Finished the crumb block top

Did some more sewing, yesterday.  Feels good to finish something from the abyss of unfinished projects. This was a walk down memory lane.  Seeing all the tiny pieces from past quilt tops made me smile.  And to think this entire quilt was made from bits that would have been thrown away.  Never fear, I won't be doing this again.  Not that it wasn't fun, but it's a little too frugal to be practical. My great grandma Oe- mother of 14, would have approved.  Waste not, want not.   

 Crumb size to cracker size...

I joined 16 of the 4" crumb blocks together to make 36 blocks.  I think I'll join them in a 6x6 configuration. That way, I'll use them all.  

It's cold, today.  -15 with wind chill around -45.  I made a decision a while back not to complain about the weather.  Seems a little ungrateful.  (Plus, it gets tiresome to hear a complaint about the weather with every person you meet.) It may be cold out, but I have a warm fire and lots of blankets.  How blessed I am.  There are homeless people out there who I hope have found a warm place to sit and wait it out. God bless them. 
   

 That's a lot of seam allowances. But the new 66 my husband gave me for Christmas sewed through them without a single problem.  She's a very nice machine.  I'll be sewing with her instead of the 301 for a while.  I found a batting under the quilting machine that I forgot I had.  (I forgot I had the batting not the quilting machine.  She's rather the white elephant in the room.)  So I figure I'll quilt one of those quilt tops, soon. Might even get it loaded up, today.  Stay tuned.  At any rate, my quilting skills should improve with all the intensive quilting I plan on doing.     

A little windfall.  An itty bitty 4" block.

 
I'm not sure when I pieced it, but it's made from my hand dyed fabric.  I was going to make a coaster from it but Evabeth says I shouldn't set a cup on it.  Any suggestions on what I should do with it?  Is it too small for a wallhanging?

Stay warm my friends!  

Christmas in this house was only three days ago.  No judging.

 Numero uno...

This is the first finish.  (I decided not to count down from 50 because I've already found a few stragglers.  So, I'll count upward and see where I get.  If I quilt one a week, that will take me more than a year... I don't see me doing that many.  Truly, quilting and binding a quilt every other week is daunting.  But maybe this is the challenge I need.  Quilting has always been a joy to me and I'm just not going to turn it into a chore. But then, there's no need to not be productive while I'm having a good time, right?  See how these thoughts bounce around in my head? Don't know who I'm trying to convince;-) Having already quilted it, all I needed to do to this one was bind it- not the simplest binding, but with the frigid temps, I was happy to sit by the wood burning stove and stitch away.  The quilt top I found in an antique store years ago.  Isn't it lovely?  Maybe the maker got bogged down by the thought of quilting all of those angles(I just did a smallish meander) and then the binding of them.  Feeling pretty proud of the rescue. 

These are the two pillowcases I made.  They're for twins- as different as the pillow cases.  But the sweetest 7 year olds ever.

As I lay in bed last night, it occurred to me that I have at least 3 quilts in the works that I've put a lot of effort into over the years and I'm just not ready to let them go.  So, I guess I will be sewing some quilts. Not that I mind.  This one is a 4" crumb block compilation. Bonnie Hunter started me on this little project years ago.  I'm going to join all of the blocks together in one big crazy quilt.  It'll weigh a ton.  I think I'll use flannel for the batting to cut down on the weight.  We'll see.  I mean, I have a year or two to finish it, right?
 

Something very satisfying about a pile of blocks in the sunshine. 

 Big decisions...

I had a 15 year old say to me, "Mom, there are no decisions, only honesty."  I've been giving that a lot of thought.  It has to do with the reality of things.  Honesty.  The truth. 

But what's my reality?  I think I'm going to stop quilting.  Did I just say that out loud?  Well, there's not many that will hear me out here in cyberland so I think this is a pretty safe forum. My heart just isn't in it any more.  I still love quilts, but I just have so many.  See those four tubs in the back?  Full of quilts.  That doesn't include all of the ones we have on our beds, piled at the end of the couch for snuggling, stashed in every corner of the house. 

 I love the art of  quilts and the history of them.  The stories they tell.  But I think I've said what I've needed to say.  There are 50- exactly 50- quilt tops in those piles. Quilt tops that need to be quilted. (I figure it will cost me about $3,000 to finish them.)  I'll quilt those, but then I'm walking away.  I don't plan on making any more.  Saving some quilts for grandbabies. Giving quilts to all my friends. Sharing my story for anyone who cares to listen.  

This is a really big truth for me. I've been quilting for 30 years. It's been a huge part of who I am. I'm 51 years old and I'm deciding to change.  I guess it could seem like a small thing, but to anyone who knows me, they'll be shocked. Might as well go and buy myself a red corvette since I'm having a midlife crisis! It will mean a lot of adjustments. 

Sewing. 

 I've always loved to sew and that hasn't changed.  Just the venue.  I'm not sure where that will lead me.  I recently sewed a couple shirts for Jacob using a pattern from 1850.  I really enjoyed that, but it's hardly a means of occupying my time with sewing. I sewed a pillow case this morning.  That was fun.  I do have a lot of grand daughters who would look pretty cute in some prairie dresses. I guess I'll just see where this new path takes me.

 A little bit annoyed...

I haven't a clue what I was thinking when I put these little 9-patches away.  There's that brown and a whole lot more tan in the tub with them.  But I don't remember what I was going to do next.  It was November and things were crazy.  I think it was in a magazine.  Which doesn't narrow things down much. Annoyed, annoyed annoyed.  I'm usually pretty good at leaving myself notes.  Oh well, maybe it'll come to me.

  

It's snowing today and this is what I did with my morning.  I'm out of place mats, so it must be time to stop making zipper bags.  A couple of them are for my daughters.  I'll surely find homes for the rest.

I've reclaimed my quilting room.  Aside from the zipper bags, I've been wandering from one side of the room to the other, not knowing what to do. I get that way sometimes.  I need a little clutter to get the creative juices flowing.  Too much open space stalls me.  So I wander.  Snapping open tubs, peeking into drawers.  Looking for inspiration.  Too much clutter is paralyzing, also.  There's a happy medium. Rest assured, I'm pretty good at cluttering things up so it's only a matter of time before I'm happily occupied again.

Two color quilt...

Is it a two color quilt if one of the colors is white?  I made this one a while ago.  I like batiks- a lot.  I've had this blue piece for a while.  A donation from a friend.  We've passed our internet business onto some one else so my quilting room is in the process of being reclaimed.  I won't know what to do with all that extra space.  It'll need to be completely revamped. William cleared all of the business things out while I was gone...

This is the real news.  Baby Barnabas was born on New Years day.  Isn't he beautiful?  Our 7th grandbaby. I've been down at their place for the past week and just got back last night. They have two other children ages 2 and 1 so I've been busy running after them.  They really are little angels though and it was amazingly easy and a pure delight.  I'll miss them. I've learned several Yapese words while there and I realized I frequently use a few Spanish words from the other grandbabies. I'm hoping to see them, tonight.  Aren't grandchildren wonderful?  They're like little rays of sunshine and nothing can me smile faster.