The LOUDEST Xmas quilt, ever.

I promise, I’ve been slowly plugging away at the modern cross quilt- at least 6 more blocks done since last I posted, maybe even more.

But.

I decided I would do something I’ve been meaning to do for the last 4 or more years.

Actually USE some of my xmas fabric to make an xmas quilt, and to then USE that quilt over the holidays.

Every year I mean to start an xmas quilt, but when I first think of it, it’s way too early. And then I forget, and then when I finally do remember, it seems like it’s too late to bother, and I put it off until after the holidays. And then, it seems like it’s too early. Do you see the problem here?

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family, and then we decorated the entire house, from outdoor lights to indoor trees. And that put me in the holiday mood. (At least as much as this grinch is ever in the holiday mood.)  So I finally got out that stash of xmas fabric (built up in bits and pieces over many years) and dug in.

And this is what happened next.

Truly, the most obnoxious xmas quilt ever. And yet I love it. See the block in the bottom row, 2nd from the left? Turquoise with the red deer? That’s pretty much my favorite xmas fabric. There’s also teeny tiny pin-up girls, celebratory owls, all sorts of ornaments, and a tree made out of candy canes.  Whee!

I’m hoping to be able to sandwich and quilt this by Sunday. And to then USE it, THIS holiday season.

What a crazy concept.

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Same old different stripes

I did some knitting-as-barter recently for a friend. She works somewhere that my family loves, and to which our membership had recently expired… So a few months back we had a lunch date- I introduced her to the joys of both Fancy Tiger AND Sputnik– and she picked out some luscious Malabrigo. A skein of Sock in Primavera, and 3 of Silky Merino in Redwood bark.  That Silky Merino was heavenly to work with. I think I may need some for myself…

The colors were not my usual cup of tea, but they were stunning, and together, even more so.  My friend loved the asymmetrical stripes of Different Lines I made for myself earlier this year, so that’s what she got. That’s an awful lot of stockinette stitch for one year…

I finished it right before Halloween, and then there was the blocking. Finally got to hand it over this week- and I think she’s happy!  What do you think? (Pardon the crappy camera phone photos in the lousy lighting of a conference room…)

Now, back to selfish knitting!

11/11/11 at 11:11

Only 3 DAYS later this time!

For real! Maybe I’m getting back into the groove. I spent a few hours Sunday in my sewing room- the second time in a week!

I popped in a not terribly scary (but decently diverting) movie, and whipped out 6 more blocks! Hooray! Looking at this photo, I think I need to pull some more greens out of my stash. Can do. I still need a ton more of these blocks to get to queen size.

In family news…poor Rich just spent 6 straight work days stuck on jury duty- his first time serving. It was a painful trial with 2 full days of deliberations. He was freed at about 4:30pm today- and got home to find MY jury summons in the mail. Oh, the irony. I have been summoned twice and BOTH times ended up on juries. I do NOT want to do this again. Grrr. Perhaps the fact that I am donor and advocate for both Amnesty International and The Innocence Project will work in my favor? Cross your fingers…

Getting ready for the holidays…

by making holiday cards on shutterfly.  Here’s a preview…

 

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

3 months later…

…I sewed again.

Yes, it’s really been 3 months (plus a few days) since I sewed a stitch.

That might be my longest dry spell in a few years. I have a whole pile of great excuses, the biggest being my attempts to clean and reorganize the sewing room. It was truly too messy to sew for a good portion of the last three months. But not the entire time. Part of it was missing my Sue. Part of it was getting to know Wally. Part of it was knitting too much. Part of it was summer- we do too much and overbook ourselves like mad. Part of it was a fabulous vacation.

Okay, Wally’s not buying these excuses, either.  Let’s be honest.

Part of it was sheer laziness.

But we had an unexpected snow day here yesterday. I would have made R stay home with the kiddos, but he is stuck on jury duty and HAD to be there. I worked from home for a few hours, and then, popped a movie into the computer and reacquainted myself with my sewing machine. 1.5 hours later I had 5 new blocks. Not so impressive, but, a start.

The real question is, can I take this weak start and run with it?