Hmmmm...

So the Iditarod is coming up, and with it the Iknitarod! My wonderful friend Bonnie of Wonderfully Awkward has for 2 years now been hosting this event, wherein you choose a knitting project that challenges you and you finish it by the time the race ends. Now, I am not a knitter and I have no interest in becoming one. (Sorry, Bons, you know I love you anyway!) What I am is a quilter! So this year I am doing...

IQUILTAROD!

Yes, it is goofy but true. Because all the goofy things are true, really. In the time of the Iditarod race, which Bonnie has repeatedly told me is about 8 days, I will complete a quilt! No promises about how big it will be, but "complete" to me means that I will have the binding on and finished. Complete! I'm working on a pattern right now, but you must bear with me because I'm not a computer geek and I don't have any quilt planning software. I'm old-school, you see, and I use blank paper and pens. And have I mentioned I'm not an artist, either? I can picture it in my head and I can make it out of fabric, but the "has a drawing that clearly indicates the appearance of the finished product" is REALLY not where any gift I have lies. BUT! With that said, here is my inspiration:

This is, I believe, the beautiful Rowan. She's in shadow so I can't really tell her color, but Loki is bigger. Hmm. Anyway! I think this is Rowan. What I'm planning is to do the Nothing But Patience block--which I will post a tutorial of before the event, I promise!!--in whites and greys for the "snow", which will be where the brown is in the picture above. Then the stream in the picture above will be stripping, I think, of browns and greys to look like the runner trail. And then dear Rowan, of course, will be in the foreground as she is above and appliqued on. One husky quilt to commemorate IQuiltarod I. :)

Of course, I've got to get it made. But that's the fun of the challenge, right? Now to get a tutorial of the block made and posted...

So swamped

I need to come up with a way to organize my projects. Right now I have the pieces of a quilt I'm working on for myself in this white ornate wrought birdcage, but other than that everything is in bags or piles. Usually I'm a very, very neat sewer--one project out at a time, clean the entire space after every project, everything neat and picked up when I take a break or am done for the night--but these last couple of weeks I've just been scattered. I must focus.

So really, what have I got to do?

**Batik Nothing But Patience quilt. That one's for me, I can put that in a Rosie bag and tuck it away for now. Or, you know, just leave it in the birdcage.
**Nellie's bag. I need to check the remains of a jelly roll and see if I have any colors I think she'd like. I also need to go get half a yard of liner fabric, and 1/4 yard for a strap.
**Richard&Nellie's quilt. I have what I want for the quilt top, I just need to cut it and put it together. I do NOT have backing/binding, but I want to wait until I get the top done to pick that out. And I need to figure out how I'm going to put the birds on the back and not quilt right through them. Hmmmmmmm.
**Lorna's bag. Would like to get that done by next Saturday.
**The bag I was working on that is NOT coming together well. I need to decide if I'm going to scrap it or take the liner out and start over.


Hmmmm. I also have Christmas lights to pin to my ceiling, that would be a good project to get done today. I can't wait to see the effect next to my awesome wall! Maybe I should go work on that instead of sitting here typing...?

No quilting in BVI

I did not do any sewing in the BVI. BUT!

My sister-in-law asked me if I would make her a quilt for their bed. Absolutely everything has to be shipped in--there is no industry and no production on the island. EVERYTHING is an import. I took measurements and talked with them about my general idea, and they loved it. So now to buy fabric!

My general idea is built around stripping, and mimicking the color flow of sand-water-sky. Some white thrown in occasionally for a whitecap or two, maybe an interpretive palm tree off to the side. I think I want to use batiks for the water, to get the illusion of movement. I know I want tone-on-tone or very close for the sand--it's white sand there, so I may veer toward ivory to make it not so harsh. Depends what I can find for blue-teal-aqua batiks. For the sky I'm considering not piecing at all, and just using yardage.

Oooooh, cool! Just had an idea!! They want it so that they can fold the top back when the bed is made. I was going to just do a solid backing, but what if I did a line of appliqueed seagulls/pelicans that showed when it was folded back? COOOL!!! Oh, I'll have to try that...

I need to hunt for fabrics!!

My sister-in-law also requested a messenger bag like the one that I was carrying around the island, in blues and greens. So I REALLY need to hunt for fabrics! I think I'll do a tutorial about making the bag. Once I have fabric!