Fiber Babble: Quilts, Cat, Carpet

Quilts, Cat, Carpet

June 11, 2011

And when that happened, the right words would be found. "Cover Her Face" by P.D. James ♦♦♦♦◊

So, I actually did sew a little bit on one of the (many) projects I took to retreat.

I'd started this Storm At Sea quilt years ago for a class I taught. I admitted in my first retreat post that the quality of work on the UFO was embarrassing. At retreat I spent at least as much time ripping as I did sewing and re-sewing. But at least there's this proof that I sewed on something I brought!

The picture below shows how much further I've gotten since coming home. I hung a rotary cutter on the quilt to give you some sense of scale.

This quilt will contain twenty 18" blocks before I add borders.

I wrote a little about the challenge I'd joined with some Twitter friends and said that I should write about it before it was past tense. Guess what? It's past tense!

It was something called the Naked Bed Challenge - essentially for we quilters who have been making quilts for everyone and everything else, but still haven't made anything for our own beds. (Kinda like the cobbler's children without shoes, isn't it?)

This is as far as I got before the challenge 'expired'. That's okay with me, though. As with so many things, just joining the challenge and talking with others about it was enough to get me going on the quilt again (that really has always been intended for my queen-sized bed). That I didn't finish by the deadline is unimportant to me. That it is currently up on my design wall and the blocks and components are at my sewing machine is a much bigger, more positive, step for me.

The past two months have flown by - what a surprise that it was time for another "Toss" quilt!

This month it is Star Toss, using fabrics called (I think) Liberty Ridge. The class continues to grow and now I'm teaching it twice during the month to accommodate the number of people interested. It's wonderfully simple and beginner-friendly, plus when the class is over the quilt top is DONE!

The group of returning quilters grows each month and it has really begun to feel like a bunch of friends getting together to sew on the same project, rather than a formal class now. I really cannot ask for more, you know?

Gratuitous cat picture #1.

I guess we can stop worrying about the cat being skittish and untrusting now, doncha think?

Same photo shoot, different settings on the camera.

I find it interesting that our cat matches the carpet. She's officially "chocolate" colored (I think - it's been so long since I've researched that), but you know what color she really is? Dust.

I expect that some of you (whether you admit it or not) actually know what color dust is - you know, when you realize you haven't swiped the cloth over the top of the bookcase for :ahem: a while? Well, the color that ends up on the dust rag is the same color as MoonPie's dark patches.

Oh, and here's a cropped close-up of that face. I love it when she's upside down and her ears are all smooshed like that!

Labels: quilting

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4 Comments:

At 6/11/2011 2:37 PM,

Crispy Babbled Back:

Hey MoonPie's color IS exactly the same color as the rag IF I would dust!!

Wow those blocks are big!! It will make a wonderful bed quilt. The quilt on my bed is a one that I was going to give to someone else but hated it and put it on my bed....this was like 15 years ago. Someday I'll make us a new one :0)

Crispy

At 6/12/2011 5:22 PM,

Bev Babbled Back:

The quilt on my bed was destined for our daughter's but when it was done, I liked it too much to give away. She will get another one.......someday soon. Its in the planning stages. Great shots of Moonpie. Lovely little girl.

At 6/13/2011 2:12 PM,

Carrie P. Babbled Back:

that will be a great quilt for yourself.
One of my first quilts was a king size I made for our bed. First and last I think. It was so expensive to get it quilted.
Your cat is so sweet.

At 6/19/2011 7:28 PM,

Gimpy Cat Babbled Back:

Oh Moonpie is a glamour puss, she looks soooo soft! Sounds like you are aiming to get sewing again, its great to see you blogging and your toss quilt came out cute