Just a few squares left to go

I didn't make great progress today (it was way too nice outside this afternoon).  On the plus side, I don't have all that many more of these squares to go.  Probably 6-8 more of the square on the right, and 6 more of the square on the right.  If we get all the snow that they are saying we might tomorrow, I should have all the squares done tomorrow. 

I plan to put strips of the center fabric along the sides of each of these squares, which should give me a good idea of the size of my center squares that the appliqued frogs will go on.  Yes, mathematically, I could have figured the size out by now, but where is the fun in that?

Yes, this is going to be one very bright quilt

I decided today that it would be wise to buy a bit more fabric.  I'm not sure if I really need the fabric yet, but a trip to JoAnn's is always tempting.  And, another fabric into the mix would make the ultimate design a lot easier to carry out.

It didn't take me very long to find a nice paisley with all the right colors.   I'm surprised that I missed it the other day.

I'm also realizing that this color combination is definitely "in" right now--the scrapbooking section of the store also had papers in these colors.

I made really good progress today, which is probably a good thing as once vacation is over I won't have as much time to work on this.  And, I still have a long way to go.  As I said in the last post, this quilt will have a theme of frogs.  And yet, there are obviously no frog prints going in.  Once I get all of these very simple squares done, I need to start on the center panels, which will be white with appliqued frogs.  I have some ideas for what the frogs should look like, but while I'm working on the last two stacks of squares, I really need to get thinking about the center panels and planning them out better than the simple drawing I did that has "applique frogs here."

Tonight, though, it is time to take a break from it.  Although, I do have to thank Charlie for keeping me company tonight:

I enjoyed the company, even if it did make cutting and trimming the fabric a bit more difficult than usual.

Designing a charity quilt

Earlier this year, I volunteered to make a quilt which will be raffled off in July.  At the time, I was thinking "July? Plenty of time!!  I have all of the Thanksgiving holiday and all of the Christmas holiday to design and create it."

Now?  I'm thinking "July!!  Really?  What was I thinking?"  I have been thinking about it for about a month.  I wanted to come up with the right theme.  Since it will be in a booth with frogs as a theme, I decided I would do something with frogs, too.

With the theme in hand and the clock beginning to count down, I headed out to look for fabric yesterday.  The first place I went to really didn't have what I was looking for.  I was picking up bolts of fabric, but when I looked down at my cart, all I could think of was "old."  It really wasn't the type of fabric that I could have fun with...or that I thought really went with the frog theme--other than I had picked up a selection of green fabric.

The fabric really wasn't speaking to me.

I put everything back and headed off to a second store--JoAnn's.

There, I found fabric that spoke to me.  I bought what I hope will be enough fabric and came home and pre-washed it.

Today, I started working on the quilt.  I ironed up the various fabrics, and then cut into the first two fabrics.  As I did, I began to wonder what exactly the fabric was saying to me yesterday.  I definitely still think that the fabric is really fun, and it actually fits the charity.  But, for a full size quilt, it is rather bright.

I think that it will still work, though.

I have several squares now done.  And, it is growing on me again.

This is definitely going to be one bright quilt!

Getting back into it...

It has been a while since my last entry.  Between work, getting ready for the holidays, working on the quilted Christmas cards (which I will get around doing an entry on just as soon as I get the Christmas cards in the mail), and writing out Christmas cards, this blog needed to take a back seat.

It is, however, time to jump back into it.

Christmas was really good.  And, Santa was very good to me.  One of my gifts was something every crafter needs:  a toolbox on wheels!

Yes, a toolbox.  However, only crafting tools will be stored in it.  I haven't filled it up just yet.  But, with a tri-level house, having an easy way to move my craft supplies from one level to another is pure luxury.

And, this one toolbox has a lot of storage.  The bottom portion is currently storing three plastic containers (also a Christmas present) that will be filled with buttons and beads.  Another pull out tray will also contain small, easily lost items like buttons and beads.

The top portion contains a removable tray.

And, a healthy storage area lies beneath it.

All in all, a much appreciated new toy!

Getting the color right...

Last weekend I had to go get some more thread for the machine quilting.  I decided to pick up some satin binding for the quilt.  Normally, I don't use the satin binding, but it just seemed like the right choice for this quilt.  Unfortunately, the color selection at Hancock Fabrics was a bit limited due to their sale on it.  I picked up a rust color that I thought would work.

Throughout the week, it kept nagging at me.  It just didn't seem like quite the right color.  After I finished the machine quilting Tuesday night, I folded up the quilt so that I could see both the front and back with the binding laying across the top.  Tonight, I went out and bought some green binding.  It is much better.

And, it led to another project finished!

The quilt is already in use:

It also turns out to be reversible:

Progress on the split rail Christmas quilt...

Yesterday, after I took the photo of the quilt that I'd unearthed in the craft room, I left it on the loft railing along with the flannel backing fabric instead of risking putting it back in the craft room.  Apparently, it worked.  While the first football game of the day was on, I assembled the front, batting, and backing fabric, and during ads, Geff helped me get everything down smoothly.

Then, it was time to start machine quilting.  Since I'm still relatively new to machine quilting, this is the first time that I've tried to quilt a flannel quilt.  Between the size of the quilt, the weight of the flannel, and the aching arms (from working out), I definitely am stopping for the night.  But, I'd say that I'm about a third of the way done. 

Not quite what I had planned for the day...

I planned to work on the Christmas cards today.  After all, the holidays are swiftly approaching.

Unfortunately, when I get into one of these creative streaks, I develop a vision issue.  I seem to be completely incapable of seeing clutter.  I see the supplies I need for the current project and perhaps a few future projects, but I no longer see the growing piles of craft supplies.  How long this issue lasts seems to be fairly unpredictable.  Typically, impending visitors or the holidays will help my vision to clear up.

This time, it was walking into the craft room and seeing this:

Granted, when I saw it, it was still in the closet.  Long ago, at least 15 years ago, but probably closer to 20, I bought this plastic vertical storage unit.  It had hangers to hang over the clothes rod in the closet.  Almost a year ago, I heard a thump one evening and tracked it down to the craft room.  After a bit of searching, I realized that the plastic had finally given out, and the thump I heard was this hitting the back wall of the closet.

For some reason, this was the sight I needed to suddenly see the craft clutter in a lot of clarity.  I have been using the kitchen table as a sewing table, and some time during the past two weeks, the clutter spilled from the kitchen table to the kitchen island to the dining room table.

Tonight, it isn't quite all contained, but it is getting much closer.

During a trip to Target for dog treats, I splurged and bought myself a new vertical storage unit.   And, instead of leaving it sit on the sewing table along with a half a dozen other unfinished projects, it is now installed in the craft room closet.  Success!  A project started, and a project finished.

And, then, I turned around.  Yikes!

That is the corner of my real sewing table (the one in the craft room) and my cutting table.  Unfortunately for my Christmas cards, the vision issue really has cleared, and so rather than sew, I cleaned.

The every day sewing machine is now on the table as well, and I'm working on re-folding fabric and carrying it back up to the craft room.

The good news is that I'm already ahead of schedule now on the cleaning effort for Thanksgiving dinner.

The bad news is that the Christmas cards will likely sit idle for a while.  While making room for the sewing machine and fabric, I uncovered another unfinished project:

Yes, this is a fully finished quilt top.  I finished it in 2003 or maybe 2004.  It is flannel and will be perfect for watching TV on these cooler evenings.  I already had the flannel for the backing and the batting.  I purchased some thread this afternoon, and I think as soon as I have the kitchen table cleared off, I'll put the machine I use for machine quilting on it and finish up another project.