Let's go dancing!

Friends, I could weep.

Seriously, I feel the tears forming.

Dancing Nines is now a finished quilt top! Take a look:

The sun came out just as I was taking this!

I love it!  And really, I could weep. These pieces sat in a drawer for more than 16 years. (Original post is HERE.) I packed them and moved them to a new house. I considered finishing the quilt several times. I lost some of the fabric. The instructions became outdated and incomprehensible. I finally pulled the pieces out a couple of months ago, during the red month of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I found one of Bonnie Hunter's free patterns and finally went for it. And now it's done!

The finished size of this baby is about 58 by 68. I have only a small handful of random pieces left. (Happy dance!) I like the way the checkerboard border turned out, but I'm not eager to do another one any time soon. So many seams! Stretchy! And I wasn't sure about the green, but now I like it a lot. Gives it just a little zing. I might even use it for the binding.

I learned a couple of things while making this. First, I am MUCH better at sewing now than I was 16 years ago. I guess I learned a few things in between. Some of those 9-patches are a little off, but I left them anyway. Would you have ripped every one of them apart to fix them? Yeah, me neither. Another thing I learned is that the fabric has definitely gotten better too. The red fabric in this quilt was first quality fabric, purchased at the shop where I took the class, and it is quite thin and very ravelly (if that's a word). Ripping some of those smaller pieces to make the checkerboard pieces was difficult because the fabric would actually tear. Today I would reject it as poor quality. So I guess we're getting some good value for our $12 a yard.

And look what I got out of the leftover green border-- a bright green Odd Fellow!

He looks happy. (Oops. I see a star point cut off. I'll fix that right away.) And here's the second red Odd Fellow's, which I also finally finished this week.

Do you know what this means? For the next 48 hours, I am completely caught up with RSC14! I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

 It's Labor Day weekend, so everyone enjoy the last weekend of summer. Hope you're inspired to pull something old out of the closet or the drawer and give it a new life!

Linking to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, crazy mom quilts, and the awesome Angela! Visit sometime this weekend for some more fun projects.

Very short update

A very short post today. I'm still not into the "new" routine, and I have at least 4 hours of paperwork/ other desk work to finish today. We were supposed to become a paperless society by now, but all that means really is that the "paper" has moved to the computer. And here I thought we were actually being promised less work. Silly me.

Here is what I plan to finish this week--the Dancing Nines top! Here is the center:

Yes! All those 9-patches are sewn up! The top is thrown over the fence, so it's actually a little bigger. And they do look like they're dancing!

I have to dig through my fabric and find a stop border, then I can put on the pieced 4-patch border, which has been making me crazy. I finally figured out that I didn't actually have to make 4-patches, just piece together the string of red and white cuts to make the finished measurement. D'oh! (Insert Homer Simpson voice here!)

Anyway, hope everyone is having a really productive week. Here's wishing for less paperwork for everyone!

Linking to WIP Wednesday and Let's Bee Social. Stop on over if you have a minute!

Confession is good for the soul

Everybody has a secret, and Amy over at 13 Spools started a little thing that is making it's way around the interwebs--10 quilty little secrets! So here's my confession. Tell me yours in the comments, or link up with Amy and let the world know! But definitely go check out some others in her linkup, because it will make you feel better about your own secrets.




 1. I have stopped buying quilting magazines because they all look the same and many of the projects are designed to sell something, usually something expensive that I would stick in a drawer anyway. (Seriously, Accuquilt should start its own magazine already.)

2.The best thing my grandmother ever taught me? "Don't worry--it will quilt out."

3.I really, really dislike pieced backings.

4.Sometimes I plan or doodle quilts or designs during meetings. It's possible that I have lost track of the meeting topic once or twice while doing this.

5. I feel guilty about how much fabric I own.

6. I often love the process much more than the finished product.

7. I love my longarm quilter but secretly think that edge to edge designs make my quilts look like they came from a store. I can't afford custom quilting or my own longarm, so the alternative is unfinished quilts because the big quilts I make are too much for me to quilt on my own. Yes, shame on me.

8. I like quilt shows but the idea of competition between quilters turns my stomach.

9. Paper piecing? Yes! Applique? Sure! Hexies and EPP? Why not! Traditional? Absolutely. Modern? Maybe, if you get rid of all the gray and fill up those empty spaces. Civil war? No. Wonky? Please get out of my sewing room.

10. I break every quilting "rule." I use lots of steam, sew over pins, iron with abandon, use cheap needles and thread, never prewash, cut the 'wrong' way, and use rotary blades until I can run them across my hand without getting cut. I also buy some of my fabric at rummage sales. Pretty sure that's a no-no.

And a bonus secret (that I bet a bunch of people share):

11. Even though I've been doing this for a long time, I secretly worry that I'm not very good at it.

That's it for today! Share your secrets in the comments!

Crazy week!

Well, this has been a crazy week. Just insane. Looking around, though, it seems like a lot of people had the same experience this week, so I don't feel so bad. Are you like me, and the most annoying part of weeks like this are the parking issues? EVERY day. Let's get it together, people!

I managed to finish two blocks this week. Two blocks! I'm actually really happy I finished anything given all the chaos, so here is my green Odd Fellow's block:

I swear this is square!

Well, he's a cheerful fellow, even if he is odd! This one is made from scraps of one of my favorite greens of all time. It's a few years old and was a part of the Sunshine line by April Cornell. I've hoarded the scraps and finally used a bunch here. I think it's very festive. I was thinking that I never would have set out to make an Odd Fellow's quilt without the scrap challenge, but making two a month is really manageable. Not that I'm fully caught up or anything.

There is also this final bright green 9-patch for the other rainbow quilt.

Also quite cheerful! And finished!

That was my crazy week, friends. Hope yours was more productive!

Linking with Sarah and Amanda Jean and also Angela. Stop by and say hi! And everybody have a very relaxing weekend--we all deserve it!