Hi everyone! How are you today? The last couple of days we've been having amazing weather, so much so that I've managed to get several miles worth of walking in. I even considered wearing sleeves one morning because it was a bit on the chilly side, relatively speaking, when I started out. I warmed up plenty, don't worry. But it's been just a lovely late summer these last few days, which feels fantastic. We even ate outside last night! And they made progress on our renovation! Happy spots in the midst of this weird year.
Do you all make careful quilty plans for what you want to accomplish in the sewing room? I have not been doing so, because who knows how I'm going to feel or what I'm going to feel like making? We started back to school this week, though, on the meeting end of things, at least, and the stress level is already pretty high for me. Going remote was absolutely the best decision, but I know that I'll have a high stress level for the rest of the year. With that in mind, I've planned three projects to keep me busy this fall.
I had thought that I would keep working on my closet full of UFOs, but it turns out that's even more stressful. So many little pieces! I love complicated piecing, but it's just not going to work for me, and I'm definitely not looking to make up my own designs right now, either. With that in mind, I looked for patterns that had bigger pieces and easy piecing. Easy to push through the machine and not think very much, and easy to fix if I mess up. Totally not what I usually do! But I think these will look good:
First is this pile of pretty fabrics:
I'm going to use these to make Sharron Holland's Phoenix pattern, which you can get HERE. A lot of pieces, but all of them big and easy to construct. And look how cute it turns out! This is the first one I'm going to tackle, I think.
Next, I've been planning to make a quilt for our bed for quite some time. I may have shown you this before, but I'm planning to make this pattern:
Big pieces, easy strip piecing, and it will look terrific in these fabrics:
It looks like a pile of laundry, but I promise that they are really pretty in person! I want this one to look like beach glass, in various shades of aquas with a sandstone background. I've been collecting the aqua batiks, and I got some from friends, too. I definitely need a few more of the greener aquas, but otherwise I think this will be ready to start once I press all those pieces.
In preparation for the quilt above, I bought a bunch of fabrics which were advertised as aquas and teals but turned out to be mostly blue. What a disappointment, because I don't use much blue. I pulled out the aquas that I could use, but what to do with the leftover blues?
Pair them up with some yellow scraps, of course! I'm thinking of making the pattern that's shown with them, another Busy Hands Quilts pattern. I'm less sure about this one, though, so I'm thinking I'll leave it for last. That's if I make it through the others, of course.
So, not usually a sewing room planner, but just for now having a plan is making me feel better. I still have several quilt tops to quilt up, too, so I can always work on those if I feel like it. I honestly have no idea how this semester will turn out, but so far, it's looking to be a lot like last spring. Here's one thing about teaching remotely-- it's exhausting! Much harder to be on camera than to teach in a classroom. Here's hoping these plans will keep me sane and unstressed.
Hope you all are having a good week! Hope your fabrics are happy ones, and that your projects are turning out well. And that your stress is manageable, too!
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