sick days

It's been one of those weeks. My husband was out of town and both kids decided to get REALLY sick. Which translated into me getting LITTLE sleep. So by Thursday I decided we weren't going ANYwhere the rest of the weekend. So even though I've managed (thus far) to not get sick - I declared some sick days. And settled into some projects.

I'm not ready to show you the whole thing yet - but here's a little birthday gift for a friend of mine who shares her birthday with a major national holiday. The supremely embarrassing part of this gift isn't that it's totally holiday-themed, it's the fact that I started this so long ago I can't remember exactly when it was!!! I think it was 2000. (or 2001 - like I said I can't be sure). I started it in Utah, before I got married. It stayed there while I moved to D.C., got married, and then it found it's way to me at some point while we were in California. (This story is becoming reminiscent of this quilt's story.) I had some trouble with the star and that's the last I remember. It made the move with us to Virginia almost 3 years ago and I JUST pulled it out. I was tired of the space it was taking up. Plus, really, doesn't it just need to be finished?!

I was really excited when I pulled it out the other day to realize that yes, in fact, it was ready to be quilted!! I had forgotten that I used my mom's nice machine to fix the star and then she helped me get it laid out with the batting and backing. The only problem: I've never machine quilted. Well, that's not true. My mom and her sisters have a long-arm Gammil. I quickly found out that process is totally different than using a walking foot on a regular machine. I just quilted along the lines of the seams, I tried a little freehand in the border and decided I wasn't ready for that yet. I think I need a different foot.

Let's just be clear - it's not perfect. And that's okay. I learned a lot of valuable lessons. Pin MORE!! Use flatter sturdier batting! Start in the middle!!! And maybe practice on a smaller project. I'm hoping once I have the binding on and it's washed it will just look like it has a lot of CHARACTER, not just a lot of mistakes.

I'll post final pics soon. I can't drag this out anymore. . . Or can I??

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I was so frustrated the other night with aforementioned project that I decided to work on my block for A Notion or Two, the virtual quilting bee of which I am a member. Amy asked us to do a wonky log cabin with a black embroidered or appliqued bird on the block. I thought it might be satisfying to work on something and finish it in one night. It was nice!

Sarah directed me to Tallgrass Prairie Studio where there is a great tutorial for wonky log cabins. It was a lot of fun. I only had to redo two strips - one because I sewed it on the wrong way (I'm sleep deprived) and the last one because my wonkiness was too extreme and I was having a hard time squaring up the block. I'm excited to try some more. I like the possibility of variation.

I googled bird sillouhettes and found all sorts of great images - but I really liked this one. It's a mockingbird, and I just love his stature! I have definitely have room for improvement, but it was really fun to do this. I like him so much I may just use the same pattern for when I do my block for my quilt.

I know, I really should have mine done already since my month was January. But aren't you impressed that I got this block done before the middle of the month? I am! Maybe I really am a recovering procrastinator. oh wait, no I'm not. I just saw my bedroom. How many ways can you spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R?

But I'm just not ready to post pictures of that. I admire those of you who are.