No Leave

Today was a "no leave" day, where Molly stays on me or right next to me for most of the day. Basically she won't leave me alone and sewing is a bit of a challenge. It's best to just go with the flow. Molly suggested I make a block for Stonefield that reflects Buddy. She picked out the fabric because its blue and Buddy is a boy. 

Revised Policies

 Here is the new star block for the Stonefield quilt by Susan Smith. And although some comments suggested continuing the theme with the lumpy, placid cat, this blog's senior editor instituted a new policy that all cat imagery from here on out must reflect every cat's inner kitten: pissed off and vengeful.

I suggested to the senior editor that maybe being angry and vengeful just reflected her own personal history and not some universal truth, but she threatened to put me on leave (again!) so I did as I was told.

Patchwork

 It was a nice change of pace to have a patchwork block and refresh my memory on making the hourglass block. But that cat keeps showing up just like...well...a real cat. But maybe this can be a lesson for Buddy and Molly, showing them what happens to cats who get between me and my cutting mat.

Just Friends

 In case the "sentient" tulip from yesterday needs a friend...and also keeping up with the sweet yet slightly creepy vibe for this quilt.

Detour

 I began cutting more bits for the postage stamp quilt and remembered that at the beginning of last year I had begun to make The Quilt Show "Pick-a-Petal" quilt by Jen Kingwell. Well, sort of. Turns out I just liked one of the blocks in particular and thought I would like a whole quilt of that block. I cut a pile of strips that decorated the sewing table for a year. But I realized that if I started sewing this quilt up, it would shed lots of postage stamp bits along the way. 

And so now I have a box of bits that I either cut from small scraps in my scrap bins and from remnants of the first round of sewing on the Pick-a-Petal. Now I just need neutral strips to sew the bits to.

None of this is easy to do given that Molly has delegated supervision to a useless (but cute) intern.

I also finished the third hex petal flower block for the Stonefield quilt...

Plus this weird flower block (the first of two).

Not Enough Postage

 I have finally built enough of the postage stamp quilt to realize that I do have enough blocks for a 60 inch by 60 inch quilt. When working with a quilt with lots of seams, it is always best to work on the smaller side because it gets so heavy and unwieldy. However, when confronted with a 60 by 60 quilt on the wall, I realize that there is no point to making a small quilt with lots of pieces. If you're happy, you must be doing something wrong (I think that's a variation of a Ted Lasso quote).

So yes, for a third time I am going to pause the building process and go back to cutting bits and making baby blocks. Will this make me unhappy in the future? Of course. Will it make me happy right now? Certainly! I think I have a new year's resolution in the making.

Starting a New Year

 I'm starting off the New Year by carrying on with the last. So yes, more Stonefield blocks (by Susan Smith) while I continue to slow walk the postage quilt.

I finished this one last year.

I didn't think I would start off the year as an unpaid staff turned whistleblower sparked by a comment suggesting Molly and Buddy deserve a raise.  CEOs typically earn a raise based on the profits of their business. As you can see from the photo above, a raise is unlikely to come from the profits of an enterprise with such an incomprehensible business model. So my bit of advice for the new year is not to believe publicity photos, and be very wary of signing contracts that involve kittens.