I was in the sewing room feeling a little downhearted. It’s been so long since I was able to really sew. I feel like my sewing room is standing still in time and I’m moving on. I don’t love that feeling. I feel disconnected and out of touch with my projects.
I thought about just walking out and settling in with some cross-stitch. It would be so easy to do. But I love quilting too. I just needed to dig and start in on something.
To be honest, the out-of-touch feeling makes me want to start something new…but NO. I can’t do that. I’ve been on a roll of getting things done before I had my break from quilting. I needed to do something even if I didn’t have the enthusiasm for it. If I did something, maybe the enthusiasm would come back…so, I settled on working at the longarm and my Bitcoin quilt.
I got passes done, rolled the quilt forward, and discovered this…UGH.
A hole in the batting. UGH!! The quilt has been hanging on the quilt frame for so long. Rosie runs by it and that was likely about all it took to make a hole. Hobbs’s 80/20 batting is great but it isn’t the best as far as stability goes. So what’s a girl to do??
I just slapped a scrap in there, tacked it down, and called it good. This quilt isn’t getting any younger and would do no one any good if it didn’t just get finished.
I finally got to the last pass. I feel so bad that I didn’t have great feelings about this quilt. I loved the top when I made it but I left it sit too long. It seemed more of a burden than a blessing. But it’s almost done. Quit whining I told myself. Just do it.
…and I did. The quilting is all finished. It’s off the frame. I’m moving on.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the quilt. Once it’s finished I’ll likely be singing its praises. I just wasn’t in the mood for it anymore. I think you all can relate. That’s why we all have so many UFOs…right??
Sadly, the thing I was moving on to I didn’t have any ambition for either. I still have the rest of these Frolic leftovers to deal with. BUT WAIT…
I do have some good news about Frolic leftovers. Remember my quilt made with the first batch of Frolic leftovers? This one…
Well a blog reader made the suggestion that if American Patchwork and Quilting wasn’t going to accept it for submission, how about contacting someone else…and that’s what I did.
This will be featured in the Fall issue of Quilter’s World Magazine. Carolyn, the editor there, was quick to pick it up.
I opted to hand it over to Carla our friend at Longarm Quilting Inspirations to work a little of her magic on it. My shoulder had been acting up and longarming isn’t the best for it. Carla will do her best on it and make it shine.
But back to those other Frolic leftover blocks. Yep…all of these. UGH.
I was a little inspired as when I looked at the green blocks, I suddenly had an idea. YEP. I liked the idea too. That’s progress.
I didn’t work on them but YES. I had an idea and that’s what I’ve been waiting for all along. I feel much better about them.
I had 12 blocks left of the blocks that were used a lot in the first big quilt of this adventure. They are blue and pink with an aqua background. I decided to take them and sit down at the computer with EQ and come up with something.
This is what I came up with. As is it’s 44″ x 52″, if I remember right.
Here is the design with the lines taken out.
I showed it to Karl and as I was looking at it, I decided that I’m only going to make it in a 3×3 setting so it will be 44″ x 44″ for a baby quilt.
I’ll use the other leftover three blocks on the back or put them in an orphan pile. There will likely be some other blocks leftover at the end of this adventure and they can be used then…we’ll see.
I did take some time over the weekend to start sewing it…
Oh my…I love these vibrant colors!!
I wanted to sit and sew the entire quilt but told myself no…It was getting late and I’m not supposed to burn the candle at both ends. So I quit here…
I am in love with this. Seeing this was just the zip I needed to get me out of the funk I was in. I think this is going to be a really cute baby quilt.
I need to sew the rest of the cornerstones, sew the sashing together and add the borders. It shouldn’t take long.
Did I tell you I loved this?? I really do.
I also continued my slow progress on my Remainders quilt. I have all the pieces sewn at this point. Once I get them all ironed and trimmed, I might have to make more. I didn’t count my blocks. For now, it’s an iron and trim game. There are so many to trim though…720 to be exact. I’m about 1/4 of the way done on trimming them.
I popped in a new rotary cutter blade. I accidentally cut sticky board with the wrong cutter and blah. My blade is dull now. I’ve been trying to not go to town again so I ended up ordering blades through Amazon. I thought they were really reasonable. $13-sih for a 10 pack. I found them HERE. At this cost, I’ll change my blade more often. I looked at Joann’s it said, $11-ish for TWO blades. WOW. Yep, I’ll be changing the blade more often and I will be ordering them from Amazon.
I went to get my small ruler to square the blocks up but couldn’t find it. Some time ago a blog reader had sent this ruler. I thought I would try it. I made two cuts and decided I didn’t like it. The red line is too thick and I can’t see the edge of the fabric the way I want to. I ended up putting it in the donation box to the thrift store.
