swirls and hearts

A while back, I made a quilt in a day. 22 hours from purchase of fabric to final stitch in the binding. It was a crazy but fun project. When AJ mentioned she’d been working on one, I felt the itch again. A few of us banded together, and the ANZAC Day 24 hour quilt challenge was set in motion. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to make. A vague design in mind. But hitting up Spotlight in the holidays, I couldn’t find what I wanted, and ended up with something completely different. But workable. I thought. But then life intervened, and I got barely any sewing done over ANZAC Day. It’s still coming together, but I must admit I am quite chuffed with how the FMQ is coming together. Likely because I’m actually using a darning foot now on my machine. Instead of a, um *cough* button sewing foot *cough*. Yeah. That could explain a lot. With the proper foot, I can actually get a good rhythym and flowing motion, and aside from a few early problems with travel lines not quite lining up, I am really enjoying exploring quilting patterns. Lucky I have at least four quilts currently in the “to make” queue!

The sky is grey and threatening. Slow drizzle masks the view through the now-damp window. It’s the kind of day to stay inside and get crafty. I’m busy working on a foundation-pieced mug rug, and I’m also hoping to get the stars on the quilt above quilted, and hopefully the binding pieced. If I’m lucky, even attached. I’m working on a painting, but oil is SO SLOW to dry, so it will have to wait a day or two for the next layer. I want to draft up a dinosaur softie and stitch it up. We’ve read and sang and legoed our way through the morning, and Butterfly has just toddled off to bed for a nap as the rain gets heavier and the beat of the drops of the roof lull her off to sleep. Buster is happily playing in the toyroom, and I’m going to sneak off for a coffee and maybe even make myself some sugar pastries and ignore the washing that needs to find it’s way onto clothes horses while watching another episode of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Youtube gold. I’ve promised him we’ll make some cookie monster cookies for afternoon tea. A quiet day, in a busy kind of way. Hello Thursday, nice to have you along for the ride. Let’s do this!