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Sunday, October 4, 2015

Packing for a Trip

I have a work trip next week.  This is the same state committee for the Biology End Of Course exam that I have served on for the last four years.  It involves traveling to Jacksonville and staying in a hotel for most of the week.  The days are full of reading and editing test questions, but the nights are open for sewing.  Last year I finished off the blocks for Mai Tai Sunrise.  The year before that I worked on Dear Jane Blocks.  This year I am planning on doing some Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks.
This is going to be a solid sampler quilt, and I have plenty of solids to get started, but I also wanted to use them for the back of last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler.  My Farmer's Wife 1930s book still hasn't arrived, but I have the original version with plenty of quilt blocks to keep me busy.  So far I have kept up with the gnomeangel blocks as she started with the easy ones that I can do without a book.  I ordered the Marti Mitchell templates too, or at least the ones that I could get on Amazon with free prime shipping.  I tried them on this block and it worked pretty well.  I don't like the idea of using lots of paper templates, but I do enjoy my easy angle ruler, so maybe the template sets will be the best of both worlds?  Time will tell.  
So this morning I tackled the stack and cut 100 10.5 inch squares of solid fabric.  I think that will be enough for the back that I have in mind.  The rest of the scraps are now liberated and ready to be used in the sampler quilt.  
Here are the blocks I've gotten done so far.  The colors are anything goes as long as it is solid.  Even though I have enough, I still couldn't resist hopping onto the Connecting Threads website this morning and widening up my selection.  Solids are always nice to have on hand after all.  There is something strangely exhilarating about a new project.  Maybe its the shopping?

11 comments:

  1. The queen of "dig in those scraps" went shopping for MORE solids when she has a TON?!?! I'm SEW confused!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

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  2. Your sampler is going to be very bright, my favorite kind. I'm not sure what it is about new projects, but there is definitely something that happens in your brain. Hmm, think we could convince some researcher to use MRI to study quilters, maybe our brains are wired differently?

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  3. The shopping is certainly fun. Love your solids. My stash doesn't contain many.

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  4. Looks like you have a great plan and such wonderful beautiful solids to work with...nice!

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  5. I agree -- love the shopping and getting started part. Then sometimes I'm exhilarated and love to keep going. Other times, not so much -- hopefully not too often. Enjoying your solids, looking forward to more blocks. Sally

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  6. oh, yes, It's the shopping...It's what keeps the economy going. So I'm doing my part. I need to add more solids. I hardly have any. How do you ever get all this done? Either you are a super fast sewer or have amazing amounts of spare time!!

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  7. Your blocks look great. Have a great week. My son and daughter are Biologists.

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  8. Have a great time on the trip, even if it is drudge work. You will be with other friends who actually live without quilting, but shopping? That's just in the extra x chromosome it seems. Anyway, just go with the flow, relax and enjoy the peaceful quilting times. My daughter travels quite a bit now and for extra cash writes national nursing exam questions. I hope you're getting paid for this work. God bless you.

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  9. Sounds like a fun trip - all business during the day and wild quilter by night!

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  10. I love how one project can prod you to work on another ... and now all your squares for the backing are cut! Sounds like you NEEDED to replenish the solids stash. I hope you have a great trip with relaxing evenings to sew.

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  11. Enjoy the course with the promise of stitching in the evening. Did you join in the original Farmers Wife quilt?

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