Today was my last Friday to have off work which means the end of summer for NIU. Starting Monday we go back to the 8-4:30 M-F. That is for the normal office. Since my office is only Lyndon and myself (plus GA and student helper) I usually get to work about a half hour early and stay around a half hour later. That didn't change when we went to shortened work week. :) So I decided to make my day off count. I woke up late (6:3-0 a.m.) and then turned on classical music to relax with. I was still laying in bed while listening to it and dozed off for a couple more hours. After a quick trip to the post office to get mail, I settled down to work on crafting.
After looking at my list of "To Do's" this month I figured I'd better get going. My doll quilts are semi done but I hadn't done anything for the bucket list yet -- bargello. I kind of like the look of bargello stuff but it really was off putting to read any instructions. I finally bit the bullet and decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise, I didn't have much in my stash that worked well together. Does this mean I get to go shopping again? Perhaps but I have to get back on regular paychecks first.
I finally came across five fabric which I liked when laid next to each other. I also ran across a pattern for a valance that took five fabrics. I didn't need a valance nor want one but it was a match. So with tongue between my teeth to keep any bad words in, I sat down and cut the fabric. Not bad. Not bad. I can do this.
THEN I hit the line in the instructions which said to unstitch part of what I had just stitched. Wait a minute! I do that often enough without them putting it in the directions! Ok...Ok. I'll bite and do it their way. I did it there way three different times (mistakes). Sigh. Finally figured out how to do it but this will not be my favorite piece and I really didn't want to continue. So I turned it into a mug rug. I can still see how the bargello pattern would look if I made it longer, etc. I also put the pattern by the mug rug so that I will know what it is if I want to do it again. I have to finish stitching the binding on it but am about half way through. I basted the binding on so I could take the picture.
I think instead of doing another bargello, I'd do a trip around the world or something similar. After this, I decided to do the block for Rhonda's August 2011 block swap. On Thursday I met with Connie to go over some of the fabric choices. I was originally going to do one of the wing blocks but Shelley reminded me (thank you Shelley) that the fabric shouldn't have a big pattern because it will look too choppy. Back to the drawing board. I decided not to do a wing block since my stash wasn't conducive to it, and changed my mind to a HST block. Judy had given me two wing blocks and two HST blocks that she liked so it didn't take me long to figure out which one. Today I cut out the 2.5" squares and tomorrow I will sew the block together.
Remember those cheap foam boards that I had bought? I can use one of them to put the 2.5" squares on it to keep them in line until I get to sew them. Here is a pix of the 2.5" block layout.
The picture didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to but I like the block. The dark is a dark green with while swirls. Much prettier than the camera on the phone shows.
Back to stitching. Hopefully by the time I get back to work, I might have finished the doll quilt, the block, the bargello mug rug and get a fair way along on the Quilting in the New Year swap project. Wish me luck!
After looking at my list of "To Do's" this month I figured I'd better get going. My doll quilts are semi done but I hadn't done anything for the bucket list yet -- bargello. I kind of like the look of bargello stuff but it really was off putting to read any instructions. I finally bit the bullet and decided to give it a try. Much to my surprise, I didn't have much in my stash that worked well together. Does this mean I get to go shopping again? Perhaps but I have to get back on regular paychecks first.
I finally came across five fabric which I liked when laid next to each other. I also ran across a pattern for a valance that took five fabrics. I didn't need a valance nor want one but it was a match. So with tongue between my teeth to keep any bad words in, I sat down and cut the fabric. Not bad. Not bad. I can do this.
THEN I hit the line in the instructions which said to unstitch part of what I had just stitched. Wait a minute! I do that often enough without them putting it in the directions! Ok...Ok. I'll bite and do it their way. I did it there way three different times (mistakes). Sigh. Finally figured out how to do it but this will not be my favorite piece and I really didn't want to continue. So I turned it into a mug rug. I can still see how the bargello pattern would look if I made it longer, etc. I also put the pattern by the mug rug so that I will know what it is if I want to do it again. I have to finish stitching the binding on it but am about half way through. I basted the binding on so I could take the picture.
I think instead of doing another bargello, I'd do a trip around the world or something similar. After this, I decided to do the block for Rhonda's August 2011 block swap. On Thursday I met with Connie to go over some of the fabric choices. I was originally going to do one of the wing blocks but Shelley reminded me (thank you Shelley) that the fabric shouldn't have a big pattern because it will look too choppy. Back to the drawing board. I decided not to do a wing block since my stash wasn't conducive to it, and changed my mind to a HST block. Judy had given me two wing blocks and two HST blocks that she liked so it didn't take me long to figure out which one. Today I cut out the 2.5" squares and tomorrow I will sew the block together.
Remember those cheap foam boards that I had bought? I can use one of them to put the 2.5" squares on it to keep them in line until I get to sew them. Here is a pix of the 2.5" block layout.
The picture didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to but I like the block. The dark is a dark green with while swirls. Much prettier than the camera on the phone shows.
Back to stitching. Hopefully by the time I get back to work, I might have finished the doll quilt, the block, the bargello mug rug and get a fair way along on the Quilting in the New Year swap project. Wish me luck!
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