Friday, August 23, 2013

what i did on my summer vacation

hexies ready to go-go
 you know that old school essay that was supposed to start the year off, "what i did on my summer vacation?" none of my teachers ever actually gave me that assignment, but i'm the homeschool teacher now so here's my answer:

i did lots of epp basting and made 5 whole blocks (wheels), 1 half/middle block, and 1 set of 3 interconnected blocks. voila! i believe i have enough pieces basted to complete a good dozen or so more. with these blocks, that will give me about 2 rows of the quilt completed.

the reason my piecing is rather random is that after completing the first two blocks, i noticed that the pattern in the book was slightly different from the pattern Katy had used on her cushion. i had to make a choice between the two. the pattern in the book featured complete blocks, side-by-side with squares in the corners. Katy's cushion was interlocking blocks. i decided i liked the dizzy look of the interlocking wheels. so i made one half block to fit in between the first 2 blocks i made (top left) and eventually tried my hand at 3 interlocking blocks (bottom right) to see what they were going to look like stacked. eventually, they'll all get joined up and filled in.

 i made another design choice en route: to include my two favorite color prints in each block. i have enough prints that they each get used only every second or third block, but i like the idea of featuring the two florals i took my color scheme from more often. looks like i need to baste some more of the london calling squares before i can go much further.

yardage and blocks randomly layered to give an idea of how the quilt will look eventually
and the 3rd adjustment i made along the way? after having a reality check with how long this is actually going to take, i think instead of doing a complete quilt top in just the wheels, i'm going to do 3 sections of wheels broken up by either a solid or maybe some of the black and white prints. it'll be sort of like a horizontal strip of rows of wheels, a horizontal strip of solid or print, wheels, print, etc., alternating in a stripe pattern down the quilt. no borders, just the strips.

whew! did you follow all that?

i originally estimated i'd need about 100 blocks. now that they're changed, i'm not sure how that's going to work. one of my little nieces asked what i was making as i stitched at the family reunion. i told her it was a quilt that would be made out of 100 of the wheels. the next morning she asked me, "did you make 100 of them yet?" oh, i wish!

now that i'm home, I've been running around like a crazy woman getting school started, the packing all put away, catching up on chores, and going to various appointments. i think i've been in the car more the last 4 days than i was on our road trip! i also think i need another staycation to recover from that trip.

i keep dreaming about quilting, but that is so far down the list. i've managed to spend a little time cleaning in my sewing area, which was surprisingly messy even though i was gone. that's mainly because i was frantically preparing epp for the road up to the last minute, i had a few packages arrive just before i left, and i made some purchases along the way. i literally got home from san diego jluy 12th, ripped into my packages, spent 5 minutes looking at the contents, then finished packing for the road trip and got in the car with the kids. we basically came home for a few hours to load the car and collect the kids before we hit the road.

it. was. insane.

i'm married to a high-octane man, so it didn't slow down or change much for the whole 5 weeks.
that's why i'd really like a staycation now. besides, vacations with children aren't vacations, they're trips and a change of location. fun, but not relaxing. i'm not complaining. i'm just saying i'm exhausted. (so why am i blogging? i missed quilting and you people!)

therefore, my cheater finishes for the Friday Finishes link-up with crazy mom are that i finished my road trip and i've featured the blocks i finished along the way. it's all i've got folks!

i promise i'll share something new or different soon.

8 comments:

  1. Your EPP project is really awesome! I love the combo of the really traditional method with those text prints.

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  2. The EPP is coming together nicely! Your sewing space looks a little like mine. Trying to clean and sew at the same time isn't always practical. :)

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  3. your quilting will take off when the kids get a little older, hang in there and keep dreaming . . . as for now, I love the newsprint centers.

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  4. How did my lounge end up at your place??! Mess explosion same same all around the world! I really love your EPP. Will you make me a quilt like that :-)

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  5. Hey, a finish is a finish even if it means finishing unpacking the suitcases, finishing the laundry (for the day) of finish vacuumcleaning, LOL!
    Love your plans for the hexies! Get going with the about 90 other blocks... ;-)
    Esther
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com

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  6. your EPP looks great, and YES! finishing your vacation with all of that going on counts as a finish! Glad to have you back!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  7. Great idea for your EPP wheels! I love that comma low-vol print too. (Just ordered 2 more yards myself.) Welcome back! I thought of you this week when I found the sandi Henderson dot (in not-your-color--it was geranium--if it had been the mint I promise you'd have gotten a frantic email!). I picked some up for myself, trusting your good taste.

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  8. I love the interlocking wheels! I haven't seen this pattern done with the white centers before and it really makes the shape stand out. This one is going on the "must make" wall!
    Oh, and an FYI in case you are interested - Joann's is now carrying a dress print similar to the one Katy used in some of her centers.

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