I consistently carry some kind of project in my purse or my car with me for the down moments when I find myself sitting and waiting. It is almost always some kind of portable handwork - knitting, embroidery, needlepoint. I like having something to keep my hands busy, but that allows me to talk and interact with others while I am doing it. I find it especially nice to have something to work on when I travel. Besides being portable, it needs to be easy to pick up and put down. I always used to have a book on hand because I love to read, but when the girls were little, I found that I never got around to reading the books because they talked so much. (Understatement.) That is when I started carrying some kind of stitching. I could work along and listen and converse and laugh all the while.

Presently I find myself waiting alone more than I do with one of my cohorts, but I am still stitching along. I love the sense of accomplishment I get from completing a band of ribbing on a hat or two needles worth of yarn on my needlepoint in the thirty minutes of a guitar lesson or the fifteen minutes before play rehearsal is over. Plain and simple, it's just a good use of my time.

My newest project is Carolyn Friedlander's Alturas. I have wanted to make this for a long time and bought the pattern from her last spring at SewDown in Nashville. And, of course, I was heavily inspired by Cheryl's version. It is just so beautiful! In searching for my *perfect* palette, I consulted my stash and settled on Liberty. Just that, Liberty of London Tana Lawn in all of its floral goodness. I'm not worrying about the colors or the scale or how in the world I am going to hand applique all. of. those. pieces. Instead, I gathered 70 five-inch squares and cut a handful of backgrounds from my very favorite Kona Snow. I took eight prints from the top of the pile and packed them in my handwork pouch (complete with thread, needles and embroidery scissors) for a quick day trip to Chicago a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to a five hour delay at O'Hare on our way home, I had all eight blocks prepped and ready for needle turn applique by the tie we landed.

I'd be lying if I told you I had gotten further than that. I haven't. I am so very, very close to finishing my other traveling handwork project started almost exactly two years ago. Anna Maria, you are going to be so proud of me.

There is something magic about this time of the year. While I have always touted autumn as my favorite season, spring is right up there. The anticipation of warm weather after months of gray skies and frigid temperatures seems to be constantly on my mind. I watch the weather forecast and delight in predictions of anything north of 50 degrees, silently sighing when consecutive days of rain are ahead. The evening light that comes with the one hour forward push of the clock is so welcome. I find my spirits brighter, the witching hour shorter and the general mood of everyone elevated so slightly that the tiniest of shifts add up to a great sum. In short, it's lovely.

This spring is later than in years past, making it all the sweeter. I have photos in my archives of our magnolia tree in full bloom on St. Patrick's Day. As of last night, I noticed just the faintest touches of pink on the tippy-top branches. Soon. Likewise, Fatty and I walked the dog on Saturday morning, noting the daffodils that were inching closer to blooming. On Sunday, those very same bulbs had gone and done it - yellow blooms everywhere! I saw forsythia flaunting its golden self roadside yesterday and was amazed at the tiny leaves sprouting on my sole lilac bush. One day soon, I will be driving down a particular stretch of road that I travel multiple times most days and I will be overcome with the season - trees in bloom, all the green leaves and green grass, sun shining and warm air. It sneaks up on me, but it is a moment that I look forward to all year. The overwhelming feeling of joy and being alive always surprises me, but I soak it in and carry it with me for weeks and months to come.

I want to remember how we ate dinner outside on Saturday night, drinking the bottle of wine that Caroline and Jeremy brought before they left. And how I got up on Sunday morning, grabbed my coffee and a quilt and sat outside with a magazine, even if it was for a short time. And that yesterday was 77 degrees! I drove around town, doing my errands with the windows open. I wore a skirt, no tights, short sleeves and flats. I spent the remainder of my day in the studio sewing, just like I did the day before. At the moment, I have an incredible need to see some projects through. I have finished three quilt tops and am very close to finishing a fourth. I have a gazillion ideas running through my head and I am ignoring all housework and just sewing, sewing, sewing. I want to remember this - the frenzy, the excitement, the energy all directed at making things.

