Murphy's Bed

 

Tick tock -- the clock is ticking, and while I'm making progress, I don't seem to be working very fast or accomplishing much. Oh well --- it'll all get done sometime! Well, that's not true --- it's just that there is so much that what little I get done doesn't seem to make a dent. We're all in that same boat!

However, a piece of good news -- I found a home for that last tub. That means ALL the tubs are off the floor - well, the main studio floor that is, and they have a home. I took one of the tubs of UFOs and found homes for everything in Pandora's closet, and that freed up room under the long arm for the last tub. 

The last tub to find a home

Sadly, the cutting table and the current projects table did not really improve yesterday, but that's OK. It's all going to happen. The trick here is to NOT add anything to those surfaces until they are clean. Slow and steady wins the race. 

I'm trying to focus on my Cherrywood challenge. I should have started a bit sooner, but I have time to finish it. I'm not much of a planner when it comes to these challenges. I start, and then one idea spurs on another. This morning, it was all about placement, and as I experimented with bits of paper, a couple of other thoughts came to mind. I think I'm ready to start assembly -- but because of what it is -- there's a HUGE question about the order of how to assemble it. 

I'll be thinking about that on my drive today. Yep-- I'm off to teach paper piecing at K&A Quilt Studio in Ingersoll. WOW -- first in-person class in a couple of years! It's going to be very weird, to say the least. But my bags are packed, and I'm ready to go! 

I did get some sewing done, and here's what happened. I managed to get this section of Wanderer's Wife back together. I had inadvertently switched one section around, and while I was going to leave it, the fabric strips didn't line up correctly. It's all repaired now. 

Wanders's Wife section back together

I needed to catch up with some homework from the past couple of months. OK -- I have a LOT of homework to catch up on. I managed to get all the blocks from Among The Stars Again done, and here are two of them. 

Two blocks from Among The Stars Again

And here are all the blocks we've made since the beginning of the class.

The blocks for Among The Stars Again

Did you notice that the blocks are positive/negative of each other? Not exactly positive/negative, but the fabric positions are switched within each pair. We have 3 more pairs of blocks to sew together, and then we can assemble the quilt. We'll be finished by July!

There were a lot of tiny cutoffs, and I've been using them as enders and leaders. The ones that were sewn together are now trimmed as well. 

Enders/leaders sewn together!

Then I made the binding for that Oh Canada jelly roll quilt I made at the retreat. 

The binding is made for the jelly roll quilt

I walked the last of the Oh Canada fabric to Diane's yesterday and picked up more quilt tops. And Rose picked up some fabric to make another top for me. 

More finished quilt tops

Yep -- I WILL get through all those tubs of fabric. I think there are 8 more! They are NO longer jam-packed, but there are still eight of them. Good grief -- what was I going to do with all that? I'm glad to see it being used up. And I hope in the summer to have loads of time to quilt some of those tops. I should tell Diane to pace herself! Once those 8 tubs are empty, the small bits that can get used for scrap quilts will be the only thing left. I will not have touched my stash, but I think I'll leave it for now. I need to get those quilts done before moving on to my stash. 

If only Murphy could learn to use the long arm!

Speaking of quilting a quilt here's the customer quilt I did yesterday, and I'll trim it later today. 

Customer quilt - DONE

Linda asked how I trim my quilts. I do NOT lay them out on multiple tables. I literally use the corner of my cutting table. I'll try to take pictures as I trim this one. I've trimmed tons of quilts over the years, and if I were going to send a quilt to a major show, I might be a tad more precise, but here's the thing, you can't trim parts of the quilt off! You are cutting along the edge of the quilt, which is easy to do on the cutting table. If the quilt was wonky to start with, I don't trim it to square it off. I just cut the excess batting and backing away. 

One thing that drives me crazy is the long arm quilters who trim ½" away from the edge of the quilt. Why? When the owner of the quilt cuts that ½" off, it's extremely difficult to manipulate the outer edge to allow you to trim right to the edge of the quilt. Either trim to the edge or not at all is my motto!

I thought Murphy's ball was a goner. I forgot that we have an air vent in the front room with no cover, so I need to glue the vent back together so it can be put in place. 

The air vent with no cover

We couldn't find the ball, and I was sure it was in the house. How do you get a ball out of the air duct? She was happily trying to chew the eye out of her teddy bear. And I was secretly relieved the ball was gone. 

Chewing the eye out of the teddy bear

Alas, she found the ball, and she is relentless in her quest to have someone throw it for her! However, something else arrived to keep her entertained. Her MURPHY bed arrived. OK -- so it's not a Murphy bed, but Murphy's bed. I put her bed in it, and she jumped right up to check it out. 

MOM -- MY bed is here! 

So it's not going to sit in the middle of the living room, and I got it moved to the front window. Murphy is thrilled with it, and can you guess where she slept last night? Yep -- in her new bed! Believe it or not, Princess Lexi slept outside all night! She won't have anything to do with the new bed. Lexi wouldn't even touch the bed when it sat on the floor. She likes her boring kennel or Murphy's other bed in the family room. 

MOM -- this is the best present EVER!

I gave her a yogurt container to clean out, and she ran to the bed with it. 

MOM -- I can do everything in my new bed

I may regret the bed at some point, as she now has a bird's eye view of the street. How much barking will result from this new view? We'll see. I may have to move it to the corner of the room, but she'll still have a window to look out of. I'm sure the neighbors will laugh when they see her sitting in the window like that! 

She is such a goof. Our house sits up relatively high from the street, and you can see a long way down the street as we are on the bend, so she's got lots to keep her entertained! 

Well, that's it for me today. I need to take a quick walk with each dog, or they will NOT be happy. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!

PS -- Here's the list of quilt shows. Make sure you have them on your calendar. 

Colour with a U  -- a quilt show at the Orillia Museum of Art & History -- runs until April 9 

Common Thread Quilt Guild (Ottawa) - May 6,7,8. 

Hamilton Quilt Guild -- June 3, 4