Another little diversion...

I spent most of Saturday making plaid nine-patches. Which was productive, but quite frankly, tedious.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the project (it's perfect for its recipient!), and I'm enthusiastic about making progress...but there's something so much more liberating about cutting loose and not following a pattern.

I'm a youngest child -- and while I never considered it would have a huge impact on my crafting, could it be that the streak of rebellion bestowed upon me by my birth order is now manifesting itself in creative spontaneity and eschewing others' directions? Hmmm...

I tried doing a little hand quilting to mix it up a little, but sadly had to temporarily abandon my efforts due to my little orange friend, who couldn't seem to stay away from the project whenever I picked it up. It sounds like a weak excuse, I know (and poor animal training on my part), but there is something about this particular project that has him entranced -- except for rearranging blocks on the floor, he doesn't pay attention to anything else I have in the works, pin-basted, hanging threads or otherwise. I'd sit back on the sofa to start quilting, and Archie would literally jump into the middle of the frame and either settle down for a nap or start chewing on safety pins. I'm admitting defeat (again, only temporarily) -- but hand quilting, I think, will have to wait until he's a little older and not as curious. The quilt is already basted, so it can be easily machine quilted, anyway (sigh).

Which brings me to a machine update:
I called the shop before I left last weekend and explained my situation. Turns out their tech is on vacation and they aren't taking any machines in until November -- and then she assured me I still had a window of time before I drove my 440 completely into the ground without servicing. I'm still a little leery, given how much use it's getting pre-Christmas -- anybody else have any experience with this, or are you all totally on top of things and take care of your machines right away and I'm just a big loser?

Anyhow...in the interest of giving my overworked machine a rest yet still satisfying a need to play with fabric, came up with these cute little things:


I should have put something up for size reference -- they're just under 3" tall and totally adorable! The takeout from Friday night's dinner wasn't that great, but the fortune cookie box was too cute to resist and proved to be a great template!

The possibilities, methinks, are endless. These could be addictive!


P.S. In response to all the warnings I got last week about cats and sewing notions, my house is now kitty-proofed. I just have to find someplace more convenient to keep my pincushion than in the cupboard above the sink!

This is going to take a long time...

OK, this is going to be more difficult than I anticipated. Not the quilting part, I'm liking that, though I have to work on getting my stitches even on the front as well as the back. Fortunately, the backing I'm using is a busy print, so it hides my novice attempts pretty well.

No, it's the trying to accomplish this with an inquisitive kitten in the house part...I hadn't factored in Archie's curiosity, and newly-discovered love of thimbles...

and safety pins...

and thread, which he's been trying to eat. Wet thread isn't very easy to quilt with!

...and then there's worrying about where the needle is when he gets a hold of it.

If he's not on top of the quilt, he's underneath it, pawing at my hands. Not quite sure why he's so fascinated -- I don't think it's an attention thing, because he could pretty much care less about me except when he's about to get fed.

I am getting so little done!

Why put off today what you can put off until tomorrow?

I'm totally, utterly incapable of working on one project at a time.

I have all my strip sets sewn for the homespun quilt (hooray!) and have started slicing them up and...hey, wouldn't that wonky pink and yellow quilt look kind of cool if it were hand quilted????

I get distracted so easily I amuse myself.

My kitchen/sewing table is covered with little piles of 2" plaid and muslin pieces, but no worries! You can do hand quilting anywhere!

Which means I can leave all that mess and come back to it later, when I'm partway done with this new endeavor and have begun to feel the pressure to get three quilts finished before the holidays. Or found some other new thing to try -- hand dyeing, perhaps.

No matter that I've never hand quilted before. And that the wonky pink and yellow quilt top was in itself a whim, not intended for anyone and therefore not a priority project this close to Christmas. It's another in a long line of experiments, both successful and failed, intended to put something off that's more important. I'm aware that's what I'm doing, and understand the potential frenzy that may ensue in December as a result, and yet...

This whole hand quilting thing has been in the back of my mind for a long time, and has chosen now, of all the inconvenient times, to cut to the front of the line. And it's not like I can stuff it back there with the belated birthday cards, dry cleaning, guitar lessons and other things I've been meaning to get to -- it was persistent enough to shove its way through the crowd, and it ain't goin' nowhere until I grant it an audition. So...

I spent my pre-work hours today pin-basting the top and putting my newly-purchased PVC lap frame together.

Wish me luck.