Up, up, and away!

Yes! I am up!

Okay, so I'm really sorta wobbling more than flying, but at least I no longer remain hunched over my crutches 24/7. As of my doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon, I am now allowed to put some weight on my left foot. The surgery incision is finally healing well, and I'm racing toward that complete recovery line!!! Okay, okay, I'm hobbling excitedly and holding onto walls, desks, people, anything that I can grab, on the way to that complete recovery line. But I'm moving.

What does that mean quilt-wise? Well, that I can begin quilting again, of course! For the last seven weeks, I have been unable to do anything except hand work. Speaking of which, what's happening with this little hand work gem?

  

 

 

Well, let's just say that it and I have come to a temporary (ha!) parting of the ways. So what happened, when everything seemed to be going so well? I had the first block about three-fourths finished when I happened to notice a bit of a problem. I have done more tearing out and re-sewing of this block than I have of any other project. Unfortunately, there is more on the way if I want to salvage it. May I please draw your attention to the above picture. Most specifically, the top teardrop structure and the mostly completed matching structure on the left. If you will look closely at the dark blue teardrops and their positioning, you will notice that on the top design, the blue extends from the sides of the orange petals, just below the green leaves. In the design on the left, however (and yes, it is complete now), the dark blue extends from midway down the orange petals. I have everything off kilter. There will be a lot more ripping out on this block if I decide to pursue it. It may become a permanent UFO.  : (

 

Speaking of UFOs, I am very excited at the prospect of getting back to finishing some of my half-baked quilts again. My poor sewing machine would be feeling quite abandoned if Mom hadn't kept it company while she stayed with me after my surgery. Well, just watch me hug the wall and wobble now! Sewing machine, here I come!

 

Deb

Progress on the Bright Applique quilt!

 

Finally, I have some progress to report on my Bright Applique quilt. You might recall that I have the ambition plan to make this beautiful quilt pattern using needle turn applique.

 

 

I thought that I would be able to make tremendous progress on this quilt while recuperating from surgery. Unfortunately, I did not take my kitties into account when I made this grand plan. My kittens, especially Sinbad, have other ideas about my having a stationary lap for a change.

 

 

My baby girl kitties don't mind my sewing over their heads. Sinbad, though, isn't quite as generous about sharing my attention. (I'm really not as fat as I look in this photo - I'm slumped in my chair in order to make Sinbad more comfortable. Aren't I just the cat's meow? hee, hee) I have found, however, that if I wait until Sinnie's soundly asleep, I can often sneak in some overhead hand work without waking him. Shhh... It's best to let sleeping cats lie.

 

So, on to my progress...



 

All right, all right! so there are a few little kitty hairs on my block. Quite frankly, there is so much kitty hair quilted into this project already, that I'm relieved that this photo only shows a few scattered hairs. As you can also see, my piece placement leaves a bit to be desired. My previous experience with needle turn applique included a placement guide. This pattern doesn't have one. I'm having to eyeball the placement. Oh well, I figure if I ever actually get this quilt finished, who's going to notice some slightly wonky piece placement? Hopefully, people will just see how hard I tried, not how badly I missed. : )

This photo shows the segments that I currently have completed. I'm not being at all picky about where the ends of the "teardrop" elements end up. As you can see, the ends of the orange elements on the left don't line up exactly. But since the ends are all covered by the larger orange "petals" and the red center oval, the pointy bits really don't matter. Thank goodness! This way I don't even have to worry about how pointy (or not!) the points actually are. I can cheat and leave them sloppy with the assurance that they won't actually be seen. I'm sure this pattern would be much easier to complete if I was willing to machine applique it. But what would be the fun in that?

Once I get the fourth section sewn on, I will start with the hearts in the corners. Goodness, these blocks have so many elements that I fear this really will take me forever to complete. It's a good thing I intend to live forever then, right?

I'll post again when I have more progress to show. I've gone five weeks so far without touching a sewing machine. Aaauuuggghhhhh...!