Deferred gratification saves the day...

I am toiling on a project that seems to be dragging on forever. It's taking up a lot of room in my kitchen studio, and reminds me daily of its presence -- and my inability to make progress. It doesn't help that my ankle hasn't been improving so I've been spending more time on the couch with my foot elevated. It'll be a miracle if I can ever get that butt dent out of the cushions.

I missed IQS this year because of the stupid foot, so in order to make myself feel better I went shopping in my stash and found a "Lottie Da" layer cake I'd bought last year. I had kind of forgotten about it, but seeing it made me happy and eager to make something with it all over again. It's very spring-y!

A quick trip to ilovefabric.com found me some coordinating solids. Because buying fabric ALWAYS makes everything better...right?

Now this layer cake and its matching solids are atop my craft cabinet where I can see them every time I hobble through the kitchen, so I think about what I'm going to make with them, and get all excited about the prospect of a new quilt. But here's the rule I laid down for myself:  I can't touch them until this other project is out the door.

There they sit, giving me the incentive I need to finish up what I have to, just so I can play later. So far it seems to be working and I'm diving back into the grudge project (which really shouldn't be a grudge at all, I'm just fickle) with renewed vigor.

But come to find out after an MRI yesterday that my sprained ankle is also some shredded foot ligaments AND a broken tibia, which explains why, after five weeks, things weren't improving. O, the joys of getting older and hereditary osteoporosis! Six to eight more weeks on crutches and the doc doesn't think surgery will be necessary, but progress has been slowed again. I am NOT a happy camper.

I may have to buy more fabric!

Goodies from the mailman...

Amazon.com's recommendations are sometimes off-the-chart weird, or they keep trying to get you to buy religious books because you bought a theology textbook as a gift for your sister three years ago and won't believe it's not your top interest any more. I don't usually pay attention to them, but last week some items caught my eye.

Their first recommendation was right on the money, and it was in my shopping cart in a flash. All I can say is WOW.

Yes, that's a crutch. I'm a klutz.

I didn't hear about the Red & White Quilts exhibit until it was well underway in 2011. If I'd known it was this spectacular, I would have dropped everything and hopped a plane to NYC, with a stop in the borough to grab my best friend who pushed me down this quilting rabbit hole in the first place during a visit to a Brooklyn quilt show twenty years ago. I'm truly sorry we missed seeing it in person.

For anyone to have collected 653 unique red and white quilts in their lifetime is impressive enough; to see them all exhibited at once in the way they were must have been truly staggering. They've taken a picture of every single quilt for this book, and it's mesmerizing. Amazon's "Look Inside" feature gives you a good idea of what to expect: hours of pouring over what really is an infinite variety of two-color quilts. It's right up there with Nancy Crow and Gee's Bend for inspiring coffee table books. I'm not much of an endorser of anything, but I'd say treat yourself and get this one wherever you can, you won't be disappointed.

I'm not sure what led Amazon to entice me with this second book, but I bit and ordered it. It breaks down the construction of intricate Islamic tile designs with some history and design illustrations. Thumbing through it, I'm translating some of the patterns into English Paper Piecing in my head. It comes with a CD-ROM and basic patterns to jump-start some ideas. Lots of possibilities in there.

Unfortunately, I was so excited about the arrival of these books that I missed the last two steps down to the lobby and pretty much ended up in the mail lady's lap -- the poor woman thought I'd hit my head because of the string of expletives coming out of my mouth as I lay on the floor. I sprained one ankle pretty badly and tweaked the other one (fortunately not enough to totally incapacitate myself). Nothing was broken, but lots of swelling and some tendon damage will keep me off my feet for at least the next two weeks, if not longer. So not much sewing going on here, but I have Netflix and some awfully good reading material to keep me occupied!

Snow/sew day!

Yesterday marked the first measurable snowfall in the city since December 17; it's been a weird winter here in the Midwest.  A couple inches fell in the morning, and then last night the winds shifted, the "Lake Effect" took over, and I awoke early this morning to the unfamiliar roar of the snow plow and the scrape-scrape-scrape of someone cleaning their windshield on the street outside my window.

Outside my window, 6:30am

It's gorgeous to look at, but my best course of action this morning was to fire up the coffee and start sewing instead of venturing out.

Excavated UFO #43

100% flannel, ~60" x 60"

I finished piecing the borders from most of the orphan blocks and scraps I found in the mystery bag with the center blocks. I have no idea what my original plan was for this quilt way back when, but judging from the number of strip sets, there were more of those 25-patch blocks from the upper left corner in the works. They're cute, but 1" flannel squares are bulky and I didn't have the patience to do anything more with them other than string them together to put in the borders.  I do love me some flying geese, though (especially flannel ones!), so I may have to keep those in mind for another project. The top and bottom borders are different widths (hey, working with what I had), and it's a little wavy and wonky, but I can live with it.

Since there wasn't any goal in mind besides finishing the top and making room in the bin for another UFO, this will probably sit in limbo for a while. It would have been nice to have it all done and snuggle under it today, but there are other quilts for snuggling.

For now, I'm happy to be able to cross this one off my list.

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.