Friday, April 13, 2007

Confessions of an ADD Crafter

This is a new project for me-I have never done anything like this, but, I don't think it will be too hard. I made this quilt about 12 years ago, when Allison was a baby. I needed to "get out of the house", and our church was starting a quilting group. I knew the basics, but had never made one, so I started going. The first thing we did was make a whole bunch of 9-patch blocks and exchanged them. The we sewed them up and added our own border and voila! My first quilt. It's a lap size, not big enough to curl up in, and I've always wanted it bigger. So...here I go! This picture shows where I've taken off the outer border and binding, just leaving a small muslin border around the squares...


This is the border and binding I removed...I have always hated this particular combo, so I'm glad it's done! Now I'm working on removing that muslin border, which will take a little longer just because I have to also remove the stars I quilted all around it. But, it's one of those things that will be nice to do at night, watching 'Law & Order', when my brain is done and can't really be productive anyway. When that border is gone, I'm adding more 9-patch squares and making it bigger.


I'll interupt now for one of Claire's projects...

Yesterday, Claire decided that she wanted to recycle, and "make something new out of something that would have been thrown away". The result? A rainstick! She actually did this all by herself with NO help from me, as I was working on something else and didn't even know what she was doing-you know, being Mom of the Year and all.... Anyway, she got an empty paper towel roll, actually went into the trash and got out two napkins (that I guess weren't really too dirty-lol!), some yarn, and lentils out of the bag I keep around for just such things. She put a napkin on one end of the paper towel roll and tied it on with the yarn, put in some lentils, then tied the other napkin onto the other end. I think it came out really cute, and it even sounds good-somehow she knew just the right amount of lentils to use.



This is the start of another one of my projects...it will be a needlebook. It goes with a matching pincushion and tote bag. All of which are in various stages of production.


But that's not all! Even though I don't have pictures yet, I also have 2 new purses in the works...and I do mean new in every sense of the word. I have never made these before, and since I can't follow a pattern to save my life, it's all coming straight out of my head, and I'm just making it up as I go along! I guess we'll see how those turn out in a couple of days. So just to get this straight in my head, I'm remaking a quilt, working on a needlebook and pincushion, a tote bag and two purses. Oh wait...I forgot about the 2 log cabin pillows-one is already quilted and just needs the backing, and the other is all patched, but still needs to be quilted and backed. So that's, what...8 projects for me. Oops! Nine actually-a blanket/quilt/throw for a friend's son. Somebody please tell me it's not just me! lol!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your 9-patch! Very stunning and has so much meaning too. I love when a simple block can make an extraordinary quilt like the one you made (and as it continues to grow). I think the 9-patch is too underrated, and your quilt shows what a great block that is! It's beautiful and very inspiring!

Love your "j" too. One of my all time favorite fabs you used. Can't wait to see all that you're cookin' up!!!

MichelleB said...

Only 9? Wimp;) I think it's a crafters issue - well, that and lots of fabric - too many ideas and too little time. And you just have to start something, just to get a taste of it. And then something else comes along. I love to craft.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful work Lauri!

xo - Chel

PS - Congrats on being The Spirit of ZNE today! Check it out:

http://www.ZNESpirit.com

Anonymous said...

Only 9 projects...my gosh, you should have at least a few more..lol:).
I wish I only had 9...but I love your 9-patch too. It will look great and a fun project for the nitetime viewing!!

Anonymous said...

Oh! Hey, at least you have them all in some form of production. You should see my to-do list and pile of fabric just waiting for me to start!

And it's not ADD--it's multitasking. Hee.

Amy said...

Wow! What an undertaking with the quilt, good luck! I love the 9-patch too, it will look great :)