Spiraling Out of Control - Obsessions With Baltimore

Okay, so Sunday started out on a high note. While I didn't actually do a block or the homework for Mimi's class, I did embroider the little trailers on the grapevine block.

And that made me feel like I had accomplished something. But the warm fuzzy feelings didn't last.

And before long, the studio turned into Chaos.

Chaos, with a capital C....that spread to the cutting table. You may see a minor mess here, but I see a house from Hoarders. I am not a fan of disarray.

And this, my friends, is the cause of the upheaval. I put the design wall up again and laid out the blocks that were mostly finished (aside from adding a ribbon to the Fall wreath). We've got 4 papercuts in the corners...okay. Top and bottom center are laurel wreath (open) shaped...good. Side center blocks are round...balance...check. The center is the problem.

I've already scrapped the original plans for those blocks (and learned a lot about how to get pencil out of fabric--see previous post). The plan after that was to make two vases with a basket in the center.

Then that evolved to two baskets with an undecided center.

And then I thought what if I used an elaborately pieced (think Mariner's Compass) block for the center, or some kind of star block....or maybe a star block out of a single fabric with some more piecing around it, also out of the same fabric, which happens to be the fabric that will be used for the fleur de lis on the setting triangles and the applique around the border?

And that was too much thinking because it triggered my deeply buried borderline OCD.

I sat and stared, and I decided that....

This squirrel looks stupid. He's just floating in the air in the center of the block. Yes, it's the design, but really, unless this is David Squirrel Blaine, it is going to bother me. Almost as much as his ultrasuede tail bothers me. Okay, okay,  I can replace the tail but what if....

I added in a little branch for him to perch on. BRILLIANT IDEA!  For about 20 minutes. Which is how long it took to search through fabric, and scraps and drawers (hence the photos above), only to find that I do not have any of the fabric left that I used for the blueberry bush. SERIOUSLY? What on earth would possess me to throw away whatever scraps there might have been? (Probably some random third martini was the likely culprit, one likely being drank while an episode of Hoarders droned on for noise in the background). What can I say? 'Shit!',' Fuck!', 'Crap!', 'Idiot!', 'What's Wrong With You?', 'Shoot Me Now!', 'Piss Me Off!'...they all crossed my lips, some more times than others, but none of them made a tiny scrap of that fabric reappear.

Not even the string bin would yield a tiny little piece of that fabric to use as a perch. Sigh.

Now I know what you're thinking. A normal person would just use another fabric, maybe even a brown fabric. Who will even notice? Let me remind you that I am not a normal person, and I would notice.

So it's starting to look like Mr. Squirrel is going to have to become part of the quilt back, and along with him goes...

"Birds in the tree where the leaves are way smaller than any other leaf in the quilt, whose berries are ultrasuede (who wanted to make all those circles?), and who just seemed so dainty and out of proportion for this quilt that even planting that strange tree in a basket to give it some heft, did not help" block. And let's not forget that the birds in that tree are about a third of the size of the bird used on another block.

So, suddenly, instead of needing only 3 blocks for this quilt, we now need 5. One step forward, two steps back. Yep, that would make a good name for this quilt. Write that down.

I walked away....for two nights. And now I'm looking at it and thinking that gee, I really do like the squirrel block, and I could make a different tree block that fits better, but there's still the issue of that damn branch.

So while I'm typing this blog entry, I flip through my Mimi class notebook and look what I found....

HOLY CRAP! I used that fabric on one of the class samples. I think there's enough (there HAS TO BE) to piece together a branch for Mr. Squirrel to perch on. So all is not lost. Once again, OCD prevails--and actually turns out to be helpful.

One step forward! YAY!

Now, I need to clean up this mess so I can get to work and fix that block.

Last night the hubs' flannel rag quilt came off the snipping station. While it still needs to be washed to fray it (which is a trip to a commercial laundromat), I let him use it last night. Oh, and it also needs a label (as do about a half dozen recent quilts I've done).

This is the back. Good intentions were to not have any of the same blocks touch, but it didn't work out that way, and once I realized I had a couple that did, it wasn't possible to rearrange the front rows to correct that. (Breathe Susan....repeat after me....'finished is way better than perfect....finished is way better than perfect...')



I don't recall exactly what I was looking for on eBay the other day, but I accidentally stumbled on these vintage Sewing Susan needle kits. Of course I had to buy them. I think there's at least one more version....they apparently updated the ladies' hair and clothing to fit the time period. My plan is to frame them as studio wall art. And clearly I'm going to need a larger studio as I'm running out of wall space.



The fabric seminar I went to Saturday morning was very informative. First they gave us all a fat quarter, and when the talk turned to the traditional Stonehenge line we were all handed a fat quarter of that. And at the end of the presentation they drew for about a dozen door prizes, and I won a 5-fat quarter bundle. Yippee!

After a delicious (and healthy) lunch, I went downstairs and promptly bought a pattern and fabric to make this Magnolia Art Glass wall hanging, which happened to be one of the pieces in the trunk show. This was so popular that they ran out of patterns and some of the fabric, as it seems that just about everyone in the seminar wanted to make this. Fortunately, I hightailed it down to the shop early and was able to walk out with everything I needed. Piecing, paper piecing and a little applique. Can't wait to start on it, but I've got a few things to finish before I can start something new. (ha ha ha)

On Sunday, as I'm leaving my class with Mimi, I hear the 'last call for the fat quarter madness' announcement. Now, silly me had not read my email from this quilt shop last week, so I had no clue what this meant. Not wanting to miss out on something I asked the shop owner.  Turns out that all fat quarters were 99 cents, and they'd been 99 cents for the past 3 days.  You snooze, you lose. Not wanting to be the biggest loser, I was able to snag 18. The golf balls and softballs I'll use for something for the hubs, a couple of randoms to fill in current collections, and a bunch of Michael Miller stripes to mix with either my polka dots or solids in a quilt. Stripes and dots are my new fat quarters to collect.

