Row One

Yesterday's agenda included a short trip into town. I'd forgotten to buy flower food for the flower pots. They grow in the same dirt year after year, and so I always give them a shot of fertilizer in the spring. You might recall the bulb food I had on hand became squirrel food on one of our trips south. A replacement was in order.

There was a parcel to mail, and then we'd added a few things to the grocery shopping list. I took care of all of that, and then made my way home. It was nearly lunch time then, and so it wasn't until after lunch that I was able to get any sewing done. Of course, no sewing can take place...certainly we cannot start a new project...without the input of the head cat in charge.

All the blocks were cut, except for the scrap blocks. Smitty circled everything and reminded me that it's impurrtant to plan your work, and then work your plan. When he was satisfied, he purrnounced us ready to begin.

You may commence sewing.

Not everyone uses batting in a rag quilt. I've only made one rag quilt in the past, and I used batting then. That quilt has stood the test of time, and so I'll use batting again this time around. Besides, I have this huge laundry bag full of cut off ends of batting that I'd like to use.

And, yes, I did make that bag. My sewing life started early on. I sewed only garments and Halloween costumes up until the kids got too old for Halloween. Then, I quit sewing for many years. I was working full time, raising a family, and attending graduate school in the meantime. When I resumed, around 2004, I was trying to decide what to sew. I ended up making about a dozen bags, including this one, before I caught the quilting bug. When it bit, it bit hard. Now, hundreds of quilts later, I'm really glad I made this bag. It's a great place to stuff scraps of batting.

So...getting back to yesterday's project...I cut the squares within the half-inch seam allowance and then laid it onto the backing square.

From there, I made a four-patch block to add to the top. It's hard to remember to put wrong sides together when you're so used to putting right sides together. Also, it's hard to remember to take a half-inch seam allowance when you're so used to a quarter inch. Muscle memory dies yard. So I added a sticky note to my sewing machine that will, hopefully, remind me to sew a half-inch.

When the first 4-patch was sewn, it looked like this:

I'll be using the plaid squares throughout. The other two squares will be scrappy. Then, to hold the batting in place, I sewed from corner to corner in both directions.

The four-patches will alternate with solid squares, and so I made its neighbor in the same way and then sewed them together.

Here's how it looks from the back.

With this first block, I didn't trim the batting quite enough. Forgetting for a moment about the half-inch seam allowance, I'd cut it with a quarter-inch to spare around the edges. When I sewed the two together, it showed in the seam allowance. 

I'll probably end up trimming that, but it won't matter. The edges will all be ragged, and that will probably disappear either way. From then on, however, I cut the batting to leave a half-inch around the outer edge.

And that worked much better.

I had time to make the first row of blocks yesterday. When it was finished, I stitched a half inch on both ends and across the top...just to hold everything together and prevent stretching. Also, it'll give me a guide for when I start trimming the edges for ragging.

Here's a picture of the first row. It's hard to say whether I like this. I think I'll like it better when I've added a few more rows and a pattern begins to emerge.

After a hard day of sewing, a guy needs some quiet time. A sunbath is always welcome.

While we watched the news, I was able to get in some slow-stitching time. I've filled my hoop and moved it to the next position.

Looking at the whole, I'd say I'm a little more than halfway across. I've acquired more of the yellow for the lace edge of the tablecloth, and so I can resume stitching that portion now too.

This morning, I'll start on the right side of the large bowl.

We have some people showing up today. They're supposed to come top our trees, but I don't know if they'll show. It's been pouring rain ever since we got up. We can't even see into the valley, which was kind of the point. If we can't see the valley, it's hard to know how much to cut. 

Also...and after so much time...a plumber is coming!!!! Yeesh. I'm glad Mike was able to patch that pipe so we could use the sink. We reported our situation to our insurance company way back on April 10th. Finally, finally, finally, something is going to happen. 

Also, a guy came by yesterday with a special tool that measured mold spores in the air. He took samples in the guest room, where the leak is located, and also in the larger family room. Then, he took a sample of the outdoors air. It's our understanding if the tests indicate a certain threshold of mold, then the insurance company will pay for "mold amelioration." The guy seemed to think ours would qualify, but we won't know for sure until sometime next week. Either way, I'm hoping the plumbing will be fixed today...or very soon.

As for me...the day is quieter than it has been so far this week. I should have plenty of time for sewing. I want to make at least one more row for the flannel quilt. Maybe I'll make two. It depends. When I'm finished with that, I'll start on the new Purrfectly Pieced quilt. 

It's a very wet day, and we're expecting at least one more day of rain. After that, the weather looks decidedly better for next week. Fingers crossed that forecast holds.