There are times like these recent months when I am so grateful for quilting - my fabric stash, my machines, and the space to sew. We've just wrapped up another summer with the kids here, all while preparing to sell our house and find a new home in Raleigh, North Carolina. If I didn't have my sewing room to hide in every time I needed a shot to restore my sanity, I think I'd be even more of a wreck than I am.
Much of my time spent this summer was on work I can't show yet. I participated in the guild's round robin, in which each month found me with someone else's quilt block and the challenge to put a border on it. It really helped me become more comfortable with the math of planning borders, thanks in part to my use of the book,
The Border Workbook by Janet Kime. I have an older version of the book, but here is a picture of the cover of the edition being sold now at amazon.com:
We will do the reveal at the September meeting, after which I hope to link to some of the photos on the guild's website, as well as finally see my own block after three rounds of borders. I used the Reflecting Cityscapes block I made as part of Quiltmaker 100 Blocks testing.
This was a more modern block than I'm used to making, so I'll be curious to see what the other members did with it.
Other than this, I finished the Papillon quilt that I had begun from a charm pack for my demonstration this past fall. This was a layout using
Monica Solorio-Snow's Magic Hourglass tutorial, and just sewing together the pieces differently. I did some free motion quilting, some in clear nylon thread and some in pale pink silk thread, and I like the way it turned out. It was sent off to a dear friend as something of a comfort quilt.
I also basted and began quilting the Nancy Drew quilt. While I was working on it, I began watching the 1938 Nancy Drew movies starring Bonita Granville. It all felt very vintage. I still have a little quilting to do in the blocks but then it will be finished and ready for binding.
I've also begun the simple log cabin I'd been planning on making ever since I bought Tula Pink's Neptune honey bun ages ago. It takes me a few hours to whip up about six blocks at a time and they will go together nicely.
I've also started two different quilts using only Me & My Sister fabrics, and a Dresden Plate quilt with Lily Ashbury fabrics:
This has been done using machine applique, a technique I still need to get more comfortable with, and next to work on will be a floral border using the same techniques. Since finding
Moda Bella solids at Thousands of Bolts for only $4.95/yard, I've invested in the Bella solids swatch chart to be able to match all my favorite Moda fabric lines. Hopefully in the future you'll see me working with backgrounds other than white!
Other than that, I still have a considerable fabric stash to work through. This picture is just some of my precuts!
The house will have a "for sale" sign in front of it just after Labor Day weekend, and we have a signed lease on an apartment in Raleigh as of the end of September. I'm grateful that my husband got us a three-bedroom apartment so that I could have a room devoted to my sewing. We will need to pack up and store most of our belongings once the house sells (assuming it sells before our six month lease is up) but there is no way I could go six months without my quilting supplies. We are still looking for a more permanent home in Raleigh, but after a full week of looking at houses there, are now strongly considering building. We'll see how long it takes to sell the house in Roanoke and where we stand after that happens. I will also need to find a job there and we want to take that into consideration before we make a permanent commitment to a home.
One thing at a time, however. And on a Sunday evening home alone, that thing will be sewing.