I am always amazed at the paper piecing designs that my friend, Penny Layman, makes. Seriously wowed. And when I heard that she was writing a book, I was anxious to get my hands on it. I imagined that it would be chock-full of cute patterns and also all the information needed to paper piece successfully. I was right!

I admit that I am a huge fan of Penny and completely biased, but that aside, this is a great book. The Paper-Pieced Home by Penny Layman has 40 different paper piecing blocks and 14 projects all centering around house and home. The designs have a retro vibe and are all well thought out. The best part? The designs come on an included CD that makes printing the foundations a breeze. Just pop it into the computer and print what you need.

I have told Penny and I will tell you: paper piecing is not my favorite piecing method. There I said it. BUT when the block is as well designed as Penny's are, it does make for some enjoyable sewing. Take the oven mitt block that I chose for this blog tour. It includes many tiny bits and the thought of anything remotely fussy almost always makes me want to run. Not this! It was a JOY to put together and I was able to do it easily and confidently given all the information that Penny relays in her book. I think it took me about thirty minutes after printing the foundation. Not bad! And pretty cute, if I may say so myself! I did increase the overall size of the block by about two inches by adding a border. Of course, I plan on making this into a hot pad (perfect for an oven mitt, right?!?).

I encourage you to take a few minutes and check out the other stops on the blog tour. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by all the darling blocks people are making. Seriously, so cute.

The Paper-Pieced Home

Blog Tour Schedule

3/16       McCall’s Quilting / Sewing Machine Block
3/17       Love of Quilting / Review
3/17       Sandi Sawa Hazlewood  of Crafty Planner / Watering Can Block
3/18       Quilty Pleasure (Quiltmaker blog) / Review
3/18       Imagine Gnats / Rotary Phone Block
3/20       Verykerryberry / Lion Block
3/21       Artisania / Cast-Iron Skillet Block
3/23       Where the Orchids Grow / Lamp Block
3/24       Katie Blakesley of Swim Bike Quilt / Layer Cake Block
3/24       House on Hill Road / Oven Mitt Block
3/24       Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced / BBQ Grill Block
3/26       Pink Penguin / Allie-Gator Block
3/26       A Happy Stitch / Giraffe Block
3/27       Bijou Lovely / Jar Block
3/27       Two Little Banshees / Saucepan Block
3/27       Charise Creates / Espresso Mug Block
3/30      Karen Lewis Textiles / Couch Block
3/31       Poppyprint / Clawfoot Tub Block
3/31       One Shabby Chick / Stack of Books Block
3/31       During Quiet Time / Sleeveless Dress Block
4/06      Pat Sloan The Voice of Quilting / Author Podcast Interview

More information on the book can be found here on the Interweave site:

The Paper-Pieced Home: Quilting a Household One Block at a Time

By Penny Layman
Interweave/F+W; $26.99
http://bit.ly/1zClNAv

One of the quilt kits that I have been working on is Traincar by Alexia Abegg. I was immediately drawn to the graphic nature of this design. The block is unique - simple and complicated at the same time - and definitely not something I have seen before. Also, who's kidding? I am a little bit in love with Alexia's Hatbox fabric that the quilt is made from. I love these Cotton and Steel prints in navy, coral, aqua and green - my kind of colors! It was really fun and liberating to just place an order and have everything I needed for the quilt top arrive on my doorstep without having to make any choices.

It's a very straightforward pattern starting with some easy strip piecing that is cut apart and sewn back together to make each individual block. While simple in concept, that is a whole heck of a lot of seams! 40 per block! (Yes, I counted.) And there is no room for error as every piece needs to line up when it is sewn together. I think my piecing is pretty accurate and I managed well enough, but if I were to make this again, I would make one big change. Namely, I would cut the pieces for each strip set 1/2" wider. I think there was sufficient fabric in the kit to do this (I haven't done the math, but I had big leftover pieces) and having this little bit extra would have allowed me to trim the sets evenly for a perfectly straight line. Instead, there were a few instances where the piecing was a teensy bit off and, as we know, a bunch of 1/16" mistakes will add up along the way. I made it work so the only thing it cost me was some time. No big deal.

