Layouts & the DVD

Today is all about saying yes to positive choices. I started laying out the cat paper piecing project as well as working on the layout for my younger Sister's quilt. 

All those cat block pieces are numbered and yet they look like a huge puzzle for another day. I need time to sit with them and lay the correct block in its place for each row. That's why they were numbered! I forgot I took that step. It should end with more browns and there is enough fabric to re-do the end blocks if that doesn't show.

The other quilt for my Sister needs frames around some blocks. The foundation for this quilt is a panel, and I do have a pattern for finishing it, so have put it aside. Too many new things coming my way to learn this week. I am feeling overwhelmed by being in this stage with so many projects.

After finishing the stars on the Constellations quilt, it came up star one short. They need to be squared anyway, and so before making only one more star, I want to see if more will need to go into it. 

Then, it needs to be sorted by color and then laid out as a quilt design too. Its safely in its package waiting for next week. It feels good to get this close to that step.

And much to my surprise, my new sewing machine was delivered in time for me to unpack it and see how it starts up. It came with a DVD, so I watched it and learned a lot, even for my previous machine which only came with set-up instructions. This one demonstrated button holes, blind hems, various stitches and tension settings that I never knew on the other one! Its quite lightweight, and works by pushing a button on and off, making the foot pedal optional.