I keep losing track of time

 I can't decide if I'm living in fast-forward or extreme-slow-motion...  Either way, time keeps getting away from me.

When last we met, I'd hung up Glitter and was testing a border idea.  To me, the edges of the top looked like they were just frittering off into nothingness, so I wanted a bit of a frame to contain them and hold them into the quilt.

I realize borders don't float everyone's boat, but I'm happy with the way it's turned out.  It's only an inch wide so it won't be screaming for attention, plus there's the added benefit of pushing all those points away from the binding.

So, off went Glitter to join the mountain of tops that are awaiting quilting.  (I'll get to them someday.  I have A Plan.)  (Don't laugh.  Sometimes my plans work out okay.)  (Well, sort of...)

That left me free to start a new Main Project, right?  I reached for those HRTs that I've been cutting for the last couple of months for Jen Kingwell's Flutterby, 

and used them for leader/enders while sewing together all those Glitterbits.  

Once Glitter was fully assembled, I could really buckle up and go.

I think I'm going to like it!

Now if I can just do something about that runaway time issue...

Perserverence - now with more Glitter

If you cut up little bits of fabric and sew them together, and then cut up more and sew them together too, and you keep that up for years, you eventually end up with a quilt top. 

(In real life, it actually is square and everything, but I can't get a good pic.  There's no good place to stand to fit the whole wall into camera frame without a shelf unit trying to photobomb the picture from the right)

Here's a peek at some of the chaos going on in this quilt.  I went with just randomly grabbing blocks and sewing them together, rather than dithering for a month about color placement.  And then dithering for another month...

I've been worrying about the finishing of this quilt and whether to add a border or not, and if so, what kind of border it should be.  The idea of quilting and binding all the wonkity bits around the edges was making me twitch.

After discarding the notion of just running a plain narrow border around it because I couldn't make up my mind what color to use, I had a brainstorm -

and ran up a quick mock-up.  Still thinking about the top and bottom - pieces that each span two blocks, like in that pic, or matching them to the widths of the blocks?

I'm going to let that percolate in my brain for a bit.

Cherry cakes and fist bumps

 Well, despite an interesting week (I got my second dose!  I fevered up and had sludge for brains!  I got better!), I managed to get a bit of sewing done.

Another Antique Tile for my collection,

and more cake stands (polka dots!)

and even more cake stands!

I love that cherry print for the background on the right.  (You thought from the post title that I was talking about real cherry cake, right?  Nah.  Just cherry cake stands.)

And I got rows and rows of Glitter put together.

Here's the halfway point -

and here's all of the rows, absolutely overwhelming my design wall. 

I had a moment's panic concern when I was sewing pairs of pairs together (after making the eight trios that I'd need for the ends of the rows) when I had this pair left over.  This meant that I'd counted wrong by two, but was it two up or two down?

It was a real relief when I got the sets of fours sewn together and they came out even.  While I freely admit I could easily be off by 2, I was pretty sure I wasn't off by 6.  Sure enough, the rest of the rows went together just fine, and I have two little blocks that will probably end up on the back.  (No, I'm not going to save them for seed for another Glitter.  Much as I love these blocks, I am SO done with making them!)

I sewed the top two rows together before quitting for the day. 

While I was sewing blocks into rows, I decided that I was going to settle for "close enough" when trying to match those points on the edges.  We're talking a bunch of weird angles, y-seams, and some really funky bias here.   These blocks absolutely refuse to square up politely.  

It was even wonkier when it came to stitching together the rows.  For those top and bottom very pointy points, I realized kiss-me-on-the-mouth accuracy was never gonna happen - let's just go for fist bump vicinity.

I'm pretty sure that's the only way I won't end up gibbering in the corner by the time this thing is put together.

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see what all us little scrappers have been up to!

The merry month of May

Mid-month edition...  (Seriously, how did it get to the middle already?)

