Something New

There comes a time when a person just can't face another baby quilt, even if there are still two left in the ToQuilt pile.  And face another UFO?  Again?  In January?  I have a 3/4 quilted quilt that is waiting for attention sitting right next to the machine, but I couldn't deal with it either.  I needed something new.  I needed something different.  And I had just the thing.

Back in November, I heard of a call for entry that ends January 31.  I knew immediately what I wanted to do for it, even going so far as buying about 30 yards of fabric to facilitate the process.  But then Christmas loomed and I slipped in the mud and all that fabric sat in the bag, languishing.  I finally began washing it about 10 days ago.  Then I cut 6" strips from each piece, and they waited and waited and waited for the next step.

I cut the fabrics with freeform curves, and lay them carefully in order, so that sewing them together would be effortless.

 Then I dropped them.  So much for that organization, eh?

 I sewed the light blues together, and let the dark blues stew in their puddle for 24 hours before I was ready to face them again.

 Eventually everything was sewn together.  When will I learn that it is impossible for me to make "ocean foam" with a strip of fabric?  Foam calls for beads, not fabric.  One of these days I'll get that figured out.  Maybe.

Better whack off the bottom, and see what happens.  Hmmm.  Too much light blue.

 If I fold it up like so, maybe I like it better.  Yes, I think I like it better.

 Let's cut it here, and here, and there!  All better.

At this point, the quilt is pieced to my satisfaction.  I spray-basted it - an experiment for something this large, but I wasn't going to wait for someone to set up my basting tables to pin it - and began quilting.  Yesterday I did all of the stabilizing quilting.  Today I hope to do most of the detail quilting.  Goals are good, and all that.

My vivid imagination tells me that I can finish the quilting, trim it, bind it, label it, sleeve it, and bead it before January 31.  Okay, so maybe I can quilt, trim, bind, and bead it.  Or some of the above, by the deadline. 

Even if I don't make the deadline, I will finish the quilt.  I like this one.  I know, I know, I've done a lot of ocean views lately, but I find them to be very calm, soothing, and settling, and that's just the thing to get me through January.

I have another xray scheduled for today.  I have no idea what to expect, but the foot is still quite swollen, and sometimes it hurts.  I am scared to take the boot off, so I kind of think it's not quite healed.  I guess I'll know, soon enough.  Until then, I need to quilt faster!  Quilt faster!  :)