Monday, May 28, 2012

Finish?

























Yay! I've sewn all my Stained blocks!

There's just a few little things bugging me now that I've laid them out...
1. the blocks that feature the 3 characters in jars/ baskets are next to each other (middle row, left)
2. there are 2 blocks with the candle print in a large vertical piece in the same row (4th from top)
3. also, 2 blocks that show the magic carpet and horse are next to each other (bottom right corner)
4. maybe it should be bigger? 5 more blocks would make it square...

And a larger question: what should I do for the back??? I could play it safe and just use black. I could try to make it more interesting by making some extra blocks like the front - maybe enough for 1 column? It would hide the need for a pieced back; however that option would also spark my perfectionist tendencies. I was thinking that it would be cool to have the patterns be mirror images of the front column, and then quilting in the sashing would line up on both sides! Is that a good idea? (I mean quilting in the sashing?) Another idea I have is to buy invisible thread and then quilt around each shape somehow...

Any thoughts?

In other news, I'm really excited for the Madison Modern Quilt Guild meeting this Wednesday night!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

WIP Wednesday: Back in the saddle

Actually using my sewing desk

























Over the weekend we got most of our furniture arranged. This place seems much more homely now, though a lot of stuff is still boxed up.

I pulled out my Stained quilt pieces Monday night - 6 blocks left to sash now. It felt so normal to sit and sew for a while - nice considering all the changes in my life at the moment.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Madison, WI

Well, we're starting to settle in.

Our new jobs are living up to expectations quite nicely and the new apt is getting there... sort of. There are still some small fixes to be done by the landlord, but it should be livable for a while. It's much improved already. On the day we got here, one bedroom was bright yellow and the other was lavender. The carpet was still damp from cleaning (which it so happens was not very thorough as it took 2 hours today to vacuum up remaining dog hair). And the kitchen sink was leaking.

Anyway, today we arranged furniture and the sewing machine very nearly came out of its box. Soon.