Energy Abound

Well, the Wellbutrin must have kicked in because I’m getting up early, working out, cooking again, and working on projects. I’m not snapping at Al as much and am feeling down right perky! So, I thought I better get started on the quilt blocks for the Block-of-the-Month club. One of my best girlfriends and I signed up together. She’s much more disciplined (a nice way of saying she’s obsessive compulsive) than I and had her blocks done the weekend after we got the material. It probably drives her crazy that I waited until the weekend before they are due to start mine.

I joined this club to challenge myself, but I may have bitten off more than I can chew, I’m afraid. Thought I’d share them with you as I get them done. We are doing 2 blocks a month, which is 1 more than I want to do, but it’s a full-size quilt when it’s done.

So, here’s Month 1, Block 1



I like this one. It actually turned out ok and is the size it’s supposed to be, which will be very helpful when I have to sew all of these blocks together.

Here’s Month 1, Block 2



I’m not so happy with this one. It’s the most difficult block I’ve ever tried, so the learning and challenging has begun. It’s crooked, the points don’t match, and it just doesn’t look as good. I might get some more material and redo it. The blocks don’t get any easier, so I’m going to plea temporary insanity when someone asks me why I signed up for it in the first place.

One thing I’ve learned about quilting with this project is that I prefer knitting. I can knit anywhere and it’s pretty easy to fix my mistakes. Quilting is so exact, and being a bit anal retentive, you’d think that would be a good hobby for me, but I’m also a bit of a “fudger.” You can’t fudge a ¼-inch seam. But I do like the focus that quilting takes. I block (no pun intended) out everything around me while I’m in that quilting world. And it’s nice to have some time that all I have to think about is measuring correctly, sewing, and pressing seams.

And I do like the puzzle aspect of making a quilt. There’s a little bit of magic to see those squares and triangles come together as a design. But there’s a lot of math, and it’s all in fractions. I don’t see me designing my own quilt for quite awhile. Patterns that have already figured out all the math are definitely the way to go.

Then there’s the fabric. I looooove fabric. With this quilt I’m moving out of my usual earth tones and using pastels. The material is chosen and provided for us by the ladies running the club who also own the quilt shop. We pay for the material, but they give us the amount we’ll need for each block in a packet, only about $4. So, I don’t have the fun/frustration of choosing the colors and material. I’m so new to quilting that it’s nice to have someone else provide the material. I quickly become overwhelmed in the fabric store.

But I have also learned that I’m asking for a sewing machine for Christmas. Mine is 17 years old and can only do 2 stitches—straight stitch and zig zag—and has 4 tension settings. Those aren’t enough choices for quilting. Plus the ca-CHUNK ca-CHUNK ca-CHUNK sound mine makes is driving me crazy.

So, tomorrow I get the instructions for 2 more blocks. This time, I’m really going to try to do them sooner than the last minute. I am. I swear!