Centre piece design

This is the design I chose from that book of Indian Designs as a centre piece for the now-assembled quilt.



Needless to say, it's warped, does not have the dimensions I need and I have no idea how to transfer it properly ... sigh.

But I asked Susan D. for help so let's see ;-)

Next: Machine Assembly

All appliqued (shouldn't it be "applied"?) so I'm really to assemble ... which means I will have to break out my sewing machine. I always dread that and then I don't want to return it to its case. Schizo, I know.

And while I work up my courage, I'll better check out the designs for the centre of the quilt.

Being results-driven

I spoke to my cousin yesterday, she's not actually my real cousin, instead she's married to him. But I've known her for more than half her life and a lot more than half of mine.

She's a professional musician (piano) and music professor. She's also mother of two children. While she gets some flac for her mothering ways, she's indisputably great at music. I never fail to be amazed by her performing persona. And I enjoy discussing creativeness/art/music with her.

We spoke about my quilting and I said that I enjoy (in fact crave and neeeeed) quilting because it leaves me with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day that I do not get out of motherhood. To me, my mothering is marked by my contemplating my shortcomings. I constantly question myself and find areas in dire need of improvement. This in combination with the lack of input caused by Alex's absence during the week, makes my days a tad tough.

I long for a time when I'll be able to interact more with adults and when I have more time for my "art". I shy away from that term in connection with my creations as art should be of a higher value than what I produce. But to hell with that, I *enjoy* what I do. Contemplating new projects gives me energy and drive. At times, it allows me to fall asleep when I'm battling insomnia caused by being overly stressed.

While I set up this blog in order to keep track of my projects, it's nice to just write down thoughts and motivations without addressing anybody in particular.

Tie-Dye

This isn't really related to quilting but the instructions are really interesting: The FunkyC Way of Tie-Dyeing as well as instructions on knot tying. The result is really scrumptious:


and reminds me of an old tee I have that may find its way into the planned tee shirt quilt.

To count to 30 is not an easy feat!

Apparently I hadn't prepped all 30 patches for my Easter hols and completely forgot that there were more than 20. Which I'd already ironed, folded, pinned etc. All of a sudden, when looking at my layout, I found out that there were another ten. Oh well ...

I think I also need to rework the design a little to accommodate for seams, something that escaped me earlier. Which makes fusing sound like a much more practical choice. But it's a lap quilt to be used frequently - or so I hope. So sewing it is. Plus what else am I to do in the evenings with hubby being away MON-FRI?

Mighty pleased!

My appliqué is coming along nicely, I've got 8 of 20 complete already. I'm really very pleased with my progress, especially considering that when I first did appliqué in class, I hated it. In fact, we all hated it, the group had never been that belligerent about their little project as when we did our fl*ming turkey tracks (that have since become a UFO).

Labelling?

Now that I've finished my baby quilt (including the mandatory bragging ;-), I'm wondering how to label it. I know what needs to go onto the label but I don't really want to hand-embroider it. I guess I'm looking for a lazy and faster, neater way to do it.

Any ideas?
Anyone?

One down, 19 to go

... and granted: it's crooked too. But I can always correct that during assembly.



And this will be the lay-out of the end result, hopefully, with the quilting pattern still to be selected.