Month Nine

 One more simple flower. This time I basted each petal around the plastic template, cinched it and ironed it. This was much easier than needle turn appliqué despite the extra step.

And these are all twelve blocks for the Stonefield quilt by Susan Smith...Month Nine. For the last three months of this block of the month quilt, I stopped going in order so I'm gathering the blocks back together. This is for accounting...not for how the quilt would go together...which we only have currently as a theoretical construct.

I did notice that over at Kathy's Quilt blog for her Slow Stitch Sunday, there were a few participants working on the Stonefield quilt. And if you would like some nutritious blogging content, check out this post by Rebecca Grace Quilting.

P.S. Any extra characters or symbols in this post are a secret communication from my supervisor.

One more block

 

Here's the block that I finished today. The instructions to the Stonefield quilt calls for two of these blocks. Then there are four more blocks and I will be finished with the blocks for the quilt. The quilt instructions call for a flying geese border and hexagons to complete the quilt, but I am not going there. I am thinking I will finish it like making a fine wine...store away the blocks for a while and let them age (but not ferment, hopefully).

Block progress and Cats

I found myself slowing down considerably working on the Stonefield quilt by Susan Smith and decided I needed to add more fun and cats.

I needed a second version of the same block. This is where I learned that I have a lot more "random design" fabric than symmetric design. I am especially low on symmetric cat designs.

You may remember progress shots of the block on the right. I became stalled at the thought of sewing 24 small circles but once I got going I discovered that thinking about them was worse than actually sewing them. 

I was supposed to make three blocks with simple flowers with a small circle center but those evolved into cat heads.

Meanwhile, in the universe of real cats, Molly has added supervision of a neighbor cat to her supervisory duties. 

Meanwhile, Buddy is working on acquiring his license to be a princess. Thankfully, Molly has a second princess tent so we didn't have to enact The Princess Wars...certain to be an upcoming Disney movie.

Improved Attitude

After I wrote the last cranky post, I remembered that making quilts is supposed to be fun, even tedious appliqué.  I also remembered that although the Stonefield quilt by Susan Smith is softer and sweeter than most things I make, it can be funny. I liked the quilt because of the happy bunny block and have seen a version with the bunny driving a race car. So I took a bit of departure and put a simple flower block on a darker cat pattern.  While I was striving for funny, I may have hit ominous instead.

A Slow Crawl with a Bad Attitude

Here is the next block I'm working on for the Stonefield quilt. I need to cut 14 more circles and 4 leaf forms, appliqué those elements and then embroider stems. Many people follow the instructions for block order when making a Block of the Month Quilt. Those individuals do not find themselves with 14 blocks remaining that all require boat loads of intricate appliqué. Those individuals also don't contemplate substituting easier blocks just to get the quilt done. Nor do they chant to themselves "Process, Not Outcome," "Process, Not Outcome while they wander off to do something else. 

Molly says there are First World problems and then there are problems that are not really problems but just a bit of idiocy leaking out of communication channels. 

Return of Murderbot

Here is a revised rendition of the Murderbot quilt, influenced by a recent series on AppleTV (also a series of books). The series is a comedy where, for the most part, lives are endangered because the "robot" is too engrossed in watching his space soap operas. In the first season, the "robot" has a helmet that has the company logo laid over the face plate. In the first version of this design, I was a bit literal so I cut down that first design and appliquéd it to Karen Nyberg's (astronaut turned quilter) black space fabric. Next come the purple/pink borders representing the favorite soap opera "The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon."

Two More Blocks

 If I remember correctly, these are the last of the pieced blocks that I need to complete for the Stonefield quilt. Fifteen more to go. And the last set of blocks were lacking flash, so the goal today was to put some Tula Pink into one of the blocks. 

I should also mention that Buddy had a rebuttal to my blog post yesterday, but instead of posting his protest, he chose to litter the bedroom floor with mouse toys. He also woke me up in the middle of the night by bringing one into the bed and gnawing on it next to my head. Mysteriously, that mouse toy went flying across the room. And yes, I have had the joy of gifts of real mice, so I am counting myself lucky.