Litella.
As in... never mind.
It appears as though you're stuck with me.
I really had worried that continuing to blog as La Vie En Rosie might be a conflict of interest, or at least a conflict of purpose, but after thinking about it and discussing it with others, I decided that I could make this work. The truth is that there are things I would like to share that really aren't suited elsewhere - recipes, silly stories, goofy stuff, non-work related stuff I'm working on, etc. So for the foreseeable future, La Vie En Rosie isn't going anywhere.
Since you're sticking with me, you get to see this first...
My American Patchwork & Quilting Quilt-along Go Four It quilt. Except it really isn't that. I was inspired by ModaLissa's quilt to make four-patches... and then I was inspired by April Rosenthal's Buried Treasure to make a little bit different block. Add in a little Lori Holt - her Scrappy Crossroads setting - and then still make a few changes. Yes, it's been pointed out to me by several friends that I have a deep-seated inability to follow rules, directions or instructions. I am compelled to change something - anything... as much as possible.
Guilty as charged. (In my defense, it probably relates to how / why I got into this business.)
Instead of cutting my strips at 2 1/2" so that the blocks finished at 8", I cut my strips at 2" to suit the small-scale and tone-on-tone prints I was using. I wanted to use multiple backgrounds, I decided to piece the blocks as 16-patches and "X" blocks because random-placement of the background prints was probably going to make the background a bit choppy-looking. I have to admit that it didn't occur to me to align the blocks so that the black/gray squares would make a directional chain - with the orange squares going in the opposite direction. When I was laying out blocks, I decided that I didn't want like-corners together. Six of one, half-dozen of the other, right?
My quilt finishes at 72" x 72" - or it will after it's quilted, trimmed and bound.
And I really love it. (Since Lucy wasn't mine to keep, this is the next best thing.)
As for the rest of "life", it's all good. I still love the challenges of work, all the new things I'm learning, commuting and adjusting to a new, different kind of schedule. I won't pretend that I didn't prefer my old commute - 25 feet to walk in my pajamas vs. 25 minutes on the tollway - but I won't complain. I still wish I knew everything there was to know right NOW - RFN! - but I also know that isn't realistic. (Yeah, I'm still working on that patience-thing.)
It's also a huge factor at work because there are so many things that I'm seeing that I can't talk about. It's excruciating. All this gorgeous, fabulous fabric is in the works and I. Can't. Talk. About. It. For a chatty, excitable girl like me, it's agony. Texas Fabric Torture. Even worse, I can't cut it up and sew with it! Strike-offs are evil - fabric that you can look at but not cut up. So near and yet still so very, very far away.
That's all I can think of for this Sunday evening...
Have a good week and I'll be back soon. Okay, at some point.