That was my opinion on the ruler. No formal review…just a straight-up, not for me. Thanks so much to the blog reader who sent it so I could give it a try.
I went upstairs and looked. My small ruler somehow ended up in the sewing room up there. Normally I keep it downstairs.
Ruler and rotary cutter in hand I started to go to work trimming. Oh my. It was going to take a long time to trim all of these.
Kalissa used her phone the other day and did a time-lapse video of us packing her stationary. (by the way, it’s in stock and you can find it in her Etsy store HERE. Order quick if you want Christmas delivery)
Anyway, I decided I needed some motivation to get one of the stacks of my Remainders blocks trimmed so I set up my camera to time-lapse and started cutting. Gannon was at my house at the time and you can see his guest appearance in the clip. Just push the arrow button to play.
I ended up trimming this stack. There were 107 blocks in the stack. Doing the video was the motivation I needed.
That’s where I am this week. Plans for next week include:
-Trimming more blocks. I’d love to have them all trimmed but I don’t know if that will happen.
-Finish the baby quilt top.
-Bind Bitcoin.
In the midst of all of that, I did submit a quilt design to Quilts and More magazine. They accepted it. I need to figure out fabric and get that on its way here. The quilt isn’t due in house there until mid-Febraury so I have time…I just don’t know how I’ll be feeling so I want to keep working on things along the way. It will be a layer cake quilt so if you bought one of the layer cakes on last week’s auction and don’t have plans for it, you might want to wait until you see the new design.
That’s all for now in the quilting department…
I love the baby quilt, Jo! Congratulations on getting your quilts accepted with the magazines.
1 thanks for the tip on the rotary cutter blades.
2 do you think your feeling less than enthused about sewing might be related to your new meds and restrictive diet ?? Either one could make some big changes and put them together certainly might.
Also, thyroid challenges seem to do crazy things to us without the other things you are going through.
Be kind to yourself.
Glad you got some of your quilting mojo back. Love the baby quilt, it beautiful and a new Mum would be thrilled to receive this quilt. Glad Bitcoin is off the long arm and ready for binding and that your Frolic Leftovers quilt was accepted for a magazine. Great work, Jo!
Glad you got your sewing mojo back, Jo. Pleased you got Bitcoin finished and off the long arm and ready for binding. I love your new baby quilt, it’s beautiful and any new Mum would be thrilled to receive it. Great news that your Frolic Leftovers quilt has been accepted by a magazine. Well done, Jo, great work!
I loved seeing all the fabrics in your bitcoin quilt, and the backing is wonderful. Congratulations on getting published, how exciting. I just got my American Patchwork with your quilt on the front cover, its gorgeous. The time lapsed video is fun to watch and loved seeing Gannon and his tractors. Hope you are feeling well with the meds and new food requirements.
Hi- many thoughts, prayers and hugs being sent to you. Your Bitcoin is lovely, baby quilt was a quicker solution(aka: Brilliant) and congrats on the other acceptance for your publication in the magazine. For you to stand strong and persevere with all you’re confronted with is huge. Be kind to yourself, breathe, and allow yourself to enjoy all the joys that are possible and evident as you travel this path in this life’s chapter. God Bless.
You’ve done some amazing work on the quilts, even when you “weren’t in the mood” for some of them! :-)
I had to chuckle when you mentioned that you had a hole in your batting. I was sandwiching a quilt for my grandson and found that my batting was smaller that the quilt – which was weird because I hadn’t realized I had cut into it. So, I took a piece, basted it in and am putting it together, just like you did!
Looking forward to the quilts in the magazines.
Love and prayers
Thanks for the “pep talk” about feelings around sometimes just losing interest in a project. I hate feeling guilty about it and your process of coming to terms and dealing with it makes me feel much better! My husband says to just look at undone or unread “stuff” as a river flowing by..if it passes and you miss it, just let it go…I can’t do that. I like finishing what I have started.
Jo, as always I am blessed by your “realness”. Sharing your challenges helps me to know we all have them. I love how you are using up leftovers. The baby quilt is going to glow with colors! Sometimes when I have leftover blocks I make row quilts. Each row of blocks different. I try to keep a theme to the rows or at least a consistent colorway. It helps reduce the orphan block problem.
I loved the time lapse video. You were speed cutting! You accomplish soooooo much!
How exciting to be published! Loving all your quilts shown. Thanks for sharing.
Wow ! So much to comment on! Bit Coin is wonderful and I’m sure you’ll fall in love again. The Frolic leftovers will make a beautiful baby quilt. I laughed at your video and Gannon’s appearance is perfect! This was a fun way to start Monday morning!
