Let's Book It: A NewFO

It's been a lazy, but productive day, if such a thing is possible. I decided to get my laundry going, and I need to do a little work in the kitchen. Other than that, I've just been sewing at an easy-going pace.

There's quite a bit of progress to show on my newest project, the Chicken Buffet.

It's been a while since I started any large quilts, but I've been making some progress at getting the oldest of my projects finished off. By my rules, that makes it okay to start a new one now. When I start on one of these large projects where all the blocks are different, I usually only do one block at a time. That's where I'm starting with this one, and I'm hopeful that I won't get too distracted with other things to keep it moving along.

Yesterday I chose my fabrics and did the cutting for all of the block backgrounds. They will all look like this:

Today I was able to get all the fusing done for the first block, Chicken Gumbo. It still needs top-stitching as you see it here. Each block is named for some recipe that has chicken as its main ingredient, and the pattern even includes recipes! Each will have its namesake embroidered in the lower corner. I may use the lettering feature on my sewing machine, but that's not decided for sure yet.

The carrot tops are a little hard to see against the dark background fabric. I think I'll be able to make them more visible by choosing a lighter-colored thread for top-stitching. That's what I'll work on next, and then I'll set this project aside for next time. I have all my fabrics chosen, but I'll probably hold off on cutting anything but the background for now. Sometimes I change my mind mid-quilt.

Also this morning, I made up the next block for Lisa's Retirement Quilt. This one was submitted by Lisa's and my mutual friend, Sherry.

The dresses are appliqued and top-stitched by machine, but I'll hand embroider the rest. I've also used my crayon-fabric-dying technique to do the rest of the shading. That method is proving invaluable for these small blocks. With the blocks finishing at 6 inches, the details are too small for applique, and so coloring is just right for them.

And now it's ready for stitching. As you might guess, the lettering is very small, so I'll be using just one strand of floss for that. It might take a bit, but the rest should go pretty fast.

I need to spend the rest of the day finishing up a little bit of housework, and then I'll work on top-stitching the Chicken Gumbo block. That will probably keep me busy for the rest of the day. If I have time, I'm going to start cutting a baby quilt for another friend's first grandchild.