Learning Curves and the Creative Process

Easter weekend is always so busy.  Once again I found myself in the grocery store on a late Saturday afternoon trying to find candy for my kids.  Every year I tell myself it'll be different next year, but it never, ever is.  Not to worry, I wasn't the only mom rushing around the candy aisles looking frantic because all the best candy was gone!

Learning Curves Quilt--Drunkards Path

I did a little bit of sewing Friday night and Saturday too, but really, it was hard to settle into work on my Learning Curves quilt especially.  Sometimes, there are other projects calling my name a whole lot louder than that one will probably ever be able to.  You know, because of those dreaded curves and all.

Getting Started on Drunkards Path block

I wouldn't want to admit to anything that could possibly incriminate me in the future, but these blocks are actually getting a lot easier to sew.  I am finally able to sew at a faster pace than a snail!  Smooth and steady, that's me, plugging along one section after another.  The tweezers really help at the end of the block too, keeping everything aligned and straight for me.  I did cut all the blocks just a smidge too big (room for error) so when I get the initial curved sewing done, then I have to trim them down.  Ughh...  Not always what I want to do.

Working on The Big Broken Dish Quilt

At some point this weekend, I jumped back into my Big Broken Dish Quilt.  With the help of Linda from Quilts in the Barn (thank you!), I had previously figured out my light bulb block.  I think it sort of looks like a skull right now, but my daughters assure me that with properly applied stitching it will be just fine in the end.

Ready for the applique words now...

With the slightly curved borders, sewing the corners blocks on was a bit of a nightmare.  I had to lay the border and the blocks out and mark just 'so' and then pin a lot.  I used my seam ripper more than I wanted to and almost peed my pants once when the phone rang while I was deep in concentration mode.  I forgot to trim a 1/4" from my marked seam on one particular border and started sewing before I even realized what I was doing.  And the phone rang and rang and rang.

Then it was all together, laying fairly flat and looking back at me like, 'See? that wasn't so hard after all!'  (Can you slap a quilt?)  It was only after my kids gathered around and asked me to explain once again what this quilt was all about when I noticed (thank you my dear youngest son for pointing it out) that the light bulb block and the palm tree block had somehow switched places.  I think there must be a subliminal message in that particular 'oops', don't you?  And honestly? Right now, I'm leaning very heavily toward leaving it just like it is.