I agree with whoever mentioned the medicine you are now taking for your sewing mood. When I feel that way I find a smaller project such a baby/toddler quilt for the Linus Project or a table runner for a friend helps. Something to get completed quickly and then I look around pick up and orphan project and complete it. A project for the Linus Project helps the most because I think of the pleasure some child will receive from it.
I love how you take the time to share your “doings”.
Be kind to yourself. You are doing good. You might have reset your goals and what is a normal day.
It was nice to read that you got your quilting mojo back. I go through that at times too and I’m glad that I’m not alone. It’s great that you got that quilt submitted to another magazine! I love that they appreciated the quilt. When I saw your Remainders quilt, I trimmed up some HST that I have here. My project will be much smaller than yours!
Thanks for the motivational talk! We have been remodeling half of our house, and finally, finally have been able to move our stuff back into the house. As soon as we finished that (for the most part, anyway) we decorated for Xmas. So not much quilting has been happening. It was easier to sit down and knit. So I understand the “cross stitching not quilting” idea.
My sewing room has been very clean and organized the past few months, and I think I will do what you did–just get in there and get going!
Thank you, Jo.
Love your leftover blocks quilt with all the color! Beautiful! Congratulations on getting published Again! Wow! You are such a busy productive lady!
Such a cute baby quilt – love it!
I think we all get into that “funk” now and then – sometimes it’s “project weariness” and sometimes it’s just the way our lives go. Glad you were able to find some inspiration and congrats for the new publications!
Wow! You got a lot accomplished! Sometimes just getting started is the biggest hurdle. I LOVE the sashing in the baby quilt, with the little corner medallions…beautiful work! Gannon reminds me of my son, always wanting to play right around whatever I’m doing. Cherish that for as long as possible. And you spoke of Josie walking near the Bitcoin quilt…haven’t seen much of her lately bc you don’t photo contents of rec’d fabric anymore..and we miss her. Just great to see you busy and happy…
Jo, your video was just what i needed! A laugh & motivation. It was glorious, drop 1 in your e mail anytime. It will surely be a hit with many viewers. Thanks for the jump start.
I have way more colored scraps than neutrals. Was )looking at the remainder block and wondering how it would look with scrappy, colored rectangles instead of the neutral.
LOVE your remedy for the hole in the batting! What a great idea. Will remember that the next time I discover that my cats have been “playing” with my batting!
Total bummer on the batting hole. I have 2 cats who love to play in it and 1 is a thread eater (can you say expensive vet bill?). Although it is a total pain in the butt, I have to pick up the top and the batting and fold them on top of the LA frame to prevent holes and thread eating.
LOVE your sashing design and the baby quilt idea. Cute cute cute!
Wishing you a terrific week and congrats on digging up your quilting mojo :-)
Your work is always so nice. I’m glad that you’re getting accepted to other publications. Oh yes I think we all know that feeling of starting then stopping for a bit too long. Isn’t your Birthday this week? Tomorrow?
Have a Wonderful day.
Blessings to you and your family
June in Llano
Yes, tomorrow is my birthday!! 56, here I come!!
Hi Jo! What a great inspiration your post today is. It reminds us all that we all have our roadblocks and difficulties but there are ways to move forward in spite of them.
I have been out of touch since I fell on Nov. 4th and broke my right femur, and right ankle in 2 places. In hospital for 2 weeks then in rehab for 3 more but now I’m home. Still in a cast and non-weight bearing on my Right leg. The femur break was right above my knee replacement so they had to redo that also. My hurdles and roadblocks are big right now, and I look at the quilt on the wall that I was working on before my fall and it makes me crazy to be unable to work on it. Today’s blog post helped me realize that while I can’t sew, I can start cutting out the next quilt I have on the design board! I have the pattern drawn up, I have the fabric, I have a cutter with a sharp blade and I have a portable table I can sit at in my wheelchair! I am good to go!! Thank you for always sharing with us the way you approach life and it’s difficulties!!
All you accomplish is so impressive!
By the way, if you get tired of playing with Frolic leftovers, send the rest to me and I’ll add them to the stack I have. I need more before I have enough to make a quilt, since I need to make a throw size. Anyone else out there can send me theirs too!!
Hugs and love!!
Oh Linda…You did have a big set back. Hang in there. I’m sure you’ll be improving day by day.
I personally love your Bitcoin quilt! It has amazing “comfort” color to it. Take courage!!!
I am completely there with you. The same feeling of living onward and leaving my precious sewing room and projects behind. It is sad. I sometimes don’t even want to go into the room because it feels so, just not part of me. Weird feeling. I find that doing something like you said of taking something in the room to do helps me break that barrier.
Currently working through a pile of 20 quilt tops that I need to quilt. I was separated from my long arm for months because of construction.
Thank you for your blog and sharing all that you do with us.
I love those cornerstones in the baby quilt from Frolic leftovers! I would never have thought of those!