Another Good Finish, Much Better Than It Set Out To Be

 I've been buried in the back office lately, working on the paperwork for my husbands business. I'm always determined to better keep up on it. And then I don't. He's not a paperwork guy whatsoever, which makes my job harder. Whenever I try to get everything in order and wrangled onto the computer or into reports etc., it's a frustrating time for both of us. Sometimes I think we'd both be better off if he could just pay someone else to deal with it, but I know we really can't afford it, especially now with the 2022 economy.

A little whacky, but so much fun!

Ughh. Anyone go to buy groceries lately? It's totally freaking me out, how high the prices are these days! Anyway, it feels like there hasn't been quite as much time for quilting lately. I did manage to get the binding sewn onto Chrysalis--all in scrappy reds. I'm always surprised when I use red for binding, but I do adore the look. It totally fits with the vibe of this particular quilt!

Loving all these colors together

This 2nd Roman Stripe quilt went together better than the first one. Of course I'm partial to the applique on it, and I did go ahead and do just a wee, bit more hand quilting on this one too. It really does make a difference!

Turned out very happy looking!

It's a super simple pattern and goes together very quickly. Would be great for a baby quilt I'm sure, will have to keep that in mind. It looks very soft and cozy now that it's washed and properly crumpled, like a good quilt should be! I'm actually very relieved to see this one rise above it's rather blah beginnings.*sigh  Some quilts are just more demanding about making extra time for.

Looks like a good one!

For now it's rolled up and languishing in a little basket in the corner of the living room. Weird I know, but I have a feeling this one is going to be used a lot in our living room!

Ignore the dust behind the basket, it's that time of year!

Speaking of which.... I went a little crazy this past week and sorted through all the plaid flannels that I tend to live in during the late fall and winter months. There was a whole stack of shirts in good condition that felt a little too snug, too short or even in the case of a couple of them, way too wide and boxy. Those extra wide ones were the Walmart ones I think. Just never felt like an attractive or comfortable fit at all. Shouldn't have even bought them, but I fell in love with the colors! And I don't know if anyone else has noticed this issue, but the nice Eddie Bauer button-down shirts that I've bought {for years and years and years} tend to shrink badly anymore. I'm getting very tired of it. I've gained a little weight since 2020, but the shirt shrinkage is very real. For the moment, I'm on a shirt buying hiatus from Eddie Bauer and searching out other brands, mostly second hand. 

De-constructing/ Re-constructing flannel shirts

I sewed up almost 2 inches at the sides of the largest, boxiest shirts and now they feel and look much better. You'll probably think this odd, but I took one nicely-made flannel shirt {rarely worn because the buttons looked like eyeballs} and replaced those buttons with other, plainer looking buttons. Rescued from previous upcycled shirts I'm pretty sure. Amazing how much better I like the shirt already! 

I took one of the 'too-small' shirts and cut some of the bottom half off in order to make a contrasting ruffle to one of 'too-short; flannels {one of my comfy faves}. The 'too-small' one was tailored very well with great, double stitched seams throughout. I thought these details would help to make the ruffle length look better than it might have otherwise. After that was done, it looked like it needed a contrasting pocket too. That was sewn on with the fabric edges exposed so that they will fray and look pretty shabby eventually {just like I want them to}. Overall, I was super happy with the look, though my daughter kind of smirked at my enthusiasm for the 'boho boutique' look. Probably won't do any more like that, but it was kind of fun to try my hand at something new!

Both the red and the green flannel shirts {in the above picture} have had extra flannel sewn into the sides of the shirt--under the arms--kind of a gusset I suppose. One of the flannels used for the addition was another 'too small' cut-up shirt, and the other, just some fabric that rescued from the flannel stash tote. There are at least 4-5 other shirts that I can play with still, but that has definitely took a chunk of my time these past several days. Great for distraction from the bookwork! My sewing is not the absolute best, but it's getting the job done. 

There's something incredibly annoying about wearing too snug-under-the-arms shirts around the house. Just can't handle it! I seem to have lots of hot flashes off and on these days and the unfortunate thing I've noticed is, wearing tops that won't swing and move easily with my everyday motions tend to set me off extremely easily. I have went and changed clothes after wearing them for less than half an hour before! One of my sisters has teased me quite a bit about wearing oversize tops, but what to do?  This was an easy fix, playing with these shirts, and hopefully it will get me through another winter without having to buy much else.

Hand quilting on the border

Still getting a bit of hand quilting in during the late evenings. Went ahead and marked out a rough crosshatch grid on the border of the tulip quilt after all. Just didn't have the inspiration for anything else so why not?

Gonna answer a couple quick questions for the 'Reasons for Quitlmaking' and then close up for the day! 

4. How do your family, friends, and community feel about your quiltmaking and your quilts?

I think my immediate family and probably even my siblings and parents are proud of my quiltmaking efforts. The broader family gets that my quilts are not just cookie cutter replicas of mass marketed patterns, but don't really understand all the reasons why that might be. Which is totally fine. We all have our fascinations! Overall they just seem to enjoy getting to be the recipient of any of my random quilt gifting. They often have a joke at my expense, something to do with 'watch out for your shirts' kind of thing and laughing at my constant prodding to my husband about leaving time in the schedule for quilt store stop offs! Which he does not do very often these days. Somehow we're always leaving too early or too late on the longer trips. Wonder why that is? lol

My daughters and husband have heard me babble on about the creative process {and all of my various challenges} more than they have wanted to through the years. That being said, they are probably the most invested in making sure that I don't ever give away quilts unnecessarily or to anywhere they might possibly be 'under appreciated'! Kind of frustrates me on occasion but it is super sweet of them to feel so possessive. I argue with them on occasion that I am not some exceptional quilter in the whole world-wide scheme of things--they are just looking at me through a very narrow lens! It's wonderful to have carved out a good spot in the cozy, come cuddle-up-with-me quilting niche though. Once in awhile I'll share a sweet blog comment with them and they always seem to appreciate the love and support.

 As to the community? Some people know that I quilt of course, especially after they saw the Fire quilt. It's just not that big a deal around here. The artsy people live up the valley and actually make money off of their interests! Which, to be fair, years ago I was offered a chance to sell quilts in a shop up the valley. Just don't think that's something I'm interested in doing at this time of my life.

5. What are your feelings about quiltmaking compared with other household activities?

Ha! I think we all know the answer to this one. Quiltmaking is vastly more entertaining and interesting than almost anything else around here! I have to work hard not to get frustrated and upset when life throws a curveball at my quilting 'schedule'. Unless the grandkids are visiting. That's a whole 'nother ballgame!

**On a different note. I have gotten a few requests again for making a hand quilting with perle cotton tutorial. At first I just thought 'No! Don't have time for this!' But then, I reluctantly reconsidered. It's something that I have probably gotten more requests for than anything else. Have been writing down some notes and thinking it through. Will make up my mind here in the next couple weeks about whether or not it's something I feel that can be properly or adequately done. Have always hesitated and decided against because I didn't feel like I was the right person to address this subject. Lots of little quirks, just doing it because I love the look and the process. Not the expert!!