Fail-tacular

Remember how I used to make lists of goals for the year? And then I wouldn't do ANY of them? Oh, pre-child self, you were a good time.  I think I did one thing on that list - I tried to play the new Harry Potter game, but it didn't work on my stupid computer (graphics and things like that), so I had to return it.

So no more lists. No more goals. Just get up in the morning, feed yourself and the other people/animals in the house, and avoid laundry at all costs.

That being said, I did decide on a personal theme for the year. And clearly, it's not about doing things (like blogging about it) in a timely fashion.

2013 is my own personal Year of the Albatross.

That is one sassy albatross. Thanks, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries! Or the Department of Conservation. I downloaded this three months ago. Sorry.So this is the year that I will try to finish all of those languishing projects - the Fireside Sweater (a sleeve and a half to go!), our wedding quilt (chopping up what I already have and trying something that could either be wonderful or awful), and maybe even quilting that very first quilt from Kristin: The College Years.

To celebrate, I bought the materials for a new quilt.

Take it away, Carlos

There hasn't been much sewing going on lately, so I was glad to have my pedal foot forced by our first Local Quilt Along meetup. Just a few friends, baked goods, and lots of squinting while we try to make sense of this pattern.

I haven't done much paper piecing before, so I was...unsure of how things would progress. I had a really hard time figuring out which color went where (the first block has almost 30 pieces), but it all got much easier once I sat down to sew. I think I only had to rip out pieces three separate times, which is pretty good, considering I was simulatenously yelling at the Golden Globes.

This is a really neat pattern. There are actually nine paper-pieced patterns inside. Each comes with a story about that particular house and the person who lives there. When we're done, we'll have the whole neighborhood. This is Carlos's house:

Carlos is a painter, and he's currently focusing on the color blue. I've deviated from the original color story. My quilt will be the neighborhood at twilight, and I'm hoping I can make the sky look like the sun is setting to the right. We'll see. I think it will work.

We're meeting monthly to work on our blocks, but I kind of want to start #2 now. I think I love paper piecing. It took me three and a half hours to get that thing together (not counting planning time), but it zoomed by. Next month: The Cahills.

For the love of a good nap.

One last quilt to share. This one was a long time in the making. It's another Plain Spoken (from Modern Quilt Workshop). I actually made the entire top before I started The Babymaker. I reasoned that if I didn't make the one for myself first, I would never make it at all. I was probably right about that.

I spent months trying to figure out how to quilt this thing. When I started it, I wasn't yet pregnant, wasn't even thinking that a baby would be a possibility for quite awhile (ha!). I was making it for me and Gracie. We used to nap together on my bed and the quilts I used were too narrow. She would always lay on one edge, leaving me half-covered. I wanted to incorporate something about Gracie into the quilting -- the swish of her tail? Paw prints? -- but nothing seemed right. So in the end, I went with the same quilting I did on The Babymaker.

I used a purple fat quarter stack of Kona cotton and had a good amount of each color left over. Now that it's done, I like the way it turned out, but I think The Babymaker, I don't know, sparkles more. This one seems a little flat to me.

I quilted with light gray thread and bound it in Kona Raisin. I made the napping size, which seemed both appropriate and big enough to cover me with some left over for G. Of course, it's summer, we have a new family member, and nobody gets to nap much anymore.

But just in case...

I named it Napper.

Mr. Roboto

I'm guilty of buying fabrics and yarns with no end project in mind. They're just pretty and they need to come home with me. I've gotten better about this over the years, but when one is starting a collection, one needs to be opening to all sorts of inspiration. Which is how some delightful robots-in-space fabric came home with me a few years ago. In a kit, no less. I'm not a kit kind of person, and at the time, I had no children for whom to quilt. I didn't even really know anybody with a baby. I hung on to the fabric and pattern for at least three years, waiting for the right opportunity to come along.

So when they told me that I'd have a little boy of my very own, there was only one thing to do.

Make that quilt.

The pattern is Yellow Brick Road, and it was super easy. I did all of the cutting and most of the sewing during a KCMQG Sewing Saturday at Harper's (where I originally bought the pattern and fabric!). Of course, I can't remember if I started this before or after Henry was born. I want to say after. I quilted and bound it in the spring, right when he was growing out of his sleep sacks.

I love the quilting on this. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I started with a deformed star in the middle. Straight lines shoot off each leg of the star. It's pretty awesome, actually. I was a little worried after the inagural washing because the star was all puffy since it wasn't as heavily quilted as the rest of the quilt, but subsequent washings (thanks to subsequent vomiting) haven't shown any signs of that.

This blanket gets a lot of use. Henry sleeps under it every night, and I bring it with us when we travel. It's crib-sized, and just wide enough to be tucked snugly under his mattress. (Justin is of the belief that tucking him in tightly will keep him in one place. Good luck with that one.) I love seeing him all cozy under his blankie. He's got his burpie clutched in one hand (or over his face - that's my favorite) and the other arm is over his head, like he was just so tired that he collapsed and fell asleep before he could get comfortable. Now that it's so warm at night, we put him to bed blanketless. Then when it's late and I'm getting ready for bed, I sneak into his room and drape it over his heavily-snoring frame.  It's my favorite part of the day.

Let's go back to November.

When I get out my camera, I get it OUT. This morning I took a heap of pictures of finished projects both new and old. Let's start back in November.

Before the Kandinsky challenge, the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild did the Habitat challenge. Habitat is the name of Jay McCarroll's latest fabric line, and we were each given a set of fat eighths with which to make a quilt. We could add any solid or more of his fabric to our quilts.

I wanted to showcase the fabric, but since I found it a little garish, I wanted to use it sparingly. I also kept thinking about bubbles.

I started with the mustard fabric in one piece. I drew an arc (with pencil), then cut out circles using my circle cutter. I reverse-appliqued the prints using my machine. I glued them on so they would stay in place until I stitched.

Inspired by my Zentangling, I echo-quilted around all the circles. Next time, I would make the lines a little closer together. I drew them with chalk line, which got messy and sometimes confused me, too. Air soluable marker next time?

For the back, I used a print from Habitat (but in a different colorway).

This had a name, but for the life of me I can't remember it. It's mostly Henry's - it's a little bigger than crib-sized, and it's good for playing in the yard. And throwing up on.