Weekend Update

I had a busy, productive and fun weekend.  It had its frustrating moments, though.  On Saturday, I taught a class at The Quilt Merchant and spent the day with lovely ladies who made the day fun.  It's always a pleasure to teach when you have a good group.  It's nice to take a class with a fun energetic group, too. 

On Sunday, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to spend the day.  Then, my dear, sweet, lovely daughter offered to cook dinner.  YES!  She's cooking.....she gets to choose what to cook.  She chose a Rachel Ray recipe - Cheeseburger Meatloaf.  Hhmmmm.  Not one I can say I'd ever chose myself, but let's give it a whirl.  It was pretty good.  Think cheeseburger without the bun....pickles and all.  I digress.  Being relieved of cooking duties I had more choices as to what to do with my time.  I decided to sew for a few hours on something I've been working on just for me.  This is a small quilt and I have the perfect place to display it.  In a year, I've made one block.  Now wait.......let me explain.  In my previous blog post, I mentioned that I adore small blocks.  These are very small blocks.  Very small scrappy blocks.  I made one block and realized that I needed to acquire scraps.  So, for many months now, as I cut any quilt or new fabric arrivals, I've been cutting 1.25 inch strips.  LOTS of strips.....to make these cuties.

These Courthouse Step blocks finish to 4 inches.  Each log is a 1/4 inch.  Rest assured....paper pieced!

Each block takes me an hour to make, so this represents 4 hours work.  These are the last four blocks I made. 



This is the first block I made yesterday.  I love how the fabrics look.  Notice something off?  Something not quite right?  Yes.....the plaid fabric on the left side is a bit wider than the right.  I skipped a rotation on the left side.  ARGH!!!!!   GRRRRRR!!!!!  There's no going back.  No ripping out.  An hour wasted. I can't use it because the plaid on the right will always be 1/2 inch while the others are 1/4 inch.  I can't bring myself to throw it away...it's kinda cute.  Maybe I'll make a pincushion out of it.  For now it's an orphan.  Don't you just hate when you do things like this????  We all have these moments and I just thought I'd share mine with you.  Well....I'll keep cutting strips and when I have a few found hours, I'll stitch a couple more blocks.  I hope I get it done before I decide to redecorate the room!

On another note....I am still working on making the quilt using these blocks.  I'm hoping to be done tomorrow.  Its taken a bit longer than I thought (don't they all!)  I don't mean to tease you, but when I do finish, I'll be keeping it a secret a bit longer. I'll reveal the finished quilt around the beginning of April.  I've made some extra blocks to make a smaller quilt and promised to share the pattern with you and I will do that very soon....so hang in there....don't give up on me just yet! 

Oh...and don't forget to take a look at the 2011 Designer Mystery Block of the Month from Fat Quarter Shop.com!!!  It's been on their Top Seller List ever since the announcement!  There's still time, it's soooo cute and you don't want to miss out!

Here's hoping you have a week free of Argh and Grrrr moments! 

Pam