Forward Progress

I started trying to sew earlier in the week and discovered that it was extremely difficult to get up and down the stairs easily. Stupid knee is being grumpy still. We're thinking it's overwork from me attempting to work on my balance.

In an effort to keep me seated more, FuzzyHusband brought home a tabletop ironing pad. It worked out pretty well.

Once I got going with the blocks I discovered I needed to trim ad square up every single one. Apparently that was a step my friend skipped due to chemo brain. She also made the block seams a bit too wide, so they aren't the size they should be. But that's ok. I will add a bit more size with the borders.

In the effort to square up the blocks quicker, I put together a homemade template. It worked out quite well.

In fact it worked so well I've hinted to Himself that he could make me a few plexiglass versions in different sizes for fussy cutting and squaring up blocks. It gives him an excuse to play with the laser cutter at the makerspace.

At this point the rows are reassembled. They're looking quite nice if I do say so myself.

Next up is the horizontal sashing pieces.

As for the borders, I"m considering cutting a finished 3 inch border from the sashing fabric, as opposed to a 2 inch finished width like the sashing pieces. It would give a bit more size to the quit top. I"m not sure though, but I'll lay it out and ponder it once the rows are fully reassembled.

In other news, FH and I finally bottled the cherry apple cider he made last spring. Most of it's been given away to friends at this point.

It's not as clear as we thought it would be, but it does have a lovely color. If I was to compare it to a wine, I'd say it's most like a rose'.

Once carboy space was freed up, we started a mead. Honey is so pretty when it's pooling. This particular mead used 15 pounds of honey for 5 gallons of mead.

This batch is flavored with fresh ginger and these gorgeous, pink cara cara oranges.

It took a while, but the yeast finally got bubbling. Now we wait for several months.

That's all for now. I need to try and get some sleep and then get back to the quilt once the sun's up again. Hopefully I'll have a finished top and another 5 gallons of mead to show off next weekend. See you then!

Back to Sewing

I started the sad business of taking apart my friend's quilt top this week. As I worked, I could see her husband and I made the correct choice. Many of the seams were close to falling apart already. 

As you can see below, I've made a labeled reference photo and labeled each block individually. The blocks will be put back in the arrangement she chose.

This is where I am now. The replacement fabric needs preshrinking and to do that I must get the current loads of laundry out of the way.

While waiting on laundry, I started this fellow. I found the pattern for him and the fabrics at a new quilt shop in the area while on the hunt for the replacement sashing fabric. I'd originally planned on using a fabric from her stash, but when I did a burn test on the scrap, it melted. It's polyester.

The name of the pattern company is in the "before" photo. I have to say he was lots of fun to make. I may find excuses to made one or two more. I may also find excuses to purchase another pattern or two... or three. I was particularly enamored with the octopus and wombat patterns, but they were out of stock. Happily, there's a website!

The creatures left me alone the entire time I was working. But Ellie appeared in time to "help" me with the photos.

She was quite pleased with herself.

That's all for this week. I'm hoping to get caught back up with laundry and get the quilt reassembled this week. Bonus will be one or both borders.