The kit instructions say that it will yield a 60" x 76" quilt and that math is off. With the 12 blocks shown, each finishing at 15" x 19", the quilt top measures 60" x 57". I do have enough of the background fabric in my stash to make another four blocks, but I haven't yet decided if I want to do that. All those seams! But the bigger size would be more useable so I just may jump back in. In the meantime, I am going to admire what I have done so far and dream about how to quilt it. I'm leaning towards straight lines, but am very open to suggestions. Feel free to chime in!

Mini quilts are a thing.

I knew this, but I didn't realize just how crazy people are for mini quilts until I started seeing all kinds of swaps pop up on Instagram. (And I'm giggling now, because I never thought that I would say people were crazy about mini quilts or even quilts for that matter. But they are. They really are.) I never joined in for various reasons - too little time to spend making for someone else, deadlines looming, and, let's be honest, I didn't get it. The mini quilt craze, that is.

But then my book blew up. I spent my time knitting a dozen winter hats. I made my mom a quilt. I made two dresses, a sweatshirt and a blouse. I cut three kits worth of quilt tops and sewed 1.5 of them back together. I stitched on my needlepoint in the carpool line. All of this done in an attempt to keep my hands busy and my sanity intact. Makers gonna make and all that. What it boils down to, though, is that for the last four months, I have been going through the motions without feeling creative at all. AND I WAS OK WITH THAT. Really. Truly. OK.

What prompted it, I will never know, but when I saw that there were signups for a Cotton & Steel mini quilt swap, I didn't blink. I jumped in, reservations and nervousness aside. I got my partner pairing and began to think about what I would make. I had more than a few moments where I wondered why the hell I had done this. I wasn't feeling inspired at all. I was doubting every single idea that I had. But the deadline isn't until June so I decided to give it time. I went to Quilt Con. I participated in some classes, went to lectures, took in the quilts on display, hung out with other quilters. I came home overwhelmed, with a lot to process. I gave myself space. I returned to piecing the quilt kits. And then I saw a pattern that was promising. I started to plan how to piece it into a mini quilt and realized it wasn't very suitable. That gave me another idea. I revisited part of a pattern that would have been in my book. I adapted it, added a little improv and immediately I knew I had landed where I need to be. I got busy sewing.

I made a mini quilt. And I loved every second of it. I now totally get why people go crazy for these things. They are small, manageable and really fun to make. Maybe it is something about the small scale that makes them so fun? I don't know. But for me, every step was a delight. From searching for the right look for my partner to sewing the final stitch of the binding, it was joyful. I loved picking the fabrics and putting them in pairs. I happily cut a bunch of pieces, sewed them together, cut them again and pieced them into a top. I was giddy to applique a perfect circle to the center. I fearlessly tried a quilting pattern/method that I had never attempted. I didn't even get too upset when I had to rip some of it out. I fixed the quilting and I savored every single binding stitch.

For the first time since the book business, I enjoyed quilting. I felt like I could actually design something decent. That I had something good to say and that I could make it a reality. That my design had legs. That the creative spark was back. That I was actually good at what I love to do.

JOY.

Making a mini quilt gave me joy.

Silly, maybe, but true.

While this mini was made for a swap, I have decided to keep it. I cannot let it go. I have hung it up on the wall of my studio as a visual reminder of why I do what I do. I want my eyes to take it and remember that I am good enough. I want to walk by and have the memory of making it spark even more creativity. I want to see it and push myself to create, to play, to experiment, to take myself less seriously, to think less and do more, to stretch my creative muscles. Most of all, I want to look at this mini quilt and remember to CHOOSE JOY.

I do think my partner would probably like this mini. I'll just make her another one.

This one is all me.