Mondays

Mondays are always a challenge. Today was extra challenging. My co-worker went to Yosemite yesterday for a drive. She and her husband encountered detours, so they arrived later than they had anticipated. She called and said they were going to stay there overnight since the rates were so good for a Sunday night. Well, there were no substitutes available for her job today, so I worked the office by myself. I'm getting too old for this! It was a very busy day, so I am really pooped. I still want to get a couple blocks put together for the mystery quilt. I do not have my 16 done yet, nor the triangle units. There were no quilt magazines in the mailbox today. I especially like to arrive home to a new quilt magazine. I have a stack of them on my sewing table that I need to purge. I usually go through them a second or third time and find anything that I might even possibly think I might someday want to make. Then I cut them out and put them into a file. I went through my files a couple weeks ago, and found a few patterns that I have more than one copy saved of the same pattern. Sometimes I find I have a few patterns of a similar design, like 9 patches. I keep the pictures to remind me what I could do with a simple design like the 9 patch. Have you seen Judy Laquidara's latest Nine Patch book? Its great. When I looked through it, I was in awe of the number of ways a design can be adapted from a simple, single design. She says she only makes 9 patch designed quilts, but what designs! I have a stack of nine patch blocks that I received in a block exchange a while back. Some of the ladies have used their blocks and made quilts out of them. Me? I have spread them out on the bed (the largest flat space in our house) and arrange them this way. Then I arrange them that way. Then I move this one over here, and move that one over there. I generally make a mess of my original idea. I cannot remember which design I liked the best. One of my quilting teachers said to take photos of what you like. With the invention of digital cameras, it is easy and is such a good idea. You can print these out and then decide without moving all the blocks again, and again, and again trying to find that great design that you liked the best. Sometimes I put the blocks into a bag and just pull them out one by one and sew them in random order (I learned that from a Sharon Craig workshop). Then there are no weighty decisions to be made. For this reason, I really like sewing crumb blocks. I just grab a scrap of fabric, sew it to another scrap of fabric, and sew on and sew on, then before you know it you have enough of a fabric swatch to make a block. I cut a square out of that, use the left over pieces for the beginning of another fabric swatch, and continue from there. I found that the first time I made these blocks it can be addictive. I made 40 blocks before I stopped to count them. Bonnie Hunter has a crumbs tutorial on her Quiltville website that is very good. When I first learned to make this block, we called it a "Mile-A-Minute" block. I have a top made from crumbs blocks ready to be quilted. I made it for our quilt guild's Community Quilts group as a donation quilt. It was lots of fun, and very liberating. If you are at all uptight about sewing random pieces together, you should try this technique. It is good therapy. Therapy. That is how I view quilting. It is my therapy. It keeps me sane, and lets my creative spirit flow. I have discovered that it is okay if someone likes my quilts, or not. I make them because I like them. It is therapy for me and I know someone, somewhere will love this wonderful creation of mine. Sometimes it takes a while to find that someone, but they are out there! Well, it is time for me to sign off. My eyes can hardly read the computer screen they are so tired tonight. Before I go, I want to thank Bonnie Hunter for commenting on my blog. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to read it. Good night, sweet dreams, and thanks for stopping by to visit. Happy Quilting