Archie's favorite stage of quiltmaking...

While he gets pretty jazzed when those quilt blocks hit the floor and need to be rearranged, Archie's favorite stage of the quiltmaking process is undoubtedly when it's all put together and hanging on the ironing board. And I have to admit, sometimes I've left it there for a few days longer than necessary just so he can do this:

He totally understands "Go hide."

Now about that quilt...

I hadn't sewn since before Christmas. The machine was gathering dust, and I'd gotten pretty obsessive about knitting, even after the holidays. I was hellbent on finishing a bulky sweater I'd started when it was -10 out (without a pattern, no less, but that's a different story and I'm making progress), and had gotten on a bit of a decluttering jag when I found a bag of blocks and miscellaneous pieces from a quilt I'd started several years ago (like, 2011). It was abandoned for many reasons, but last weekend I threw the blocks down on the floor and figured I was just a lazy so-and-so for not putting them together sooner.

It's much more vibrant than in the video (I used the same fabrics in another quilt, also long ago), and it's growing on me the longer it hangs out here in the kitchen. I'm debating about the border but have vowed not to let that derail its completion.

Sometimes it takes an easy finish to jump-start all those other projects.  At least that's what I'm hoping.

Taking a break from sewing...

I decided to mix it up this year. My loved ones have enough quilts, and I hate being so predictable.

I'm knitting instead. Cowls and scarves for everyone!

Two more to go! My wrists may never forgive me.

Progress...

Strip sets are pieced and pressed, Step Two is complete! Still a lot of cutting to do, but that can wait a little.

Taking a break from sewing to go out and cheer on the 2016 Marathon runners down the street.  It's a beautiful morning in Chicago!

A sneak peek...

I feel as though I've been cutting pieces for this quilt for weeks.

Another design I got into my head and couldn't get out, this one's for me and my bed. Archie, in his over-exuberance, has pretty much trashed my existing quilt, and it's time for a new one.

A better shot with better lighting, and a photobomb by Archie

Forty-two different yellows and blues, no repeats. And all ready for piecing this weekend.

Too many choices...

I think for now this top is done. I played with it for a couple weeks, added some blocks, took some out, added them back and then some.

I finally feel like I can't add anything else, so I'm content with leaving it this size (55" x 48" -- a decent lap size). My problem is having too many choices for the backing, which has put me in total indecision mode.

I found a beautiful turquoise/teal/tan leafy batik last week that was perfect...then in doing some digging for something else found another turquoise batik I'd have to piece with leftovers from the front...and also found a piece of Minkee the exact size I needed for this top.

If I use the leafy batik or the pieced back, I can quilt this as densely as I want, which was the original plan -- close, wavy quilting to echo the inset strips. Using the Minkee, I wouldn't be able to do that -- and I've kind of been saving that piece for a winter throw for the sofa, and I'm not sure I am in love with this enough to keep it in my living room.

I have to let it percolate for a while.  But look on the bright side:  it's a finished top, and no longer in pieces in my UFO pile. Which for me, is a big deal. I'll get it quilted...someday.

So much for pressing...

The top was draped over the ironing board next to me while I was sewing, and I watched him pull it down so he could curl up on it.

Apparently there aren't any other fabric-covered surfaces in my condo worth napping on today.

Where the heck did August go?

It's hard to believe that today is the last day of August!

I started the month out on a roll -- I quilted up a table runner and was on schedule to get it done in time to ship it off to my sister for her birthday, had a hand sewing project to work on during the Olympics...and then all hell broke loose.

Couch potato no more! There's always EPP!  Go USA!

Not possessing Wanda's foresight, I didn't heed the message that my workhorse computer was failing. Granted, I only had one day's notice, and the warning itself shouldn't have precipitated such a meltdown, but when it crashed, it crashed completely, and I lost several weeks worth of work. Stupid, I know. I'm usually conscientious about backing up my data, but I'd gotten busy and had put it off, and I'm still kicking myself two weeks later for being such an idiot.  I lost a lot of sleep mentally tallying what I could pull off email and what was irreplaceable, and eventually just accepted the fact that there were some things I would have to recreate. To add to the stress, this happened two days before a major project came my way. Between trips to the computer store to salvage my hard drives (nope) and meeting deadlines using an infinitely slower laptop, I was spending 14+ hours a day doing work and my sewing machine was gathering dust.

Early Saturday morning I delivered the first round of documents to my client, marched into the kitchen while the emails were still sending, opened the WIP bin and pulled out the first thing I laid hands on.  I needed to sew.

Looking back through my blog posts to find out when I started this, I'm ashamed (but not surprised) that these 48 5.5" batik blocks were from the spring of 2011. 2011! In 2011, my nephew was nine and came up to my shoulder. He started high school last week and is over six feet tall.

I was, at the time, trying a new technique, and apparently got tired of it because there were another ~50 blocks in the Ziploc that had been paired with inset strips but not sewn. Because of my impulsive sewing outburst Saturday morning, however, I created an conundrum for myself:  I'm pretty sure I don't want to do more of this wavy inset technique, so this has to be a medallion of sorts among the remaining solid blocks, maybe? I've laid out a couple different options, but nothing is floating my boat as of yet.

I'm afraid to go too long without making a decision with this one or it'll end up in the Duffle Bag of Doom and the leftovers to the WIP bin, so any suggestions are welcome.

And let me serve as a cautionary tale to BACK UP YOUR DATA!!!