And now that the flannel quilt is off the design wall, the Baltimore album blocks are up. You probably can't see but those 5 blank blocks have patterns pencilled on them. And, since it's been on the wall, I've already decided to scrap two of the designs. This is why it's on the wall now, design scrutiny and fabric selection. I need to 'kit' another couple blocks so I've got stitching ready to grab and go. Hopefully I'll have a few of these block designs nailed down and kitted for the weekend.

And the winner of the pin cushion and the scissor bling was Janet, who I believe is from somewhere in snowy Canada. I sent her an email and I'll be posting her prize as soon as I hear back. Sorry if you didn't win, but we'll have another giveaway soon, so stay tuned.

I've got two immediate projects to turn my attention to now....the Twisted Drunkard's Path needs to be quilted for my upcoming Guild show, and I've got a challenge piece to work on.  Time's a wastin'.  Hope you aren't as rushed as I feel and can enjoy some leisurely sewing time this week. Enjoy the upcoming weekend....it can't get her soon enough!

Crawling from the Wreckage

First off, let's congratulate QUILT SUE in the UK who is the winner of the April Follower Giveaway. The Little Bits Think Spring paper piecing pattern and papers will be winging their way to her tomorrow, and we'll give her until next Spring to make the 4 little quilts, at which time we shall expect her to post photos. Congrats Sue!

New month, new giveaway. All you've got to do is post comments during the month and each comment gives you a chance to win in the drawing at the end of the month. I'll pick a prize for May shortly. But for now, here's what's up with me.

I'm in a bit less pain than a week ago, so I'm trying to catch up. My studio is a mess, honestly, it's a train wreck (horrified gasps all around).

 But that hasn't stopped me from adding to the madness.

I started off the week at Michaels. I love my thread chest so when I realized I would need some type of storage for sorting fabric scraps, and figured the little rolling drawer cart in my closet was perfect, I now needed a place for the contents of that cart (zippers, snaps, dressmaking notions, etc.), and since Michaels was having a sale, I grabbed another pair of stacking drawers.

 Bonus...more surface space.

On Sunday, I began a year long monthly workshop with the fabulous Mimi Dietrich. It's all about making a Baltimore Album quilt, which, hopefully, will be completed  (at least the top will), by next May. I'm thinking about doing double blocks each month and making two. (always the over-achiever)

Mimi likes you to use washed fabric. I've never pre-washed, so this was something new for me.

 Oh, did I pink all those fat quarters? You bet I did. (And do I have little threads all over the clothes I threw in the washer with them? You bet I do!!!)

And then I had to iron them all.

After pressing I cut a 2" square from each fat quarter.

Folded over the corner and cut a little hole.

And then I thread them on a binder ring.

And when I'm done, I've got a little swatch ring of all the fabrics I have for applique. I can carry this with me to stores and see at a glance what colors I'm short on, what patterns and color values I'm using.....and it's darn fun to pull out of your purse and play with.

This started out as my inspiration fabric, but I need more, and the shop didn't have enough available. It's a Windham Brick House pattern, so it's a couple years old and likely not going to be found anywhere, so the plan is to make a trip to Jinny Beyer's Saturday to replace it. (Which is a shame because I really, really, like this fabric). And, I've got to order 6 more yards of the Kona Bay Rain white on white.

Unable to resist the lure of a quilt shop, I caved Wednesday afternoon and popped into Capital Quilts on my lunch hour and found a new inspiration fabric.

And this one happens to go pretty well with the taupy Kona Bay Rain Cream fabric I bought by mistake, and will now need to order 6 more yards of. It came from Hawaii, and she's currently out of that color, so hopefully she'll have it in in the next week or two.

Hmmm....two different backings, two different inspiration fabrics, why not two Baltimore Album quilts?

Another root through my stash for compatible fat quarters for applique.

Another hour of ironing (and a half bottle of Mary Ellen's Best Press later)

And I've got an enviable stash divided by quilt, laid out in a little suitcase. And the leftovers will be perfect for the Dear Jane I hope to someday make.

.

And we needed to add those to the swatch ring as well.

There are 65 fabrics on that ring...30 for one quilt, 35 to choose from for the other.  I think I'm set...as soon as I get the 12 yards of background and the 6 yards of inspiration (which is used for sashing and border applique (think swag, fleur de lis...)

I've made a little take to class kit (another find in Michael's scrapbook department...40%+10% off)...lots of little compartments, the inside center will hold a couple dozen spools of silk thread (you'll likely find me at the Superior Thread booth at the Quilters Unlimited Show this June in Dulles, VA...yes, I've got a list of colors in my iPhone)

All that is left is to pick 14 block patterns and size them appropriately. Next class is June 12 .

 I am such a goober for this stuff....I even colored in my handout from the teacher to use on my class binder.

Well, since I'm not supposed to be drinking, I guess my water bottle and I will be spending some quality time cleaning up the studio tomorrow night, and I think I'll be flying solo to Jinny Beyer's on Saturday. I'd drag the hubs, under the guise of humoring me for Mother's Day, but he's already got a tee time. To be honest, Jinny Beyer's shop is one shop I'd rather he not tag along (more like drag along) to....what happens at Jinny Beyer's stays at Jinny Beyer's :)

Have a good one!