Tempo

I check out so many blogs every week let's face it, daily, and I'm always mystified by the prolific nature of some quilters. Granted, many folks are at home all day, or even make a living by crafting. But even when I have the time, I get tangled up in how "big" and "important" and "permanent" each decision is, which causes me to continually pump the brakes.

In grade school, I had a lucky little friend who somehow came into possession of a power scooter. I think it was being stored in her garage after her grandfather got a newer model. Naturally, we sneaked it out at the first opportunity and took it joy-riding around the neighborhood. The thrill! The glory! The ridiculousness!

The power scooter had two speeds: a picture of a tortoise and a picture of a rabbit. (To give you an indication of mph, on the rabbit setting my friend's older sister could easily jog by us, with enough breath for mocking as she went.) After a cautious beginning (after all, we'd never driven anything before), we set that sucker to rabbit and terrorized the neighborhood until we were caught by my friend's dad, who sensibly put the kibosh on our little adventures. Drat.

When I stand at the cutting table, I give a cursory glance around for the rabbit switch. My quilter speed seems to be stuck on tortoise all. the. time. These scrappy blocks for the back of Mumu took three days. I put in at least 30 minutes of staring for every couple of seams. It sometimes feels rather pathetic.

My goal on this project was to make decisions quickly and not be so fussy. It's tough to push myself to just act without doubt and debate, but it's definitely a worthwhile practice. I love the results. This is so beautiful to me.

Perhaps achieving a random or scrappy look can only be attained with a slightly reckless attitude. This one doesn't feel done yet. Plus I have a few more scraps that need using up. But maybe I should just get on with it already! :o)

Luckily I have the hand-quilting on Paisley Sunrise to soothe me. No other progress, I'm afraid. Still mighty tempted by Swoon...

WIP Wednesday

Yay, I'm so glad to be back on track with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

Good pics are tough in the winter, folks.

A couple of easy finishes this week: two blocks for my Block Party Bee. Mary has January and she chose this super sweet fabric with little bunnies. She thoughtfully included a strip of paper for piecing in her packet.

Normally when I put together wonky strips of fabric, I just eyeball it and trim up later. Using the paper made the piecing so much faster and easier, but when it came to peeling the paper off, I thought it made the stitches a bit uneven. I might try it with a lighter paper in the future.

I'm counting this one as a finish too. I put together all the HSTs for my brother's quilt.

Fabric self-portrait

I know, I know...how many times will I say I finished those blocks...I'm holding off on piecing them into criss-crosses because I might want to try this new basting method if it works out on Mumu.

In progress this week: my spelling. I realized with embarrassment that I've been calling my current quilt-in-progress "Mumu" (which, according to Wikipedia, is, among other things, a Nigerian word for 'idiot'...cruel irony...), where I meant to say "Muumuu" (a colorful Polynesian dress). Well, too late to change it now.

I'm eager to get the backing of Mumu done so I can snuggle up with this beauty. I sewed a bunch of leftover scraps together, then cut them up lengthwise.

Wish I could just throw the scraps on a wall and sew 'em where they stick. They look so lovely in a heap.

I'm determined not to throw away any scraps larger than these. Every bit of this fabric is going into the quilt.

Luckily "mumu" also means 'intelligent person' in Mexican slang. I don't feel like I've fully solved the puzzle yet, but I'm trying to use this opportunity to take risks and be less controlling.

And since we're talking progress...I have been doing AWESOME at getting up at 6am every weekday (weekends were ambitious. It's pointless to get up in the dark with nothing to do.). I get to see the sunrise every day, and I really enjoy it. My whole day is better. It's amazing how shifting of a couple hours can slide a whole new lens over the day. I haven't been sewing every evening, however. I'm usually way too tired to focus. Stretching has fared better; it's fitting into my routine daily. Yay for change!

No Progress
Spring Sampler (I have totally lost steam on this one. Scrappy mojo is lost.)

I'm considering jumping on the Swoon bandwagon. I've long since purchased the pattern, but still yet to settle on a set of fabrics. The truth is, this block looks amazing in basically every color and tone combo...mmm, indecision!