cough, sniffle, snooze...

Have you noticed my absence from bloggie-land? I took sick a week ago Tuesday night and still have raging symptoms. I finally had the sense to go to an urgent care on Monday, and with the antibiotic for sinus infection now at work in my system, I do believe I will kick this illness at last.

Since I am not contagious, I have managed to make my classes on Tuesday and today. That is the extent of my efforts, however. Teaching two composition classes is enough to wipe me out.

I have not sewn a stitch on the sewing machine. I have the EPP Lake Effect next to my easy chair, but my head just won't stand for more than a brief effort. Reading blogs has even been too challenging. I tell you, this really taken me out of action.

So what can I share today? Well, I will rerun some older things and make a little hint of some future activity. Some of you recall, I'm sure, that I was the lucky recipient of a long arm quilting machine late last year. Read about it here. I have spent the better part of two-plus months working at setting the tension and sewing without breaking threads. I do believe I finally have all parts in good order and I'm ready to quilt something beyond samples.

Searching the contents of my sewing closet gives me many options, and the three finalists I am debating are these:

Chantilly is a quilt top I made in 2012 from a pack of florals I had on hand. I have looked back at my post and failed to record the book that this pattern came from, but I can find it easily enough and will make note of it soon. I have backing fabric for this quilt already set aside and while it is the largest of my three finalists, having that backing decision already made makes this quite a promising choice. 

 Razzle Dazzle was made in 2011 for a mystery sample. I have never been overly fond of this quilt as orange is my least favorite color. It would be a good quilt to make my mistakes on. It is rather on the small size, and would likely be table-topper sized.

Plan C is a Carrie Nelson pattern from her book Schnibbles Times Two. I made it in 2012 using Park Avenue fabric by 3 Sisters/Moda. The quilt is not overly large, yet would result in a nice lap size. I would have to stay-stitch it because of that piano key border, and I would have to locate a backing. I have a hefty tub of browns, so I think it would be easy to find something suitable.

I have reasons to get healthy, don't I? So much to be done! On top of being ready to long-arm quilt my very first quilt on this machine, I have two classes of essays now to read and respond to. The world is not waiting on me to get better!

Hope you are having a happy day. Our area is being deluged with rain - I think parts of southern Ohio are suffering severe flooding. That's where I am, but this is further south from here. Pray for safety!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Finish! Plan C

I have finally put the finishing touches on Plan C, a quilt that is as super-easy to make as it is super-fun! The directions are the clearest, most easy to follow of any quilt I've ever made. I did not use the seam ripper once! That's saying something! *grin*

Plan C, a pattern by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, is made here with Park Avenue, an old line of fabric from Three Sisters/Moda. I had a layer cake of it and some additional yardage. The background fabric is an old, old, old Jinny Beyer.

So now I am experiencing this really weird feeling of not being sure of what I want to work on next. Too many options sometimes leaves me inert. Wish I didn't have that tendency. I am headed up to the sewing room to work out some options.

Tomorrow I will share with you the details of the lovely day I've had today. A dear old friend and former student (class of '83!) came down from Columbus for a day of stitching. It was delightful! 

Reconfiguring

That's the fancy name I am giving the re-do in my sewing room. After a couple of years of bringing all cutting activities down to the kitchen where the counter is at a comfortable height, I took the plunge to create a better cutting space. It'd be nice to be able to keep all the quilting activities in the same room, ya' know?

I moved a couple of bookshelves out into the middle of the room. By placing them back to back, I have an island that is a very comfortable height for rotary cutting. This pic shows that I'm still in the cleaning (duster on the floor) and arranging (sewing table too close to island) phase, but this is basically how I am proceeding.

I am by no means finished with the task. That mess in the hallway leading into the sewing room is stuff that came out and needs to be returned. Ugh!! I don't know what to do with it all! I need to consolidate a few things and throw out even more. (I do tend to be a packrat, in case you were wondering.)

It's all on hold for another day or two while I finish up Plan C, which is coming along nicely. Doing a project in the middle of this reconfiguration has shown me where I need to re-think a few things, and adjust accordingly, so I guess there ends up being a method to this madness. Pictures of Plan C progress tomorrow, hopefully.

And speaking of tomorrow, guess what?!!? It's time once again for Lone Star Saturday!

Our first-Saturday-of-the-month adventure is now into it's 7th installment, and Quilt Sue will be our hostess with the mostest. If you are sewing along with us, get those pics and posts ready to share! If instead, you have simply been following all the fun, check in tomorrow with Sue and me to see what magic has transpired since our June get-together.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Plan C

Remember all the UFOs and planned quilts I shared the week I was in Myrtle Beach? Even after showing everyone all that stuff I have in the queue, I up and start a quilt that wasn't even on my radar until about 4 days ago. Talk about spontaneous!!

This Carrie Nelson book, Schnibbles Times Two, has several quilts in it that have caught my eye. I really hadn't made any firm plans, though, to begin one in the near future. That was until July 1st when I was noodling around on the blogosphere, and I happened upon the latest Schnibbles parade at Sherri's blog. Things began to get interesting. I read that this month's project in the Another Year of Schnibbles quilt-along was a free choice! Whooo-hooo! That's appealing, don't you think? And isn't that just the sort of thing that sends one off on a tangent?? It certainly did me.

Plan C is the quilt that has caught my fancy. The picture shows it made in bright, vibrant colors with a white background. And I really like the look.

But, if you've read this blog for very long, you know that I am on a mission to use from the stash. I dug around and found a layer cake of Park Avenue by 3Sisters/Moda in addition to several fat quarters and .5 yard cuts. Enough to meet the requirements for the stars, but I didn't have a decent background fabric, so back to digging. My selections aren't bright and vibrant, but I still like the fabrics, and I will be interested in seeing how the quilt looks done in a more muted colorway.

I found this Jinny Beyer fabric called Jaipur. Heaven knows how long I've had it, or where I bought it. I've long forgotten. It will serve as my background fabric. So, the cutting has been done, and I've begun a bit of sewing.

The long and the short of this post is that I am working on a quilt called Plan C, and it's sort of a Plan C idea.
     Plan A: work on a UFO.
     Plan B: work on an already planned quilt.
     Plan C: come up with something entirely out of the blue. I totally see the logic in this.

 Instead of working on it yesterday, I opted to spend much of the holiday watching baseball with DH, and hand-quilting my little patriotic star. I also read the Declaration of Independence. Did you know there was a nationwide movement for Americans to read the Declaration on Independence Day? I heard about it on the radio, I think. Anyway, I did it. Pretty cool! I recommend it!

 Happy Quilting, Friends!