With another fabric box done, it seems like I got on my way to quilting again!
This one is made 'traditionally' as I knew how with two 11" squares & batting, stitched, quilted, then corners sewn & hand stitched, finishing with buttons on all 4 sides.
Admittedly, the next style I am planning is something I haven't done before, so it is a bit intimidating. However, with two of them completed for the October birthday gift, I could fill them with odds & ends to demonstrate their usefulness, and call it a gift as they are. If I get the other one done, good, and if not, okay. They need to ship out mid-September to get there on time.
I shifted focus to a Log Cabin quilt planned for an anniversary gift in August. I love the Log Cabin pattern and bought more than enough fabric for 16 blocks. However, I measured what I bought without the pattern to guide the purchase & did not really have enough for borders & the back. Some pieces were just too small and some were more than I needed. Oh well.
There is enough to get started and takes a thoughtful layout. Its going to be an interesting quilt because the blue is on one side and three shades of gray for the other. Two of the grays sort of blend but I am ok with that if they do. Every time I make one of the Log Cabins, they turn out so very different and are always appealing. The colors and layout really change it.
I cut some of the stiffer lining/batting to use as sides for some fabric boxes.
It is a start. This lining material takes up a lot of space in the batting bin and will serve as a great stiffening agent. I haven't used this kind of batting for the fabric boxes before and will start with the smaller ones first. I laughed at my thought process because if it doesn't work, I will keep whatever I make, which is very unusual for me. Usually I give away everything.
The next thing I need to do is actually start sorting again. It seems like I do this all the time, however, my fabrics have gotten sort of jumbled as I went on searches for things that match. One of the halting moments comes when I think I have fabrics for a block only to discover there is not enough. What I need to do with THOSE pieces is to trim them down and put them in the pre-cut bins.
Maybe doing this behind the scenes work will help me get started quilting again.
I tried catching up to the BOMs without much luck.
I sent off the mug rug for the swap without taking a photo.
It feels like all my quilt projects are UFOs right now. I could step into a real whine-pitty-pot.
Every project, be it gardening or scrap booking. Its all the same. Hard to get back to any of them. And why? Am I burned out? Maybe. I think its a matter of just doing one thing and doing the next thing. It is a matter of figuring out what is blocking my progress, my process, my plan. I want to finish these quilting projects. I want to finish the two scrapbooks. I want to write the letters, write the book. I do.
So what am I doing? For one thing, working in my life is myfitnesspal.com. I changed the daily cal count to 900 and though that is low for most people, it is what works for me. I can record each meal, each exercise, the water I drink. With this program, I am able to lower my carb count and raise the proteins I eat. I can see other nutrients and am eating so much more than usual even at 900 cals.
The IPad provides me a place to list out what I want to do and delete what is done. Maybe this is enough for now. It helps. The IPad also helps me nap during the day, getting more sleep, which I need so much. Maybe the food and sleep are a huge start. Also, I am playing games. Me. Games. The games help with memory and with language.
I need to give myself a time frame to get back to the quilting projects. Not so much a deadline. Well, maybe yes. I just don't know and am going with the process.
I am in a mug rug swap and tried something that didn't quite work for me to send. And, as a practice very new to me, I am keeping it.
I need one for now and this is fine. I like these colors and have it on my desk. Originally, I got 2 blocks from a woman in Italy which were finished too big for the quilt requirements, and so they were set aside. One of the blocks remains and could work as a mug rug later.
Meanwhile, I need to spend time with the BOMs that are ready to cut. I find that I am becoming more gentle with myself as far as the projects I want to do. I've got them all in a pile and will tackle them one at a time to finish one at a time.
Sorting colors to work with the sampler BOM quilts I am doing takes time. For one thing, each block must be different. I mixed up a couple of them and did two in a similar color way so one needs to go elsewhere and be re-done for the quilt.
It also meant finding colors to do the holiday pillows. I even found a gray 'frost' for the Befana hair figures. The center of the medallion quilt was folded into other fabrics, which made me search through all the bins. Yet, there it was, in the bin labeled for it. Hidden. If I learned anything, again, once more, it is to label and leave notes to self. Clearly, the simple notes work if I keep at the projects, but when I leave them for even 5 weeks, all bets are off.
