Home School Life

Oh my, I forgot how much I love quilting! I love the colorful fabrics. I love sewing short little seams that make such a big difference. I love pressing seams open and finding a block that lays beautifully flat. There is a precision and exactness to it that soothes the soul in a way that knitting cannot.

After a quick trip to the fabric store yesterday, I pieced together some blocks last night.

I love these blocks! They are definitely not fabrics I would have chosen on their own, but paired they are just beautiful! At first I thought I would make this quilt from fabrics I love from the specialty quilt shop in town, but Joann’s had a sale (I went there to get the solids) and I figured that in the context of a quilt, Joann’s prints would do just fine. I’ll save the big bucks and expensive fabrics for when I want to make a purse or something. Here are the fabrics together.

The quilt I’m making is based on the Paintbox Quilt at Oh! Fransson’s blog. I just love how hers came out — especially the pieced back. Very clever.

The one thing I’m not excited about when it comes to making a quilt is how big a project it is. Knitting is so satisfying in that you knit and then you’re done. With a quilt there’s piecing the blocks, sewing them together with sashing, adding borders, piecing the back, layering the quilt, quilting it, then binding it. And every one of these steps is a pretty involved process (so unlike weaving in ends at the end of a knitting project.) I’m determined for this not to become an unfinished project, though, so I’ll keep at it until it’s finished.

In other crafting news, I gave my mom last year’s Christmas present — the Rippling Waters scarf. She liked it so much we stopped at the yarn store and bought some beautiful purple so I could make another one. It’s a much finer gauge, so it will be much lacier, which is okay, though not as fun to knit.

I also started a pair of socks from Wendy’s book, Socks From the Toe Up. I love this green yarn and the Traditional Gansey pattern. So fun to knit!

So many projects to work on. But for now, I’ve got to feed the Little Boy and clean house! Maybe then I’ll reward myself with some crafting. (Oh but then there’s the grocery store, dinner to cook, and the pumpkin pie I was hoping to make today.) Ah, so much to do, so little time!