Endgame

definition: the final stages of sewing together a quilt top

I don’t know how to play chess, but that word can apply to quilt making too.  It always pops into my mind the minute I start collecting all the blocks off the floor in careful order, labeling each pile with a post it note and pinning the stack just so.  Then heading to my sewing machine to piece together the rows.  On one hand, it’s the most boring part of quilt making for me, but it’s also exciting as I feel my heart flutter each time I join together another row and more of the quilt top is revealed, bit by bit.

Just last night I had a realization that my sewing skills have vastly improved over the past few months.  I sat down to my machine, lowered my presser foot and needle, and put the petal to the medal.  The speed control was on high, and it wasn’t fast enough.  That’s when it dawned on me that I had the speed lever all the way to the right.  Little by little, over the past few months, I’d been sliding  it over, not even thinking about it.  For years I’d been plodding along on the slowest setting possible, and even that felt a little fast sometimes.  Now I am wondering, can this machine sew any faster??? 

Today I had to head out to Joann’s for a few supplies and lucky me, I came upon this Kona chartreuse remnant (1 yard for $3.20) and a Dear Stella basketweave fat quarter.  Did you know Joann’s sometimes has name brand fat quarters in their bins?  It’s hit or miss, but I’ve certainly found some good deals over the years. 

The Kona chartreuse will come in handy because it seems like every single person I know is having a baby boy in May or July.  I love this shade of green with a dark blue or turquoise.

I also picked up a few stash builders (two blues, a cream, and a gray) and the rest of the bolt of some owl fabric.  It will make a cute quilt backing someday, right? 

I’m hoping to have another quilt finished up this weekend so I can get started on these baby quilts.  The first shower is in two weeks, so I need to get my game on!  I was thinking of making a coordinating basket for the baby’s dresser.  Any ideas of what I could put in it?  Shampoo and lotion?  Washcloths?  Board books?

A New Chair, and Something to Share

Have you seen this chair before?  I saw one just like it in Nancy’s Notions catalog a few months ago and was smitten.  Here is the link.  I double-dog-dare you to click on it.  The chair legs are brown instead of red, but I think it’s the same exact chair and it costs $220!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Did I use enough exclamation points???  I think a $220 chair deserves that many.

Guess what I paid…

Yes, only fifty bucks.  It was my lucky day at Joanns.  I usually pay cash for everything I buy, but I wrote a check that day since I didn’t have enough cash with me because I was only there to buy a $1 wooden birdhouse for my daughter to paint.  I remembered that the chair I saw in the catalog was over a hundred bucks, but I didn’t remember it was that expensive until I got home and looked it up.  This chair really livens up my sewing room and is very comfortable—the perfect height for a shorty.  Maybe your Joanns has one?  You might want to check it out for a deal like this!

And on to the share part.  I am giving away a copy of a book called I Love Patchwork.  If you haven’t seen the book before, you can check out the reviews here on Amazon.

To enter, simply tell me if your favorite new(-ish) line of fabric.  The author of the book, Rashida Coleman-Hale, has her first line of fabric called Washi.  I just purchased some and can’t wait to use it.  If you are a follower, you can have an extra entry!  The giveaway ends on Sunday, April 22nd and I will post the winner that night.  Open to international entries.

An Auspicious Start to Kindergarten and Sugar Creek Surprise!

So, yesterday, as we were walking out the door to head to my daughter's kindergarten orientation, an earthquake shook our house!  We were walking through the garage and I heard the bricks and mortar in our chimney crunching as various lawn implements that were hanging from hooks in the garage started swaying.  Whoa!!!  What is even more amazing is that the epicenter was in Mineral, VA.  Who has ever heard of that place?  Me!  My parents live in that very zip code on Lake Anna.  They've owned a lake house there since I was in high school and formally retired there several years ago.  Everyone is okay (there is a nuclear power plant on the lake), but it sure was an interesting chain of events--is the universe telling us that the world is going to be rocked by my super-wonderful daughter? 

Here she is checking out her new classroom.

And, in a stroke of luck, we happened to be dining out Sunday night next to Joanns, and lookie what I found:

I am kind of curious to see how people review these fabrics.  The lady who cut the fabric had to remove two sections that had pulls in the weave and I thought overall it was less soft, thick, and satiny compared to the first line of fabric.  But that's just me...