My plan is to do one block at a time and cut those scraps down to add to the pre-cut bin. I need to find simple ways to minimize the confusion. Yes, the fabrics are getting down. What is happening is that I am consolidating sorted bags. Some bags are sorted by colors, some by potential projects. None of those have labels or notes. Gotta take time to do that step. So today, the colors for the blocks are sorted. Good.
I got this one done correctly and can set it aside with the others. Of course there are more to catch up on, and this is a start.
The block pattern is called Swing in the Center. What I actually did next was to label the patterns with the group names so I can keep them organized. I thought it belonged to the group called BOM Club. However, it was for a different BOM group with Mystery Designers, which is fine because it did need to be finished.
All these BOMs were meant to be scrappy samplers, so this one just slips into the correct quilt and I go on.
Taking off for so long cost me even with notes to self. Some of the notes are confusing and I have to compare blocks what I have with the printed patterns and get them set for the correct quilts.
I don't want to get ahead of myself by listing what I think needs doing, or start fretting over what isn't done. I joined, maybe, too many BOMs this year. 1. Floral Friendship (need Rosebud and Weathervane blocks); 2. Exclusive BOM Medallian (need rounds 4, 5, & 6); 3. Mystery Designer (need Darting Birds); 4. Secret Solids (hasn't started yet); 5. Stellar Elegance from TQC Mystery (which I bought 3 shades of yellow fabric / four clues have already been given with one of them being corrected many times already). Then I took on an anniversary Log Cabin gift, a Bargello pattern, fabric boxes and some holiday Befana pillows to make for my Grandkids. I might be forgetting something here and want to check and re-check what I am doing.
I went to the BOM sites, printed off the pages of patterns, made a note which group is sponsoring which BOM Mystery, and will just do what I can from that point. Luckily, I kept up with the Daily Blocks for the Mood quilt. Because of it, I feel so accomplished!!!
Continuing my research, because my life is changing so much, I looked up & calculated how many calories are burned for quilting. Now, I have seen quilters who never move from their chairs & set up ironing boards, & cutting mats so they don't have to move. Not me. I am in constant motion. Or at least I was.
Anyway. It starts with your body at rest or doing no activity. Then add & multiply height, weight & age with the formula. That means sleeping, sitting still. All of that. What then? well, then, calculate motion by light activity, all the way to extra active. At light activity, multiply the formula result by 1.2 or 1.375. Be honest. Why else do this? Each pound of muscle burns 75-100 calories per day. So how much is muscle, how much fat? Regardless of the numbers, I plan to enter in 98.6 calories burned per hour for quilting. I don't care if it is accurate. It is just a number. They are all just numbers. What I am using this program for is to see how many carbs & proteins I eat per day so I can reduce carbs & increase proteins, as well as record how much water I drink.
That name came from some TV shows long ago. Yet, Burbank got on board, planted trees and made it lovely. Of course there is still freeway construction making it look junky, but the inside town part is nice.
I stayed near one of the shopping centers so got to Target, Joann's, & Petco to buy items harder to get in my small town. I am not a shopper and am in the phase of life that is more minimizing rather than hunting/gathering.
Some of the research I did over the weekend included getting a better handle on this new phase of life. In the past, I think I operated with the sympathetic system of fight/flight/freeze. Well, my body slipped into the other system, which is called parasympathetic and revolves more around rest and recovery. I have been fighting with that and feeling like I was slacking. The more I read, the more I see that I didn't include that part in my life and so now that is my single solution / soul-ution to health.
The local pool started water aerobics in April that continue through the end of summer. While it is late, it is also a drop in class and after being in the hotel pool, I know I need to do this.
I caught up on the BOD for the Mood quilt back I am making and will finish this current row soon, and can add the rows. I plan to get outside and get another bucket of weeds pulled. The myfitnesspal.com site is working to help me see how many carbs and protein I get. I am making modifications. I can't eat the full day's allotment of calories but do what I can. Changes.
