Still Circling

Do you have projects on your list of UFO's that are there because you're stuck on what to do? Or do you have projects you haven't started, even though you have everything you need? And you haven't started because you're afraid your ideas for the project won't work? Eventually, you start, but there is a long lag between ready-to-go and the day when you actually say Go! My friend Dana has a perfect term for this process. It's called "circling". And that's what I've been doing for more than five years on this stupid barn quilt. So here's how it went yesterday.

Remember that I'm working from this photograph:

And here's where I left off in May of 2011:

Just then, I checked my Quilts-in-Progress page to make sure I had my dates correct. Interestingly, I started this quilt on May 18th, which is the anniversary of the day Mt. St. Helens blew its top.

(image source)

So...coincidence? I think not. Anyway...

As I was saying yesterday, I had in mind to put a quilt block on the structure on the left, envisioning a barn along a quilt barn trail. So I pulled this long-forgotten book off my shelf,

These are actually kind of fun. They are paper-pieced quilt blocks 3 inches square. There is also card stock to go along with them, and so you can make quilted greeting cards, which I've done a time or two. The paper-pieced blocks are small enough that it's one of the few times I use my Add-an-Eighth ruler. 

Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?

With a certain degree of intensity?

So I picked a conventional-looking quilt block that was sewn together in four pieces.

The smallest I could make it after trimming was three inches. 

And then I stuck it to the barn. It's a little too large, but I'm not changing it. It's a very exuberant block along the quilt barn trail.

And, yes, I know I could reduce the size of those paper-piecing templates, but if I tried to make it any smaller, I'm sure I'd end up slitting my own throat. So, never mind. Don't even bring it up, if you know what's good for you. And me.

After making peace with the size of the quilt block, I went ahead with my other idea and fussy cut some sunflowers from a larger piece of fabric. 

And, yes, they're too big too. They look like the sunflowers that ate Los Angeles. I'm not giving up on these...yet...because I think they might look better once I've stitched in the stems. And, let's admit that some sunflowers are really big. I'm thinking of the ones that are eight feet tall. So, I don't know. I might end up going back to my trellis and small flowers idea. All of the pieces for the quilt are just spray-basted down, and so they can be repositioned. For now, I'm still circling. Maybe I'll like it better when I put the roof and chimney on that structure. It'll make the whole building a little larger. And the cupola will make the barn on the left larger too. Sigh.

There was some good news on the productivity front, however. Mike set up my sawhorse and plywood work space in the garage so that I could sandwich the Gingerbread Square quilt. Honestly, seeing it all spread out like this made me smile. It's one of the prettiest quilts I've ever made.

I gave myself plenty of room with the quilt back and the batting, but there was more than I really needed at the bottom.

I ended up cutting a narrow strip of batting from the bottom...

And then folding over the quilt back. I can use this section for practice and for checking my tension. 

My favorite method of basting is spray basting. I've had better luck with spray than with pin or thread basting. Before switching to the sawhorses and plywood, I always sprayed the back sides of the batting and the quilt top so that I wasn't dealing with sticky stuff at the edges of the quilt. Using the sawhorses and plywood means that I have to spray the tops of things, and the sticky spray is exposed at the quilt edges. It doesn't matter when the margins are narrow, but here, I think folding over the quilt back will help keep that sticky stuff from sticking to everything. The space for checking my tension will be nice too.

That was all the quilting-related stuff I did yesterday. Mike and I pretty much bored ourselves to death this weekend, and so we went out for dinner last night. When we got home, we retrieved Saturday's mail from the mailbox. Inside was this sweet package from my friend Sharon Vrooman. When she made her little key chain pouches recently, I was saying how much these would help me. I don't carry a purse any more, instead opting for a cell phone case that holds my driver's license and my debit card. (What else do you need?) The only problem with my method is that I never have any cash, and it's embarrassing to buy a bag of M&M's using a debit card. 

So...I whined and complained to Sharon about this first world problem of mine, and she said she'd make one for me...and she made one for my friend, Sue too! Isn't Sharon the sweetest thing? I sort of think of her as my quilting godmother since I've learned so much from her. And these little coin pouches are going to solve my never-having-cash problem.

And just to sweeten the pot, she sent me some of this fabric to boot. What a fun package to open!

Thank you, Sharon. 

Also, I received my window decal from the RV Quilters. This is another Facebook group I've joined. We're quilters on the move, and so we got together and did a Tee Spring run of t-shirts, decals, mugs, and some other stuff so that we can identify one another when we're traveling. I got the window decal...

and a long-sleeve t-shirt, which hasn't arrived yet. What fun!

Now I need for Mike to retire. Today marks exactly five months until his retirement. With my window decal and my t-shirt, it's becoming ever more urgent that he retire as soon as possible, wouldn't you agree? We both need to get on the road with the sewing machine.