Slow Sunday Stitching

And not a moment too soon.  Not only have I been unable to spend any time with my Kiss quilt over the last 4-5 days, I seem to have come down with some kind of respiratory crud, eerily similar to the sinus infection that I finally got over last week … ok, it was more like last month, but still…  That means that today is going to be a slow day here at Chez Nana … and what better way to spend a slow day than to spend it slow stitching?    Now I have to decide … quilting on the Kiss quilt or stitching up more bow tie blocks? 

I spent yesterday afternoon basting the small “knot” piece of my bow tie blocks and have 19 sets ready to be pieced together.  I have them clipped together so when I’m ready to start piecing, my pieces will all be together.I have 13 pairs of the “tie” ready, waiting for their “knot”.  And I’ve still got quite a few pieces (60??) to baste … these make a 4” block, so the finished quilt should finish at about 40”x40”.  And yes, I know I have a very generous seam allowance.  I find it easier to wrap my papers – especially when working in the car – with a more generous seam allowance.  While it makes an extra step to trim that seam allowance when I’m done, I find that it’s worth it – to me – to make the basting process less fiddly and more enjoyable.  Plus, trimming the seam allowances (done with the papers still in place to help ensure accurate trimming and no snipping errors) is something that I can do while in my recliner, watching TV with DH.  So it works for me.  Since the primary benefit of EPP is the portability (plus the fact that I just plain enjoy EPP), I probably ought to hold off on the bow tie blocks … save them for our trip to Hilton Head (just two weeks now!).  That decides it … I’ll spend my afternoon quilting. 



Friday was reveal day for the April BOM for the Facebook handquilting group, so I can now present my version.  But first a little backstory to the BOM.  The group has decided that there are no rules … at the beginning of the month, we’ll be given a block, a little of its history and a picture of a sample block.  Then we’re free to make our version of the block.  April’s block was Whirling Squares, attributed to Nancy Cabot.  I found a drawing online, which was similar to the sample block.  Since the version I found looked to be a slightly simpler design and since I knew that the rest of April was going to be a busy time for me, I chose to go with the simpler block.  The 4 neutral pieces in the sample block were rectangles rather than squares, perhaps 1”x2” instead of the 2”x2” in mine.I can’t wait to see what block is chosen for May.  If you remember, I’m going to make my all my blocks using blues and reds similar to the fabrics in April’s block … and use that same neutral in all the blocks.  When I have enough blocks, I’ll put them together to make a sampler quilt.  My only concern is that these blocks will likely be different sizes … which means that I’ll be having to create some filler blocks … IOW I’m going to need to find some designing skills somewhere. 



We’ve got a busy week ahead, here at Chez Nana.  This week, we will be getting our carpet replaced – throughout the whole house.  The carpet we have now is builder grade and just looks tired and worn out.  The installers will move our furniture, but we’ll have to move the electronic equipment and smaller (i.e. breakable) items.  Thankfully they’ll be doing two rooms at a time, so we’ll have some space to cram everything.  I’m excited about getting this carpet replaced, but I’m not looking forward to the work involved in getting things broken down and moved and then back together… I’m really not looking forward to trying to reconnect all our electronic equipment (TVs, router, etc.). 



I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy ... have a great day!
Kathy