saturday Stitch Report #7
FIVE DOWN, TWO TO GO
School has been underway long enough that, for the most part, everyone is falling into the routine again. Mornings have structure, calendars have filled, and football is a thing—which is probably the most accurate way to describe how thoroughly it occupies our time and conversation right now.
The sewing room has been busy too, although I have once again reached the point where I have several perfectly reasonable things to work on and cannot decide which one I want to do next.
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ANOTHER RAG QUILT FINISHED
I finished another rag quilt for one of my grandchildren, all have been patterns I created, which has been a fun twist to quilt making. All seven of them are getting one for their birthdays this year, and this finish brings the official count to five down and two to go.
For this quilt, I used the Kindness collection by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics. It is a wonderfully cheerful mix of pink, coral, aqua, yellow, florals, and plaids. I also used coordinating flannel solids, which add softness and help tie all the prints together. Rag quilts have such a soft, relaxed look once all those exposed seams begin to fluff. They are not particularly complicated quilts, but there is still a great deal of sewing involved—and then comes the clipping. So much clipping.
When it comes to clipping the seams, my favorite pair of snips helps make the job much easier. They are comfortable to use and help reduce some of the hand fatigue that comes from all that repetitive cutting. With seven rag quilts on the birthday list, anything that makes the clipping more manageable is welcome.
Still, there is something satisfying about making the same general kind of quilt for each grandchild while choosing fabrics that make every one of them different. By the end of the year, all seven will have a quilt made by Grandma, and I will presumably have regained full use of my hands after cutting all those seams.
ONE BLOCK, TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT QUILTS
I also completed the latest block for the A Quilting Life Block of the Month—twice.
As I mentioned before, I am making each block in two different colorways so I can eventually make two quilts. The design is identical, but the fabrics make the blocks feel entirely different. One is soft and quiet in blue-green, taupe, and white. The other uses navy, red, and bright florals and has considerably more to say.
This is exactly why fabric selection fascinates me. The piecing does not change. The shapes do not change. The placement does not change. Yet the finished blocks have completely different personalities.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
The Spring Dreams blocks are ready to be pieced into a quilt top. After that, it will still need to be basted, backed, quilted, and bound—which makes “almost finished” feel like a somewhat generous description.
The next Designer Mystery block is also waiting to be made, and there are still two rag quilts left on the birthday list. Any one of those would be the logical next project.
Naturally, I am thinking about working on some repurposing projects instead.
I have old clothing and other materials I would like to experiment with, and the idea of turning something no longer used into something useful has been tugging at me. Apparently, having several active projects does not prevent my brain from suggesting entirely new categories of sewing.
For now, I am stuck in that familiar place between wanting to finish what I have started and wanting to follow the latest interesting idea. I could make a sensible list and work through it in order. I could also reorganize fabric while listening to an audiobook and call it preparation.
Both remain possibilities.
LIFE BEYOND THE SEWING ROOM
Mom’s cancer treatment journey has begun. After so much waiting and uncertainty, we have finally moved into the treatment itself. There is some relief in having a plan underway, but treatment brings its own worries with it. We are praying that it goes well and trying to take each part as it comes.
Meanwhile, the rest of life continues to require attention. Interior painting remains on the list, along with the routine house and yard maintenance that needs to happen before the cold and snow arrive. In North Dakota, fall is beautiful, but it also comes with a quiet warning: enjoy this weather, but perhaps locate the snow shovels.
The cool mornings have arrived, and they have been glorious. Fall is my favorite season, and I am planning to decorate the house this weekend. I am ready for the quilts, warmer colors, candles, and all the comfort-food recipes that have been waiting patiently for summer to leave.
While I sew, paint, decorate, clean, or wander from one unfinished task to another, I have been listening to the Shenandoah album book series. Audiobooks remain one of the best ways I have found to make progress on two things at once—or at least to make whatever I am doing feel more interesting.
So that is where things stand: five rag quilts finished, two grandchildren still waiting, two versions of the same quilt growing one block at a time, several projects competing to be next, football underway, treatment begun, and fall finally arriving.
I may not know what I am sewing next, but I do know the fall decorations are coming out this weekend. Some decisions are easier than others.
Happy Fall!
~Chris
