Making Your Own Bliss

Phew. Life. After two months of recovery and working from home, I went back to campus this week. This coming week, I get to go back to the gym and we have auditions. The week after includes the beginning of rehearsal and another follow-up with my surgeon. Whoa. So I took today to just do things that I love. I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen and the remainder in the sewing room. Bliss. 

Although I can't chew yet, I can eat baked goods in teensy bites. Plus, I have been watching scads of seasons of The Great British Bake Off. I dare you to watch it and not want to bake everything.I found a delectable recipe on Pinterest for Salted Chocolate Espresso Brookies from mydailymorsel. Seriously, some of the best cookies that I have ever had. I made a batch of baked oatmeal and my very favorite bread: Graham Bread from The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger. Even more bliss.

This afternoon, I got to work on The Big Quilt. I added Wisconsin, Minnesota (isn't the lumberjack fabric from Joyful Roots adorable?), and Kansas. Ramses wanted to help.

I also made chicken pot pie, many jars of homemade chicken stock, and delicious chicken barley soup. I had graham bread and soup for dinner. Still more bliss.

Time to watch a show about Broadway on PBS, have a cup of tea, and a few of those cookies. 

Stitching the Nation: The Big US Quilt

Every day the nation becomes more of a reality. I have caught up with the rest of the 50 States Stitching Cub, so it was time to turn to the map. Each state has been appliqued with the fabric that will be the corresponding quilt block and in some way invokes the motif for that state. Virginia is a funny example: the motif is a Virginia Ham, so the fabric that I choose for the state/block is covered with sausages and meats! Also, did you know that the state craft of South Carolina is basket making? Hence the woven fabric for that state.

Saturday was full of tea, stitching, and sleeping kitties. We had a quietly productive day with "How the States Got Their Shapes" playing in the background. Apt, I thought.

Reaching for the stars: Adventures in Paper Piecing

You know how things look lovely on the internet and you think, "Oh, I can surely do that!" Then you actually start the project and realize what a production it truly is. So it goes with me and English Paper Piecing. This is part of The Big US Quilt project,so I can't just say, "It's too complicated so I am not going to do it." Well, I guess that I  could but that is not my way. Here I go:

First, I cut out 50 star shapes (I was originally gong to trace them, but decided to use up my printer ink instead). I then snipped off all of the points (Moses helped) so I have 50 pentagons and 250 triangles.

Luckily, Mollie from Wild Olive gave detailed instructions on how to actually make the pieces, so it was just a matter of following each step. The real challenge was the actual size of the pieces...they are tiny! The pentagon is only 1.5 inches across.

Quilting Isn't For Sissies

Some women turn into their mothers. Not me. I am turning into my Grandma. I am kinda excited about it. As soon as I finished working on Friday, I started working on The Quilt. 

I started cutting out squares and states out of the coordinating fabrics. I wasn't the only one having fun. Moses discovered that a recently used ironing board was THE best place in the house to lounge, regardless of the fact that I was still using it. I made huge plans for Saturday. The plan was to destash blue fabrics and crazy quilt them together for oceans, gulfs, and lakes. That was the plan anyway...

Making Progress: The Big US Quilt

Whoa. When I decided to combine three things that I wanted to do, I guess that I didn't realize how big of an undertaking that it was. I have ordered supplies online (since I am still in semi-quarantine from my surgery) and decided that being super-organized was the only way that I am going to get through this unscathed. I am a little nervous since I am doing a lot of things that I never have: quilt applique, hand quilting, AND paper piecing. 

Fabrics are starting to arrive. The big order from Spoonflower came in yesterday. I was sad to learn that an 8" swatch is actually 6.5". I have ordered duplicates of some since I am using these themed fabrics for both the star blocks and the actual state on the map. Scraps will become part of the sashing and/or binding.

 I have spent my free time since Saturday stitching tons of motifs from the 50 States Stitching Club. I am up to date with the rest of the club now.

I didn't realize how small that they would be until I started to transfer them. I originally traced them with water soluble marker, but found that it was too pale. Pencil works just fine.

I started tracing states tonight to make patterns. Ramses thinks that he is helping.

Tomorrow night, I hope to be able to start cutting fabric and Saturday, I will start making stars. So nervous. Any paper piecing tips?

From sea to shining sea: The Big US Quilt

You would think that after the afghan debacle, that I would be off blankets forever. Just the opposite--I just completed designing my FIRST quilt pattern

. 

I didn't design all of the elements, but I am taking two great projects by fabulous designers and putting my own spin on them. 

The first element is a DIY United States quilt kit designed by Haptic Lab. I received it as a birthday gift two years ago, but having been waiting for the perfect project to use it. 

Second is the awesome 50 States Stitching Club by my favorite embroidery designer, Mollie Johanson at Wild Olive. The club is little more than halfway done, so I definitely have some catching up to do! I am up for the challenge, though.

Here's the plan: I will stitch up all 50 of the state motifs and applique them onto a fabric from Spoonflower that evokes the theme of the motif. Then I will use the same fabric on the map and will applique the state. Leftover fabric will become the sashing on the quilt top. 

Today, after printing the backlog of patterns, I measured out some squares of plain fabric to stitch onto. Then, I transferred all of the patterns onto the fabric and started to work.

Isn't Connecticut so cute? It is the state flower, the mountain laurel. Does anyone have a line on where I can find some fabric with mountain laurel on it? What else typifies CT?