Welcome to day two of my adventure! Yesterday was basically a travel and settle in day. Not much was conquered by the way of sewing. Today I plan on changing that. With time a wasting and a to-do list as long as my arm it’s time to get rolling.
I’m not typically an early riser, just ask my husband, and today was no exception. Of course I did stay up late to watch one of my many favorite PBS programs the night before. The program was on until midnight so rising shortly before 8:00 am was not really what I would call sleeping in.
Before going to bed I set a mixture of quinoa, water and yogurt on the counter to soak overnight. For breakfast I cooked my quinoa in additional water along with two beaten eggs. I topped the steaming hot recipe with butter, cinnamon, honey and a small sprinkling of dried cranberries. After sipping a cup of my pour over coffee I set aside my dishes for the maid– ha ha :o) — then got to work on my first project.
The first item on my to-do list was a lap quilt. I was commissioned to make it for a relative of my sister-in-law. The pattern is called Circuit. I found it in a book called Fat Quarter Style. Chosen by my sister-in-law’s relative was a fat quarter bundle called Under The Ocean Blue (which sadly to say is no longer available) designed by Katie Doucette for Wilmington Prints.
My first task was to carefully press each of the fabrics. This is one of my least favorite parts of quilting. It’s a time consuming process that bores me to tears but smoothly pressed fabrics lend themselves to a much more appealing outcome. After hours, and I mean hours, of standing at my pressing station I was overjoyed to finally finish the last piece.
Another laborious, but very essential cog in the wheel, is accurately cutting the prescribed number of pattern pieces. To achieve a successful outcome I have to not only carefully cut each piece but also read the directions to make certain I don’t screw up. No matter how many times I refer back to the pattern it only takes a brief moment of daydreaming to make a mistake. Sadly I cut one piece to narrow. That one piece made it necessary to pull another fat quarter from the pile of extras and start again. Thankfully I regained my focus long enough to finish.
By the time my rotary cutter had made the last slice it was well past 10:00 pm. My energy level had been screaming down hill since 8:00 pm but my desire to have this step finished was stronger than my desire to sleep. While I would much rather have been well beyond this point I was pleased that I could start my day tomorrow actually sitting at my sewing machine. I really look forward to that because sewing the individual pieces together is way more enjoyable.
Time for me to call it quits. There’s no energy left in my tank. If you would like to read the first installment in this series, you may follow this link.
Happy Quilting!
Cindy Anderson
