Project #1 - Bedroom Duvet Cover

Off to a good start. DH asked our daughter this morning if she wanted to go to the library, and she said, "Mommy come too." Immediately I think of a dozen things I'd like to get done while they're away, but then I remember the library has quilting books, and I'm all in.  I checked out a few books with complete quilt designs and two books of just quilt block ideas.

The quilt block books are crazy intimidating and not for the novice.  I can see how if I were a very experienced quilter and needed ideas for a block, it would be a useful reference.  But for a newbie, it's not a very good starting point.  I need to see how the patterns of light and dark intersect.

So, during afternoon nap, DH and I looked through the books and decided on which one we liked best. (I've found out that even though he says he has no opinion, he enjoys helping make decisions and if I get his opinion early, I'm not going to end up spending months on something he hates.)

The design we picked is the Split Nine Patch from 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts by Judy Hopkins and Nancy J. Martin.  The only problem is, it's the wrong size. It makes a 72"x72" quilt, and I need one that's 86"x92".  DH gave me a lovely down comforter for Christmas a few years ago, and until last month it sat in the closet because I didn't have a cover for it.  (I still don't, but it's cold.) We found none in the stores we could agree on, let alone any that were an appropriate size. So, I'm making one myself.

Currently I'm in the middle of drawing an adapted version of the design to allow for the bigger size.  I'm not sure I have enough fabric, and I know I don't have enough of the light patterns. And the pink/coral paisley that I love is just not going to work. There's a ribbon of lights, and a ribbon of blues, and nowhere for the bright paisley.  So I'm thinking that's going to become a throw pillow.

Next steps: finish drawing, calculate needed fabric amounts, SHOP.

Or Maybe Keeping Up Is...

So, I had great intentions of taking photos of all the craft projects I work on and posting them here with witty and entertaining captions. Oops.

Since I last wrote, I made a Christmas stocking for my daughter, a tablecloth for the breakfast nook, two knit hats, dining room curtains, bowling pin pirates, a restaurant highchair seat cover, a crib duvet set with pillowcases and sheet, a skirt, a Minnie Mouse halloween costume, a handful of fabulous cakes, and it seems like there should have been more on that list to account for all the time I spent, but I don't see anything else to add. And until now, you knew nothing about it.

But it's time to get cracking. I just finished reading Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously today, and I'm totally not interested in most of the food she wore herself out cooking. However, she did inspire me to A) be a faithful blogger, B) persevere no matter what, and C) take on a mountainous year-long project. I've been organizing my work room - I discovered that messes and lack of organization really unsettle me - and in doing so, I was forced to go through all the unfinished projects I have lying around in the attempt to find homes for all the crap on the floor. I counted 28.

So my 2012 resolution is to finish all the crafts that I have materials for, before I buy materials for any new and distinct projects. I'll allow myself to buy additional materials if they're needed to finish something, but not because they're pretty or on sale or possibly useful at some point in the future. I think it'll be nice to go in my work room and say, "What can I make today?" rather than "What is all this? Why am I storing it? What did I buy that for, again? Oh, that's so cute, it'll be great when I get it done."

I'll attempt to write about it fairly regularly, but no promises because I still have to take care of my daughter and keep house and make dinner and finish laundry and be ready for the evening classes I teach a couple of nights a week.

But this year, the project mountain will become a molehill.