2008 Unfinished

I have two unfinished projects from 2008. Let me tell you about them!

First, I am making a quilt for my brother, Mark. It is going slower than I'd hoped. I picked fabrics that are wood grain, and first had to collect several of those. The design is called Carpenter's Wheel: in the traditional design, there are a lot of diamonds. The Easy Carpenter's Wheel uses half-squares and squares, and is easier to put together. I downloaded the design from http://www.quilterscache.com. This site is a great source for blocks and ideas. My intent is to take the design into a third round of diamonds. With four of these large squares, I'll just need to add a border and the quilt will be done.

Round 1 sewn so far The design Round two cut and prepared to be sewn together

The second unfinished project is my sewing room decor. I have made yards of crazy patch in pink and green. However, I'm still not happy - the green is just too dominating! So I will continue this project. Sew two photos of the projects below.

Sewing? What sewing?

If you've visited this blog in the past couple of months, you have probably remarked upon the notable absence of any sewing.
Between vacation, my grandson's surgery, going through three rough weeks of bronchitis, and, now, a discovery that why I am so worn out all the time is that my thyroid is out of whack - well I have not had either the desire or ability to sew much at all.
Not that I haven't done anything at all. In early July, I made a top from a Simplicity pattern and I have a matching skirt cut out. I also have a dress cut out, that I had to order more fabric for so I could cut out the sleeves. Well the weather has caught up with me - these are just too summerish for the upcoming fall season. Not that it gets cool here in southern Ohio very quickly, but a cotton mermaid pattern dress just doesn't work in October - unless it is the 31st!!
I also have not gotten it together to even start my coat for the Great Coat Sew Along. I was going to bow out, but visited the blog and found that there were many others in the same boat, for a variety of reasons - some have the muslin done, but some have not started. So I am not alone in being behind.
I also made another crazy patch quilt, in teal and aqua tones, for my bed. It is king size. I need to find a large enough space to spread the flannel backing and the top out and pin them.
No photos of any of these things at this point. So . . . once I get my brain chemistry back into alignment, I will get going on that sewing!

Thwarted in my endeavors!!!!!!!!!!

As usual, my weekend did not go as I hoped it would. See the post below about the dress and the coat. Well . . . I started cutting out the dress - cut out a nice contrast for the front and back yoke, the front, front side and back - but not enough fabric for the sleeves!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I bought 4 yards, but apparently I only bought 3. So I had to call and order more of the fabric so I can complete the dress - luckily, I was using a new Kaufman mermaid print, so it is available.

So I think OK, I will make a top. Got the pattern out for the top, and guess what - had picked up the wrong size! Now I can scale it up, but did not feel I had the energy for that. So I ended up getting the machine quilting (VERY SIMPLE QUILTING) on the two crazy patches I made last month, and fnisehd quilting Zman's I Spy so he could take it to the hospital with him. Finished the binding on the two crazy patches, but haven't got the binding on Z's quilt as yet.

But here is the real reason grandma couldn't get everything done she wanted to do: My young warriors!!!!!!!!!!