Sunday Gear Switching

Tomorrow it is time to head back to school again.  As much as I want to jump back in again, there are still plenty of people without power, water and internet access.  I'm sure that it is going to take some time to transition back.  

 I am lucky enough to have this nice stack of 5 quilts waiting to have the bindings hand sewn down.  It is amazing what can be accomplished with 7 unscheduled days off of school.

 I wasn't quite ready to settle down yet, so I put an outer border on Leap Year.  This one is next in line for hand quilting now that the Orange Peels are finished.  The original plan was to use pearle cotton to quilt inside of each circle, but now that I look at it all together, I am thinking that diagonal lines might be fun?  Giving the effect of crossing days off the calendar.....

 Lizzie gave her seal of approval.

 She is always quick to check out every finished quilt.

Still in sewing mode, I put together the rows for the RSC16 quilt.  It was my first attempt at a row by row quilt.  It might need one more row.  The proportions seemed fine when I laid it out, but it got a little skinnier with the seam allowances gone.  

Still not wanting to call it quits, I pulled out a stack of postage stamp star blocks which had been done for a while.  They were all sorted nicely by color and pinned together with cornerstones just waiting to be webbed into a top.  I had originally planned to use grey sashing strips throughout, but as I worked, I thought it might be nice to try out some random colored strips instead.  I think it gives a nice border effect.  I'm about halfway done webbing the top now, but my sewing machine got temperamental.  Maybe I tired her out?

I'm linking up today with Slow Stitching Sunday and Oh Scrap!  Be sure to take a few minutes to visit before you get carried away with your day.  

Sunday Switching Gears

It is hard to believe that there will be school again on Monday.  It was originally a teacher inservice day, but after 7 days missed for the hurricane, getting everyone back is more important right now.

 For handwork today, I have a stack of 5 quilts waiting for the binding to be hand sewn.  These were all finished during those 7 missed days of school.  I've got the machine stitching part done, it will be nice to have handwork for the foreseeable future.

 I also got a border on Leap Year.  I pulled out fabrics for the backing, but as I am out of batting, this one can wait for a bit.  It is meant to be hand quilted.  I was originally planning to quilt with pearl cotton on the inside of each circle, but I am now thinking about diagonal lines through each block.  I'll have to think about it some more.

 Lizzie came out to help with the quilt photography of course.

 She is always the first to give her approval to finished quilts.

With that flimsy finish, I pulled out the RSC16 Row by Row Sampler to finally finish it off!  October is still missing, but I might leave it this way.  It was fatter before I sewed the rows together, it might need one more row now that I look at the proportions.

Then, because I was in a finishing mode, I pulled out one of the sets of postage stamp stars which had been an ongoing RSC project for a while.  They were pinned into rows with cornerstones already picked out in handy Ziploc bags.  I found a grey star fabric to use for the inner sashing. It was going to continue to the outer border as well, but I changed gears a bit and decided to pull random 2.5 inch strips instead.  I think that it adds a nice border effect.  I'm about halfway done with sewing all the rows together.  Hopefully that will be done before the end of the day.  

I'm linking up today with Slow Stitching Sunday and Oh Scrap! today.  Be sure to go and visit before your day gets underway.  

Like Syrup on Sunday

I have moved the stack of quilts waiting for binding to make room for Lego practice in the dining room.  It hasn't gotten much shorter since the Olympics ended though.  I was even tempted to try one of the small ones by machine.  I don't like the outcome or the process though, so it seems counterproductive.  I'll stitch a bit this evening, but honestly, I am using all of my mental energy avoiding school work.  Silly isn't it?  I could have finished off the stack of grading I brought home in the time I have spent avoiding it.  I've done much better this year at not having to bring home work all the time.  With a regular schedule this year instead of "extended day" which means teaching 6 out of 7 periods, I have time during the day to get work done.  I gave tests all day Thursday though which means lab notebooks and essays and with the first interim ending it all needs to be put in sooner rather than later.  I think I'll just dive in so that I can go to the inservice day tomorrow with a clear head.  I appreciated Amy's comment tonight that she was leaving school work at school.  I agree with her in principle, but catching up is going to win this time.  I did get a bit done on the Hawaii quilt, though more of it was cutting than sewing.   I'll be sure to put up an update for design wall Monday tomorrow.  Hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are ready to face a new week. 

Guess What I'm doing in the Car?

My husband, always quick to offer an opinion, accused me of cheating by calling these quilts done before the binding was sewn down.  I explained quite rationally, that I was saving the binding.  This stack of quilts looks like the perfect way to stay busy on a nice long car trip.

Drive by Binding

8 hours in the car is very good for getting binding done. I've got one and a half quilts done and one and a half quilts to go. It's been a while since I've been caught up on binding. No pictures yet, but as soon as they are all done I'll do a celebratory photo shoot. Woohoo soon to come.