Multitasking

Usually when I think of multitasking, I think of doing two or more jobs at the same time. Who says the things have to be jobs?  Something I read recently has been on my mind - it said, basically, that life is short, and it's getting shorter by the minute.  What is important to you?  Here's my list:  my family - husband, parents/siblings, three dogs, three cats, one bird, and one horse, quilting, the outdoors and all its creatures, and seeing as many different places on this planet as I can.  Why does it seem so hard to fit these things into my daily life?  Worse yet is the time wasted worrying about not having enough time!  I make a lot of to-do lists...but none of the above are ever on them.  Hmmm....  well, recently I was caught multi"task"ing:

This is Jack - he's seven.  The book I'm reading, by the way, is Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig.  Highly recommended.  I'm really enjoying my current read - The Whole World Over, by Julia Glass.  It's one of those where reading a paragraph gives me the same feeling as hearing a chord resolved in music.  Seems like something that should be on my list....

It's  a good thing there are some great quilt shops in Nebraska, otherwise all the hours I spend on I-80 would consist of holding my breath past the feedlots and counting how many times I cross the Platte river.  (actually, road trips are a chance to 'read' two books at one time, thanks to Recorded Books)  On my recent trip, I stopped in Lincoln to visit the International Quilt Study Center & Museum.  The current exhibits are Korean pojabi - amazing - and a challenge of 'green' quilts emphasizing the environment and eco-friendly quilting materials.  This last part is sponsored by Mountain Mist - they have battings and stuffing made of PLA fibers derived from corn.  We're stuffing our CQ Horse Show stick ponies with it.

My messy stash of scraps is gradually, amazingly, being turned into cut pieces ready to be sewn together, thanks to Scrap Therapy.  I know I'm not alone in wanting to use what I have and not waste anything.  I grew up with the reuse/recycle/replace doctrine - Mom rinses out baggies and scrubs aluminum foil - so I love the fact that my stash is being used.  Here's my current Scrap Therapy project:

I think it's pretty cute - right up my alley and I've always loved a checkerboard.  Scrap Therapy is hot and happening at CQ.

It's time to check 'update blog' off my list for today and move on...  I think I have some important things to enjoy.

Amy

A few of my UFOs....

It's time for us to get serious about blogging.  My problem is that I don't really know what you would like to read about.  So I've just decided to get going and see what happens.  One thought - we can use this blog to answer questions you may have.  If you'd like to ask me something, just send an email:

amy@cottonwoodquiltscolorado.com

and I'll see if I can help you.

I am working on several different projects at the moment - shocking, I know.  I just completed a bag last night.  The pattern is called "Six-pack Stack" - it's a reversible tote made from just 6 fat quarters.  I started with three half-yard cuts, but after making a cutting mistake (we ALL do it), I had to improvise and come up with something else for the center panel on two sides.  I also tried to sew the handles on upside down (once) and inside out (twice).  Thank goodness for seam rippers.

Do you have a design wall in your sewing area?  Two years ago, we moved my sewing room downstairs into a small (like 8 x 10') room 

that we'd refinished.  Now I have a sewing cabinet, a cutting table, a thread cabinet, and a big board ironing surface on two towers with drawers.  You know what my favorite part of my room is?  The design wall!  My husband mounted 1" blue insulation board panels and it perfectly fits a queen-size cotton batting.  I used upholstery pins to secure it around the edges.  The only drawback is that my cats find it irresistible...  little heathens.

This is Ndevu (that means 'whiskers' in Kiswahili).  This is what he's doing when he's not clawing my design wall or removing pins from my pincushion one by one:

A couple things on my design wall - two 60 degree table runners.  If you haven't made one (or half a dozen) of these yet, you're missing out on one of the easiest projects ever.  All you need is a striped fabric.  Nearly every holiday or seasonal line has a wide stripe, and many florals have wide stripes as well.  The runner has only 5 seams and the top is done!  The trick is in the cutting, and it's just not all that tricky.  Patterns are free with the ruler purchase ($15.50), and we've got some kits made up of the poinsettia/cardinal/pine cone stripe in different lengths.  They include fabric for the top, backing, and bias binding.  These are "sew" easy, you can even make them for your fifth cousin twice removed whom you've never met!

This is my applique project in progress...  I'm trying the needle turn method.  I've got a ways to go, but it's encouraging that seeing it from across the room doesn't make me cringe.  I've been watching a DVD by Linda Jenkins and Becky Goldsmith - "How to Applique the Piece o' Cake Way".  Talk about making it look easy!  The recording itself is great - super close-ups of their hands and they really don't leave anything out.  You don't get the feeling that you're only getting part of the story.

And one last thing...something I stew on is how to quilt things.  Here is a little quilt called "Abigail's Gowns" - and I do mean little!  The blocks finish 4 1/2" which means those geese are tiny.  Luckily once I added the setting squares and that gorgeous framing border, the imperfections in my piecing are hidden.  However, now I have to figure out how to quilt the thing.  Since the blocks are so small, I'll likely ditch and/or continuous curve the pieced blocks, but the alternate blocks have me stumped.  I typically like to put a pretty stencil in these blocks, but this particular fabric won't do fancy quilting justice, it'll just disguise it.  Cross-hatch?  Parallel lines?  I just don't know.  If you have some ideas, please do share.

So, that's what I've been up to recently.  My husband is somewhere on the Colorado, fishing, which makes for excellent stitching time.  I hope you're able to get some time in for yourself as well.  Until next time,

Amy

"To the Nines" Blockswappers wanted!

Summer can be a busy time for all of us, but you shouldn't have to abandon your quilting passion.  With just a couple of hours and two fat quarters (or some scraps) a month, you can quickly stitch up some 9-patch blocks and by the end of the summer, you'll have plenty of blocks with lots of variety to make a scrappy quilt.  We have three groups to choose from:  reproduction prints, warm batiks, or cool batiks.  Easy and fun, just turn in your blocks each month and we'll swap them for you.  Diane and I can teach you a quick method to make 8 blocks from two fat quarters.  We need  more Swappers or we're going to spend our whole summer making 9-patches instead of new samples for the shop!

Give us a call or email for more info.  Your first batch of blocks isn't due until June 9th, so there's plenty of time to sign up - just $5 for six months.

Testing

I'd rather be sewing! This quilt is from a pattern by Clothesline Quilts called Courthouse Stars.