Change of plans, updates...you know the drill!

And there is always the chaos factor.

Case in point: a few weekends ago I went to Marshall Dry Goods with one of the besties. I purchased flannel to make two receiving blankets for our great-grandson that's due to arrive in April. I was thinking I had plenty of time to make them. But two weeks ago, darling granddaughter landed in the ER, was admitted to the hospital due to complications, was told she would stay two weeks to allow little man to grow a bit more, then told it would be three weeks, and he was born a week ago Friday. Whew! He is in the NICU after having surgery shortly after his birth and he is recovering well. We will be heading to Nashville after our great-grandson is discharged, so now the receiving blankets are ready to go! And I still have to make a label for the baby quilt.

I talked to my granddaughter while she was in the hospital waiting for the birth, and she told me she had just started scrapbooking and that our great-granddaughter was having a wonderful time "helping" Mommy! I got so excited over my granddaughter having a hobby that I told her about something that I'll share with you farther down in this post. 

I know I've been absent for over a month, but I had not worked on anything to do with fabric and thread since the second cataract surgery, which was just over a month ago. The surgery went well, and I'm seeing better now than I have in my entire life. I tackled the paper during the downtime and have scanned EVERYTHING. Taxes are done. Still need a little bit of organization, but I'm thrilled that the paper is shredded and in the recycling bin. And I still have too much in the sewing part of the studio to move around, but the Hubs and I are discussing possibilities for rearranging. And finally, my new glasses recently arrived. I’m still adjusting to my new eyes, but I’m getting there. 

And the fabric room looks better. One of our sons came over and helped the Hubs move several bins into the attic--the larger ones that hold things that I probably won't be touching for at least a year or so. It's slightly less crowded in that room than it was before, but the closet looks better and I can move around the room freely.

Before the last surgery, I spent some time reviewing my workflow for the quilting of the Girl Gang DIY Sampler. I started small because I wanted to make sure this was doable, and I have created two stitch files that were shared in previous posts. And remembering that I like to work from the center out, the center block that had the erratic crosshatching had been bugging me, I finally took out that stitching. 

In addition to frogging the center block, I also had an epiphany moment for the manhandling of the quilt into the hoop for the stitch-outs—turn it up side down or on its side (BIG DUH). I forget that I can rotate the stitch file in any direction to make it easier on me. Gah….

And, I also have to remind myself that some of what I’m doing could be done a better—or faster—way. Or both. And hopefully, all of this will help me make better decisions when working on the Stitch & B!tch Sampler. But a few days ago I decided to pause on the Girl Gang DIY Sampler because working on it was literally giving me headaches. I know it had to do with the cataracts and now that my eyes are almost healed I can return to it--but at the moment I'm not feeling it. Right now I need the excitement of a new project. Cindy and I were talking recently—she has been motivated to reorganize her fabric stash which is in a spare bedroom next to her studio, and I can tell her brain is popping with ideas. Her excitement was contagious! I went to her house week before last and played in her studio--she used to do scrapbooking and she gave me a ton of her supplies to take to my granddaughter! I texted a photo of two clear bins with all of the supplies—including a Cricut that had never been used. She’s excited! THANKS, CINDY!!!

Picture of Antelope Canyon quilt by
Laurie Shifrin

So, back to something new--I have moved to a project that is on my list of quilts to make this year: Antelope Canyon. I thought I had cut most of the strips for it (I don't do jelly rolls) while we were living in our apartment. Cindy had come over one day with her Accuquilt Go! cutter because my 1-1/2" Studio strip die had ... died .... and she brought hers over so I could cut the 1-1/2" strips for the quilt. Then those strips moved to a bin and were packed away, and I found them after we moved into our new home. When I looked at those strips, I was so happy because I only had to cut about 30 more strips and I'd be ready to go. I tackled the sub-cutting and finished it the morning of Friday before last and started sewing. The sewing is a breeze when you're joining the strip sets together, but the fun happens when you get the strips on the design wall and fiddle. I spent most of Monday in the sewing studio getting the strips onto the wall. Here's where I left it Monday afternoon:

And an update on Stitch & B!tch (not the quilt, but the quilters)--the band is getting back together! I'm so excited! It's been a long six years since we stopped gathering. We'll start meeting the first week in April and I can't wait to see what all we will be working on.

I'll have more photos in my next post. In the meantime, go make!