I made great strides with my Cake Stands for the RSC.  I was scrumbling around in my reds when I had a vague memory of cutting some red blocks ahead, back when I was cutting pieces for my Sand Castles 2.  A quick shuffle through my pile of foam plates (thanks, Julie!) revealed the fact that I had cut at least eight backgrounds and set them aside.  These got matched up with solids and whooshed together -

and I've got two more in ready position by the machine.

Two Antique Tiles were next,

and then a PSP20-21 appeared.

Even some Glitter blocks dressed themselves in red.

Then, since I was so close to having all those glittery bits together, I really buckled down and sewed -

and sewed -

and sewed, until finally, FINALLY, the last Glitter block was done!

Now comes the big assembly, before I can put them back in a plastic bin and forget them for a year or two.  (I know myself too well.  My brain gets carried away with that whole "there, that's done" bit...)

 

I'm sewing them into pairs and tacking them to the design wall.

Here's where I left off today.

These are not in any kind of final arrangement - I'm just throwing them up there as I go.  You know me - I'll be dithering for a ridiculous amount of time when it comes down to the end.

Or maybe I should just go for random.  Random sounds really good, doesn't it?

Hmmm...  random...

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.  Come enjoy all the rosy fun!

If I get any further behind I'm going to lap myself...

 As usual, I'm playing catch-up here.  (How did it get to be this far into April already?!?)

First I'll share the paltry bits I got done for the RSC's April color - blue in lights and brights.

One cake stand -

and a PSP2020-21 block.

Pretty underwhelming, right?  I've got several Antique Tile blocks cut out but not sewn together yet, so hopefully I'll be able to have some to show off before the end of the month.

The only real production has been in the Glitter department.  I finished these eight in late March,

and did these in the first half of April.

(The pictures are definitely better when I don't try to squeeze so many blocks into one photo...)

Whew!  I think (I think!) I have 120 done out of the 152 I need.  (I get a different total every time I count, so I'm just going to keep making blocks and counting once in a while until I get a count of 152 or over) (at least twice)  There are about a dozen or so blocks kitted up next to the sewing machine, so the end of cutting is close on the horizon.  If I can stay on task, I'll get this quilt top done in no time.

But all work and no play, and all that...

Somehow, this happened -

It's just a test block.  No harm ever came from making a test block, right?

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday (late as usual!) and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see all the fun!

Marching to the end of March

 Well March certainly seemed to whoosh by - at least it did for me.  And while we don't have spring flowers yet, I'm hopeful for them soon since all the snow has melted off this week.  Bring on the daffodils!  (I'm so ready for daffodils...)

Since it's the last Saturday in March, here's the wrap-up of green sewing for the RSC.  (I don't plan to make any more green blocks, but I'm not exactly famous for following my plan)

A few Antique Tiles got made,

and then a few more, because it's really hard to stop cutting squares and rectangles for these.

At least when I have parts left over, they can always go in a block in another month down the line.

And Cake Stands continue to bounce onto my ironing board.

Even when I was absolutely sure I'd made enough green ones - here's just one more.

And then I gathered up all the green Chips blocks and got a big surprise.  I had thought I'd made eight or so, maybe nine at the outside.

Imagine my surprise to find that I'd actually made 18!  I've been making them as leader/enders all month and they really added up!

Is everyone tired of looking at Glitter blocks yet?

That was this week's production.  I've been trying to make at least two of them every time I sit down at the sewing machine, and as many more as I can squeeze in.  At least I've got enough experience with them that I no longer tear out my hair while I'm trying to sew all those y-seams.  At this point, I think it's taking me longer to pick out colors for the blocks than it is to sew them together!

I'm somewhere between the halfway point and 2/3s done with these.  I had thought I was further along when I most recently pulled this project out of time out, but either I've misplaced some blocks or I was just being hopelessly optimistic.  Either way, I'm going to try to just keep going and going.

I've got about 20 more blocks all kitted up and stacked by the sewing machine, with one already in progress.  And there are all kinds of glitter bits on my cutting mat, just waiting to be thrown into the mix.

Isn't that the way with any art project - you just end up with Glitter absolutely everywhere?

Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come join the fun!