Man Vs Quilt

Well, folks.  I'm here with some sad, sad news today.  I'm allergic to my favorite quilt.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I'm allergic to it; it makes me sick.  How can this be?

Well, since the beautiful, wonderful, snuggly quilt in question is bound and bordered in a very dark black fabric, I'm assuming I'm having a reaction to the fabric dyes used to color the cloth.  Each time I touch or use this quilt, I end up with angry red welts all over my body, focused especially on my hands.

Strangest of all, perhaps, is that I never experienced any difficulties of this sort while I was handling the fabric to make the quilt.  Bizarre, no?

Anyway.  Now I'm at a loss.  Wash it, of course, but what if the spots return?!  I worked so long and hard on this quilt-- a year, by hand!-- and it is the first and only quilt I have ever really made for myself.

 

Just like a teenager, it has turned on me with lightning quickness.

Summertime...

...and the living is easy!  I've already been to the beach!  Now I'm home and there are a million unfinished projects staring me in the face.  Want to see the list?

• Sea Glass Quilt
• baste
• quilt
• bind
• May ISQ bee block
• piece
• mail
• June ISQ bee block
• piece
• mail
• DQS 9 needlebook
• piece
• quilt
• bind

The worst of it is that the bee blocks aren't even that complicated; I've just been putting it off for who knows what reason.  I'm posting this list so that someone can hold me accountable for these items.  Go ahead, hold me accountable!

Humility Blocks

Remember this quilt?  And the messed up blocks?  Well...

Thankfully I noticed this when piecing rows together and was able to fix it, unlike last time.   The quilt top is now pieced and error free!

Fabric Crisis

Ever had a fabric crisis?

I thought for sure I would be able to finish this hexagons quilt this weekend-- after all, I'm babysitting tomorrow night, and tonight I was watching television doing hand sewing. However, as I was basting hexagons of my background fabric (Lakehouse L03035 Frosted Dots Cerise) I realize that I don't have enough fabric to finish!

Now, I knew I wouldn't have enough to make a border out of that gorgeous pink polka dot, but what a blow. I can't even finish!

Last year I ordered what I thought was the correct fabric-- turns out I have four yards of something not quite right.

Thank god Quilter's Obsession had my fabric in stock-- despite the fact it's from summer 2007.

I ordered two yards. Hopefully it's the right fabric this time. And hopefully I will get it soon so that I can finish this thing!

Edited to add: Well, shit. Now I'm not sure if I need Cerise or Cherry! The swatches both look like my fabric! HELP ME GOD.

Phew!

Well, it sure was exhausting sorting through all those entries on my giveaway.

Sike!

No one entered. I guess I get to keep the cards!

French Braid

French Braid
Originally uploaded by jenamoured

Here's the quilt top for the French Braid quilt. Of course, it is not at all square and I've already cut off several inches in an attempt to get it square. I decided to fold it up and put it away until after vacation-- that way I don't end up with a placemat out of frustration.

I've still got to add borders to this thing.

Jennifer Can't Quilt.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce I have abdicated from the position of "quilter." This means I am temporarily demoted to "piecer."

Look, I can't quilt that giant ass quilt, okay? And, yeah, I totally feel like it's cheating to send something out to be quilted, but at least when it comes back it's going to look good. And I'm not going to end up tearing my hair out.

Here's how it happened: I went to ye olde quilting shop to use the tables and quilt. I quilted one circle... it was more like a polygon. So Laura was going to give me some tips on free motioning a big thing (instead of little practice things that are pretty easy), but when she tried to free motion that quilt, the machine started eating thread (it grew teeth). She also noted how difficult it was to move the quilt because my machine is miniscule and also the quilt is heavy. We conferred for about 40 seconds, in which time I realized I must be bat shit crazy to try to quilt that myself (not ready yet!) and needed to send it out.

...

I feel a little guilty and I think I even wanted to cry a little. But at least I get to work on other projects now. :)