Carry On, My Wayward Sewn...

There'll be peace when I am done!

At least that's the hope. I have been trying to use up my current stash of fabrics. I have a tendency to say "Oh, but I need more. I don't have any coordinating fabrics." Yeah. That happens a lot. In fact, today I got a package from eQuilter.com, one of my favorite websites for fabric shopping. I can't say enough about them. I've never had to return anything, so I don't know how that works, but I always get my order within 3 days.

Here's why I "had" to order from them: at the Mill End GOOB sale I found an incredible Asian print and bought a couple of yards. It has eagles, clouds and drums on it, the purple background is the most beautiful shade. I haven't a thing to coordinate with it. I looked. So I found a few things on eQuilter. Only one of them isn't a good match, but it's a lovely, only-slightly-Asian-looking print, so I'm sure I'll find something with which to use it. I may not use all of that which I purchased for the quilt I plan on making, so there's that, too.

I mentioned earlier about taking some fabrics with which I had planned on making a sundress and making a baby quilt instead. Here's the quilt top:

I still had quite a bit of the fabric left, though, so I made panels of different widths to make a skirt. I didn't know quite how to give it a waist, however. I just couldn't make up my mind. Did I want to gather it? Put in a zipper and a waistband, or do an elastic or drawstring?

Then, real quick-like, before I took all 6 of my bags of stuff to the thrift store, I went back and found a waffle shirt I had thought about donating. I put a few pleats in the skirt at the seams and in the middle of the 4 larger panels, then I figured out where an empire waist would be on my shirt by putting it on my dress form and cutting it off at the desired length. I made the long sleeves half-length and left the edges unfinished. Now I have a dress, too!

It looks better on a human.

As you can see, I'm really a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of designer. Something has to speak to me. It doesn't even have to be all that loud, either. I will also listen to all of the options it has to give me. This is where a sistah gets into trouble. I end up with so many ideas (and the materials for them all) that I have a hard time getting around to them.

This is why I decided to really dig in and get my stash busted in 2014. Yeah, sometimes I'll have to buy some more stuff. That's because my ideas keep coming. A lot of creative people have this problem, I know I'm not alone in this. It can all get to be a bit overwhelming, too. At least I'm able to come up with alternatives if something just isn't working for me. Even if the "problem" item languishes in a closet for a while. Years, even.

Fortunately, there are times when I can actually think on my feet and change a project mid-oops. Like the issue with the Hell on Wheels project. I had worked so hard on putting together the Dresden blades that I couldn't just give up. I took several small breaks, don't get me wrong. I even worked on a few other projects while I thought about what could be done with Hell on Wheels.

If you step back, you can see that the lighter sections create a star pattern within the plate. I'm not gonna lie, it was mentally and emotionally draining. I made a second one with a different main color. Then I needed a nap.

At first I was just going to use the denim. Then I thought about adding the raw linen. I ended up liking the lightness of the linen better than the blue of the denim. The half plate is the second one I had made with a star. Somehow it got out of order when I set them aside (even though I know I clipped them together in order), so I changed my mind on the design in that aspect, as well. The rectangular blocks use the remaining blades and are trimmed to make them square. The denim became a doggie bed for my mom's dog when they visit.

The final quilt top. I decided to go with a modern wall hanging instead of a  full-sized throw. I'm much happier with it this way than I thought I would be. Another happy accident!

That reminds me, I took the Happy Accidents quilt to Nikol of Sewtropolis for the quilting. It should be done in about two weeks. Then I can bind it and take it to Rachel! 

Sadly, Sewtropolis is now only an online entity. I had been planning a field trip there. But at least Nikol's still quilting and teaching. I hope to get to one of her classes very soon.

Whoops! Another reminder. Because of the bad weather, I cancelled February's Friday Field Trip. I'm just going to move it to March rather than try to put together another day. Hopefully the weather will start cooperating. It has made my various somatic neurological issues very cranky, and by extension, I've been more than a bit cranky. What I wouldn't give for temperatures above zero degrees Fahrenheit!

Well, my flowerpots, jump into your stashes and crank out some stuff!

Flippin' Doodle Dots!

That's the minced curse my kids say when something isn't going right, and I have had a week in which I may rightly use that phrase.

I was working on a Dresden Plate quilt. I put together the plate blades very carefully (just about did me head in!) so that when I got back to them, they would be in the right order. I got two of them done and the third one was half way complete when I noticed that it couldn't possibly be right. So now I have 1 1/2 Dresden Plates and a large Wagon Wheel and I have no idea how they got messed up. I had clipped them together in sewing order for the express purpose of not getting a headache!

Determined to make lemonade out of lemons, I took the remaining blades from the ferkachte plate plus my extras and stitched them together in a series of strips instead of a circle. I squared them off, trimming the angled edges and now I'm going to have a totally different quilt than I originally intended.

I had also purchased a hunk of denim at the Mill End GOOB sale that I planned on using as a background. Nope. Wrong shade of blue. On the other hand, I also got a few yards of linen in a strange, orangey shade of tan that works as a background. Huh. I had planned on making a jacket out of that, but I'm liking the look of it for this piece more and more.

I tried stitching the two background pieces together for a throw, but I'm just not getting a vibe from the whole thing. I take that back. I'm getting the wrong vibe from it like that. So, plan "C" is to take them apart and use the denim to make a doggie bed for my mom's arthritic dog when they come to visit (we have hard wood floors, not very comfy) and use all the pieces on the linen for a wall hanging.

Sometimes you really have to step back and reassess.

On another note, Sewtropolis, to which I had been planning to go for a field trip, has closed its doors, becoming a strictly online entity. The woman who ran it is still teaching and (thankfully) still quilting. I'm dropping off the quilt top and backing for my friend, Rachel's quilt with her today. I'm so relieved! I had driven by where Sewtropolis used to be the other day and couldn't find it, so I got on her website and all the pictures of the storefront and the address were missing from it. PANIC ATTACK! I went to her facebook page where I noticed someone had asked if she had closed the shop and, yes, it had closed in December. What a bummer. At least she still has an online presence and I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am that she's still quilting.

Flexibility is a trait that I feel doesn't come naturally to me. I get nervous when I get interrupted or realize that my plans aren't quite working. On the other hand, if someone else's plans get twisted, I'm very good at coming to the rescue and jury-rigging something for them. Like some people are really good at giving, but lousy at taking their own advice.

Going through my stash of fabrics has helped a great deal with flexibility. I've had so much fun with making quilt tops that I've changed my mind with some of the fabrics and pieced together more quilts instead of oh, say, a sundress. There are some things which really must be made into the garment I intended for them. They'd be just too great not to. On the other hand, I'm making peace with not (necessarily) going according to plan.

Your assignment: Let go of one old idea that you feel is holding you back. I'm not even going to make suggestions for this, since it's a very personal assignment. Let your mind be aware of the new-found freedom that gives you, even if you only do it for a day. See how that works out for you. The next day, try a different obstacle. Maybe something you thought was in your way of progress really wasn't and you can use it to your advantage instead?

It's okay to let go, my flowerpots. It really is.