It's been a while since I posted on the blog, and a while since I've done much in the way of quilting. Oh, a bit here and there, but nothing major. Life's been busy lately it seems like though looking back, I can't put my finger on a lot of events.
I did have surgery in August, with orders from my doctor not to lift anything over 10 lbs. I couldn't even lift and carry my kitties, so moving a sewing machine around was just clearly out of the picture. I did a bit of sewing here and there on the machine set up in my studio, but I couldn't do any sewing in classes or at open sew-ins with my mini-group. I did some handwork, making a hexagon pincushion and doing a bit of embroidery, but for the most part, my work kind of stalled out.
I had signed up for my guild's retreat back in May, and the retreat was last weekend. I was determined to go and take my machine and my huge case of threads so I could work on my machine applique blocks. I spent the last two weeks fusing like a madwoman so I'd have blocks ready for edge-stitching. I had my husband load up the car and I unloaded it myself when I got to the retreat. It doesn't feel like I damaged anything inside by lifting the machine and thread out of the car, so I hope I'm alright. I still haven't got clearance from my surgeon to lift things after all.
I sewed all weekend like a madwoman, starting Thursday afternoon and not finishing up until Saturday night. I did accomplish a lot, and am proud of my accomplishment. I managed to load up the car again when it was time to go home, and then feigned weakness when I got home and got my husband to unload the car for me *snicker*.
Here are some pictures of the pillow I made and the blocks I finished:
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| Autumn Joy - two blocks finished and sewn together (a BOM) |
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| Woodland Creatures BOM - Fox and Shrew |
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| Woodland Creatures BOM - mother possum with her 3 babies |
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| Raven and Pumpkin pillow (A Thimblecreek design) |
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| Blue Dragon for my fantasy quilt |
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| Castle and Unicorn for my fantasy quilt |
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| Gold Dragon for fantasy quilt |
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| Green dragon for the fantasy quilt |
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| Gryphon for the fantasy quilt |
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| Purple dragon for the fantasy quilt (color doesn't show properly, but he IS purple) |
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| Red dragon for the fantasy quilt |
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| Wizard for the fantasy quilt |
All these blocks are stitched with a tiny blanket stitch with matching thread on each motif. It was a challenge to get it all done before the end of retreat, but I finished up on Saturday evening.
The rest of that night, I worked on the binding of another quilt (picture not yet taken). This quilt was a 5 or 6 year old mystery quilt that I never finished up. It hasn't got a label yet, but the binding is done and on! Not sure what I'm even going to do with this one, as it is octagonal and needs to go on a round table, but my dining table is rectangular. Perhaps I will save it as a gift for the right person sometime in the future. In the meantime, it is at least done.
I feel like I could do more sewing now. I've got about 25 quilts that need backs so they can get quilted. Perhaps I can start working on making backs soon. I am obviously up to the challenge of manipulating the quilts to measure them, so that is what I should do.
I was also planning on making a Shakespeare in the Park quilt (google it and click on 'images' to see what I'm talking about) - an incredibly beautiful but challenging quilt. Perhaps I will start that soon, too.
I'm kind of torn as to what to do next. But that's a good thing! Better to be in a quandary over WHAT to do, than WHETHER to do anything at all.
Happy quilting to you all... may you never lose your quilting mojo and if you do, may you find it again quickly!
