Big surprise... there's not much of that going on here.
I just moved, and that was after doing what can only be called "pre-move cleaning", aka clearing out. So I figure I'm good for a little while.
How have you been?
Life here is good. Busy and getting busier - Quilt Market is in six weeks. So yes, that means some sewing is going on but right now, it's mostly writing patterns, writing for the Cutting Table blog and trying to figure out the phone system at work. I'm getting better - I no longer have the little notification that I've missed 10 calls. But I'm still not sure how to put someone on hold while I go ask Tammy or Susan a question. Forward a call? Heaven forbid I have to do that... can you crash a phone system?
Sewing? Some. Not enough. More coming soon.
But I'm ready...
It's not usually this cleaned up. Right now, there is something stacked on every flat surface - partly because I just got home from a trip, and partly because I'm trying to get my priority sewing in order. One of the things stacked on the ironing board is the binding for this quilt - I found it while packing for my teaching trip this past week.
Wee Hours. I started it two years ago and got side-tracked... then I got back to making nine-patches early last year and then I got side-tracked again. I finally finished it last Fall and now it just needs a binding... which I couldn't find after the move. This quilt was going to be in the book I was working on, the book I've postponed. Again. It might sound odd but the single focal-point of patterns seems to suit me better than books. They're short stories instead of novels, meaning that the "big concept" has always been a struggle for me.
On the subject of bindings, this quilt needed one too. That's on and sadly, it had to be glue-basted as it needed to be shipped off this coming week.
I've titled it "Mi Casa" and it will be in a book filled with Log Cabin quilts scheduled for publication next year. Mine is scrappy and measures about 76" square. When the editors asked if I could do a quilt with Reproductions, I said "sure" and then panicked. I'd cleaned out a lot of my "scrap stash" before moving so I only had one, maybe two, collections as a starting point. Then I hit the jackpot - a co-worker cleaned out a cupboard and gave me about 200 Layer Cake squares from Reproduction and traditional collections.
I was out of the office this week for a teaching trip. I was in Midway, Utah to teach at one of Amy McClellan's Under the Garden Moon Quilt Retreats. Amy owns American Quilting in Orem, and oh my, does she do an amazing job with this retreat.
This is the Zermatt Resort - the site of the retreat.
This is the room where 144 ladies enjoy a lovely view, a mini quilt-shop and each other's company. It was a lot of fun - and yes, I was working! I taught three classes, did a little presentation and a trunk show. But I do hope to go back one day soon as an attendee so I can take classes and sew. (If you have any interest in trying to go, you need to sign up for the e-mails on Amy's website and then cross your fingers. The retreat "sold out" in a day this past year without any advertising or much "advance warning".)
This is not the reason it fills so quickly... but it might be a factor...
There is a bakery at the resort - out the door, up the stairs and about 200 feet away from the sewing room. And it's good... or so I've heard. :::snort:::
(The Lemon Meringue Tart was really good.)
I managed to do a teeny little bit of sewing - a big stack of half-triangle squares was stitched. That means I layered my two fabrics and the triangle paper, and I managed to get a little over a dozen stitched. And I did finish this eventually-to-be-pillow made with Urban Chiks Nomad collection and a gray Fiesta Woven. It was nice to get this done as the un-trimmed half-triangle squares have been sitting on my cutting table for a month.
So that's what's going on. I have to get back to patterns... re-writing the cutting for an old one and then finishing a couple of new ones. So far, we've got Otis, Full Circle, Viola and Wee Hours. Two more are coming - names unknown. And I have ideas for two more... but they might wait until Fall. Or not. We'll see.
I hope life is treating you well - good health and good fortune!
