Saturday, June 10, 2017

Back to the Blues ~~ 2 finishes!

Catherine (Caki)
I've returned home from Rory and Meggan's house. She is feeling better and moving around more. I thought it would be a good idea to give them a break for a few days. Honestly, I was missing Richard and maybe getting a little homesick. Oddly, that doesn't happen when we travel. I guess the camper feels enough like home and Richard is with me.

I loved having time to spend with the girls. They are an hour away, so visiting
Sophie
isn't a quick 
drop-in for hugs and to  say hello. At six and seven, they are sweet, respectful girls who love to play. An hour of "Go Fish," an hour and a half of "Shopkins" which almost requires crawling on the floor. (Not for me! I directed from the sofa. :) They are learning to jump rope and fussed over whose turn it was to "do" Grandmay's hair. Before I knew it, the day was gone and it was time for baths and supper. My three days passed quickly.




Never the less, it's good to be home. I drove up to a pleasant surprise; the calla lilly that Richard gave me for Mother's Day last year bloomed! It's not terribly large but the color is a brilliant yellow. It's in a pot next to the yellow lantana that's somehow survived the last four winters. They are at the edge of the parking pad and are a colorful spot of cheer.

While Richard fried some fish for supper, I played in the studio. The blue blocks (here)that I'd worked on earlier in the week were still waiting on the design board. So I started out by sewing those together and in no time I had a completed quilt top. (Baby size, sure, but still a complete top.) Notice that I chose the layout recommended by a couple of readers. Thanks y'all.


While cutting out the blocks for that quilt, I had cut another quilt just like it--there's really lots of blue scraps! Then I used the second quilt as a leaders and ender project while sewing the first quilt. I have sewn using leaders and enders: I think it's too confusing for my brain to handle. But how could I go wrong here? I just pretended it was the same project in different stages. 



Since most of the blocks were at the half-way mark and some were complete, I decided to figure out what I'd do with them. I really didn't want two of the same quilt, but I had the same blocks. 
Ahh, an idea. I added two more strips to each block, cut them off-grain, and turned them into wonky blocks. I played around with the blocks on the design wall and finally settled on a layout. Sewing them into a quilt top took no time at all. Ha! I'm not even sure how much I like it, but it's another (baby) quilt top and has found it's place on the pile that needs quilting. 



3 comments:

Kaja said...

I like that you have to trick yourself into working with leaders and enders. It's one of those things I always think I should be doing and on the occasions when I get my act together it's almost like magic: you work away at thing no. 1 and suddenly thing no. 2 is done as well. Just like your two tops.

Mary Marcotte said...

Haha, Kaja, you are really getting to know me. I absolutely MUST trick myself, but it's mostly because trying to work on two quilts is too much for my brain. I don't focus while I'm sewing and I drive too fast. Plus I play, ponder all sort of foolishness and talk to myself. Occasionally I even sing--aloud! (Imagine the ruckus I make.)

Karen S said...

You have been very productive with your sewing. Two quilt tops finished is a bonus. And it looks like you had a lovely time with your grand children.