Several Irons in the Fire

"The busier I am, the behinder I get." I recall vividly both my mom and grandma making this silly statement at various times, yet my young brain didn't have a clue what they meant. Now, a retiree with seemingly unlimited free time, I am discovering that I do, in fact, know what they were talking about. 

To make matters worse, in my case anyway, I have a strange tendency toward inertia. I simply stop working on all the things because I feel tugged to try to work on them all. Too many projects needing my attention all at once, and I simply shut down. 

Quickly, I will share some of the things currently keeping me occupied.

First, I continue to make autumn leaf blocks. I do love how these look and I cannot wait to sew the quilt top together - which might be on the agenda for tomorrow. I've got all 72 blocks made, and the pretty little stack will now be laid out for some auditioning. I can't decide if I want the leaves going all the same direction, or "tossed" in all manner of directions. I will show you all my experiments when I lay them out.

Another project I started is a little dress for Cate. DDErin handed off a small stack of fabric she'd bought, saying she was never going to have time to make things for her, so would I like to have a go at them? 

Uh, that would be YES.  

Below, see the stack of fabrics  (I'm using the pink/cream first) and the pattern.

 

And yet another project from Erin has me "itching" to tackle it. She is making a growth chart that will travel with them when they (at some future time) move. Cate is getting very close to standing and will be able to have her height marked on a chart. Erin embroidered numbers on some linen, then handed that off to me for quilting and finishing. I've spent some time on it, and it will be so quick to do, but I need to really direct my focus when I do.

I'm currently in the sandwiching phase. My next step is to cut the pink for the backing, then settle in for some big-stitch quilting. The print shown in the picture will be the binding. This growth chart will hang from a dowel rod making it portable for whenever they make a move. 

And, of course, life does not exist solely in the quilting room. We hosted two gatherings over the weekend, both tons of fun, but took time away from stitching, obviously. Then on Monday, I joined some of the Frienzies to begin working on a wedding quilt. (You'll be hearing more about this.) And now, I need to close this post for a book club outing to Columbus!

I am definitely staying busy, yet when things get a little crazy from time to time,  I let the blog fall to the last thing on the to-do list.

Happy Quilting, Friends!