Should be, Seem to be, and Actually Am Doing...

My last post was about what I'd been doing (while not posting).  But, I completely forgot to mention what I AM doing.

Should be doing:  No question, I should be working on a quilt I am making for a gift.  I'd show you, but I am keeping it a secret.  (You've seen it before--before I knew it was going to be a gift, but I don't want to remind someone)  And since I'm not doing it, what's to show anyway?  :)  It just seems so uninspiring and unexciting....even though it is close to being put together. 

And, decisions always get in the way of finishing.  I'm to the point of trying to piece the back, and don't like what I've done.  So I AM procrastinating about it.  If I wait long enough, won't it look better?

Seem to be doing:  In a prior post I showed the pink hexagon quilt, and mentioned I was Pinked OUT.  Cutting all those hexagons, left an abundance of pink, black and red scraps.  What to do? 

The garbage can beckoned.   I could not force myself to sew more pink and black together.  But being too frugal to throw away good scraps, I experimented with adding more colors--didn't photograph them, sorry. 

After much trying, I settled on lime-ish green as the antidote to pink.  I added some green triangles, some paler pinks, and some white/lights, and took out the reds.  I even had to buy some greens to have enough variety.  (This is an excellent example of how using up scraps just breeds more scraps and more UFOs.  Note to self:  Next time just give scraps away--you will have fewer and save money spent trying to make them work!)

This has been on my design wall for a couple months....

Progress is awfully slow.  Somehow sewing a row a week just doesn't seem to be accomplishing much.  But, I AM working on it--sometimes.

Actually am doing:  Yes, I AM actually doing something else.  Something unnecessary, but that just seemed more fun.  (Add one more unfinished project to the list.) 

I blame Heather who blogs at Happy Appliquer for my new project. :)  Heather blogged about a quilt along she was participating in.  It sounded fun, so I took a look--just a tiny peek actually.   (The Star Surround Quilt Along is being hosted by Melissa who blogs at Happy Quilting .) 

I only intended to read about it.  But Melissa had different sizes, all so organized.  I did need a baby quilt.  So I took another look.  And then another one.  The next thing I knew, I was back in the sewing room yanking fabrics out, trying to find 9 that looked good together.  (I wasn't going to buy new fabrics because I was just "seeing" if I could find 9).  A girl needs to use her stash, right?  I made a wonderful mess.

Stack One

Stack Two

Pretty soon I had a big stack of fabrics I liked--far more than 9.  In fact I ended up with two stacks of girly fabric.

Then another stack for a boy.  Since I don't know if the baby is a girl or boy, maybe I could make two?  (No, No, NO!  Get real.  It will be a miracle to get even one finished.) 

Boyish Stack

Since I couldn't decide on only 9 fabrics, I went back to the instructions, and decided to make every fabric (except the background) different.  (Yay!  27 fabrics--more is always more fun!) 

 

Last night I cut out the fabrics.  In looking at the squares, I actually used only 26 fabrics.  In all of my stash, I did not have enough of the right green. (and several greens I did have are a newer purchase or are a bit of a stretch colorwise, which may get swapped out)  Guess that means I'll have to do some shopping for minty green.

 

Today I finished sewing the first step, the half square triangles.   Now I'm all ready for the next step!

Bunches of trimmings were left afterward.  I put these in a garbage can lined with an open fabric pillow/bag.  When it's full, it will be sewn closed and make a pillow for a kitty at the animal shelter.  Good for the kitty, uses up waste trimmings, and helps me use fabrics I wouldn't have used otherwise for the bag.  And, I can always tell myself that starting a new project is good for a homeless kitty. 

 

Cut, cut, cut!  Let's make a kitty more comfortable, right?

 

And now that I'm all caught up, I guess I'll go see what other trouble I can get into.  Maybe sew a row of triangles?  Doubtful.  But I could clean up a little, and see what happens.  Maybe some more scraps have been breeding, and I do need to figure out a quilt for Stack Two and Boyish Stack, don't I? 

No, I'll be good.  I'm going to work on a block for my Flower Garden quilt--if I can find it.....

 Happy Stitching!