I'm almost there!

      We are finally starting to have some days in the low 60s. In the spirit of spring, I've summoned up my optimism and found joy in the distractions that are keeping me out of the sewing room for the most part right now. Here are some pictures of what the deer left of my spring bulbs while I blether a bit.

     On the weekend, we decided to go over to my son's house-- he lives just ten minutes away. So I'm ashamed to say, we hadn't been over in a couple of years-- LOL. The closer a thing is, the less likely you'll visit it. I recall as a kid living ten minutes from Niagara Falls, and we NEVER made a trip to the falls, at least not until we lived 8 hours away! Anyway, we see our son frequently here and also at his shop which is closer than his house, in my defense.

     Anyway, it just felt so weird to be doing a thing just for the fun of it-- it made me realize how I've strapped myself down in front of the computer and sewing room for quite a few years now, bowing to the god of productivity. I got to hold one of my "grandchickens," see the garden he's planting in the yard, and just connect. I didn't even take pictures which I am always doing for this blog-- so you'll just have to take my word for it-- his rooster was BIG and DANGEROUS!

    I've often thought that the desire to sew might not always be the first thing in my mind or that circumstances might not allow it... I'm still not sure how I feel about it and hope to "goof off" a bit more this summer to explore life beyond the quilts.

    (This is actually a "Thai Basil" flower from my Aerogarden-- more on the Aerogarden next time, but it continues to give me endless joy.)

    Sew... let's not forget this is a sewing blog-- heehee. And, of course, my day is still not complete until needle and thread meet, even if it's only for 20 minutes.

     So the next business item in the works is the last set of Carefree Highways states-- South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. At the end of a thing, your mind always goes back to the beginning-- the pandemic was just starting, and I wondered if I could complete a set of fifty! Some kind person emailed me, "Just do one every two weeks," which sounded so reasonable and so kind, and in the end now that's just about what I did! The first five were alphabetical as I tested the waters, and I remember someone else lived in Wyoming and was pretty upset with me. So then I decided to skip around-- my apologies to the people of these last heartland states. I am ashamed to admit I have never been to any of them, but when I do my little bit of research, they are incredibly beautiful and all deserving of a visit! I do need to at least Google what the Western Meadowlark's call actually sounds like. <3 

     Isn't Mount Rushmore so cute!

    I am about to launch into a serious chain piecing event as I try to get this quilt together. When I re-read my instructions-- it says you need 200 flying geese-- my eyes glazed over (this is an incredibly humbling moment, to have your eyes glaze over while reading your own writing) but I'm thinking I may just tackle a couple of rows at a time. I know it's quicker to make them all at once, though. Let's see what happens! I forgot to put the finished size on the instructions, but even using the smaller size design gets you a hefty 80" x 100" quilt!

     Then, I got the missing fabric from the supplier for blocks 9-12 of the Ribbon Runs Through It quilt. OK, I will just stop protecting the guilty-- it was Fat Quarter Shop. So the irony is, you know how much fabric they give you for a Block of the Month-- it is seriously twice as much as needed. But this one fabric was one that was not used before. I'd guess most people are behind on this BOM and didn't even miss it! Each block is 127 pieces,  I think, because it's hard for me to count that high!

     So I just about have 12 blocks done, (or 1,524 pieces), as soon as I complete Block 9 with the missing fabric. I have everything needed to finish the next four blocks now and that is the end of "Phase One" of this project, The colors in the first sixteen blocks are all different and they had to be made individually. The next three phases as I am calling them in my head, all involve repeated blocks with the same fabric-- chain piecing heaven again. So as long as my eyes don't glaze over, I'm hoping to spend less time on this each month and get on to some other things.

     This picture I took from Sew 'n Wild Oaks, the designer.

    I really need to stop going to Walmart-- I got seduced into buying more Pioneer Woman fat quarters! I washed and starched them, and I think I am going to cut them all into 4-1/2" squares and piece them together willy-nilly just for some fun table toppers. I'm really curious how far 24 fat quarters will go-- maybe I'll even have enough left for a throw! This type of easy project is super appealing to me after the intensive piecing I've done on the Ribbon quilt. I'm going to tag the Pioneer Woman in Instagram when I finish and see if I can get a mention! I am obsessed with these patterns, and let's just hope I don't start buying lamps, shirts, dresses, and slow-cookers cuz she's got a big product lineup!

     Finally, the morning sewing is going with a vengeance-- am I still enjoying this project-- I'm not sure! When Mr. SFO and I were newlyweds, fixing up a fixer-upper home-- we would work on a project and he would always say "We're getting there!" or "We're almost there!" I would get so angry, because we were never "there," always just "getting there." (Happily, I concealed my rage and the marriage lasted.) And I do admit when we sold that house, there was still a window in the back of a closet that never got sheet rocked in--heehee.

    But this project is definitely at the "getting there," phase-- I had hoped for ten months, but now I'm racing to get this done in a year. I remember starting it around the end of June. So I'm almost done with the little red schoolhouse, but then there are apples, a pencil, a top (that has 3 stitches each of about thirty colors in it) and the dreaded ruler-- on that very extreme bottom right edge-- that is filled in solid. This is the picture from the pattern.

  So you can see, I'm almost there!

Wishing you a happy spring spirit today whatever your actual situation or season may be.

xox 

Carol