their neighbors lived in the house next door.

Actually, okay, I flat out hated it. It was the first time we ever moved in my life and I felt like my entire world had basically been replaced by Mars. Life was so different here.

But gradually I got my footing in that strange new place. The grocery store was a longer drive to get to than back home, but we had a newfound cycling trail nearby. I lost my hometown’s fabric store but gained a real quilt shop. It was admittedly difficult to meet people but I did find a new quilting friend shortly after we moved. She has remained a close friend since then.

I was comforted by certain things. My own bed. Eating junk food that just so happens to taste the same no matter where you buy it. Throwing myself into hobbies like singing, writing and sewing. I made quilts. I sang in the shower. I stumbled groggily into the kitchen every morning to shovel some food in my mouth. And I did all those things in the new house.

One day I looked around and realized that the place I’d hated so much for so long had somehow become home.

Yesterday afternoon we hopped in the car and ran around looking at various houses. All I could think was how I’d do anything to just stay in our home. I wanted to stay in my room, my room with the purple walls I painted myself in an effort to make it mine (I was going for light gray but they dried pale purple. heh.). It was such an exercise in “You don’t know what you have until you lose it”.

Funnily enough, one thing that kept running through my mind was, “Will the new house have enough light for me to photograph my quilts?” You know you’re into photography and quilting when that’s actually a priority in moving.

I don’t know where we’ll go. I’m sure I’ll feel weird and wrong and maybe even horrible in our new house for a while. But time changes things. Life happens wherever it does, and I guess life is elsewhere now.

Binding Procrastination…

Okay, I know I posted last week that I was almost finished with Mr. Herringbone quilt. But…I planned on finishing it days ago and I’ve still yet to bind it. It took me forever to just make the binding, let alone actually bind the quilt. It was a bit like I was moving through a pool of Jello.

I did a semi-scrappy binding.

This basically means that I meant to do a navy binding but halfway through ran out of navy. Minor setback, but life is full of those, so I just adapt and overcome.

I used some leftover pink fabric from the backing of another quilt. I think it worked out well, considering it uses up some stash.

I have to say that it wasn’t just quilting that I was moving slowly on. I barely did anything productive work wise as well last week. I think sometimes I get low energy and out of sync with myself. However. This week I feel a little better about things and I will definitely get it done!

Herringbone Quilt

So, remember a few weeks back when I did that boxes quilt with Gooseberry?

I somehow miscalculated the amount of fabric I needed from the jelly roll and ended up with much more strips leftover than I thought. For once, a miscalculation is good 🙂

I’m trying to cut down on my stash of fabric so I immediately whipped up this fun and done quilt top with the leftover fabric right after I finished the boxes quilt top. Thing is, I didn’t realize how many finished tops and quilt sandwiches I would have by doing this! I had three quilts in the queue: boxes, Froot Loops and herringbone. And I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m more into piecing than actual quilting.

Now for some reason unknown to man, I decided that this year would be the year I finish every quilt I start. No matter what. Well, with my New Year’s resolution in mind, I’m “gently forcing” myself to finish it before I start on another. Heh. Over the past several days I did a pretty large meander on it.

And even though it’s a really old collection, I went with a floral/stripes print from Happy-Go-Lucky for the backing. I thought that the red roses went well with the reds, corals and pinks in Gooseberry. Almost like they were from the same collection. Plus, there wasn’t any grey in the top (nor yellow…hm…should have added that) and I thought it needed some neutral grey in it somewhere.

Here it is, all folded up and delightfully messy looking. It called out to me to trim it.

So I did.

ah. that’s better.

Next up is binding time! I love binding because it means I’m almost finished and then I can wash it, and it gets that fun crinkly look from the shrinkage, and then it can be cuddled with because it’s finished and soft and warm from the dryer and lovely ❤