Grass

After last week I needed to start a new quilt like I need a hole in the head.  But staring out at the dirt one evening, and upon hearing that sod was ordered, I felt inspired.  I suddenly could picture an end to the mud, mess, and hassle.  Our planned patio stared back at me and a quilt was born.  Well, the concept of a quilt.  I'll keep you posted.

And on the grass front I am happy to report that we do indeed have grass!  Most of a fence too.  Hubby just has to put the boards up on a few sections, build the gates, and it's done.  Oh, then there are the two sandstone patios and front steps. Then it's done.  For now, there is no longer any mud and that's all I care about.  Now I can concentrate on quilting.

Water Argh

That make-do attitude so many of you commended me on is on its way out the door.  To be replaced with pissy attitude and cranky pants moods.  The fence is on its way!  Yay for the fence.  And while that is actually a good thing, it means I'm on full-time kid duty on top of work.  I thought that it would be perfect to head to the park and work on layouts while the girls played around me.  Such a dreamy fantasy.  Instead there was just enough of a breeze to keep the strips from staying in place.  Death Wish Arkison (a.k.a Smilosaurus) kept making a beeline for the road with a great big evil grin on her face.  And if she wasn't doing that she was attacking the fabric.  I finally gave up trying to do anything and give in to her own poopy bum.

Pardon my french, but fuck it.  I need to do something else for a while. 

Now What?

I have my Hubby to thank for getting some quilting done this week.  No, he didn't magically win the lottery so I could quit working, nor did he take the girls out every evening so I had no interruptions.  But he had a busy week at work, so he was too bagged at the end of the day to do much work on the fence.  That meant I didn't have to work on the fence.  As much as I would love a fence, I really appreciated the quilting time.

With The Monster's birthday behind us we had a bit of breathing room this week, beyond the yard work.  So I actually got to sew during naptime today (I don't work on Fridays).  I got all the strips sewn for the water quilt.  Well, I say that they are done, but I'm not sure of that yet. I've got all these strips, now what?

Just to get an idea of the potential size of the finished quilt I laid them out on the grass in the park across the street.  Eyeballing it I would call this a large lap size at this point.  Maybe 60 inches square, depending on layout, or even up to twin sized.  The layout above with very random and done without any thought.  But it does make me happier with the project overall. It has the general feel I wanted.  I think it will come together into something interesting.

My next few posts are going to be photos of potential layouts.  I would appreciate any opinions or input.  I'm sure I'll have more stuff to piece and bits to cut out along the way.  And I have a few ideas for how it could all come together, but we'll have to see.  In the meantime, the grass across the street will be decked out in fabric.  I've got no design wall currently so that is the only place I can spread things out to see.  Let's hope there is no wind or rain in the coming days. Oh wait, if there is no wind or rain I'm on fence duty.  Crap.  Quilt or finish my fence and get a yard again? Rock, meet the hard place.  

Isn't this a cool photo?  A grass-eyed view of the quilt.

I Used to Quilt

This about says it all.  A bunch of strips sewn together and just sitting there.  Just sitting there.

Phew, this was an exhausting week.  Work was hell.  The only thing getting me through the week was the promise of a drink with an old friend.   We haven't seen each other in over a year and in two short hours reconnected. Beyond work I had some heavy deadlines for Quilt Canada, I donated blood, and had to pull off a picnic for over 30 for The Monster's birthday this weekend.  Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of quilting done.

This water quilt is a work about process.  That is, I don't have a final design in mind.  A general idea of what it might look like, yes, but no final picture.  I've been sewing strips together in varying thicknesses and lengths.  At some point I'll lay them out and see how they look.  It could be complete crap for all I know.  So far, however, I do like the combination of fabrics.  It is soft at points and bold at others.  Serene, but a bit wild.  A bit like the ocean and only kind of like me.

Here's hoping that once I recover from the fact that my Monster is three (or rather, that I've been a mother for three years) and get the invitations out for my sister's baby shower and help Hubby build a fence and lay sod, then I can get more quilting done.