A Prairie Home Quilts

So what happens to a person who knows they need to eat a certain way in order to feel well and that same person has instead been eating with reckless abandon?  Well for me, it’s not a pretty thing.  Physically, I’m miserable.  My brain feels like its synapses are firing through Jello.  Aches, pains, brain fog, female issues, misery.  Yeah, not really conducive to being a quilting fool.  Or something like that…  I haven’t felt up to doing much of anything and so I haven’t been.  The question is, do I want to excuse myself so I can continue to eat with reckless abandon?  Not really.  I think it’s time to once again begin the journey back to wellness . [sigh]

I have managed to stimulate the economy with some fabric purchases thanks to temporary work for the census however.  Buying fabric always cheers me up. In lieu of finished projects, I thought maybe you’d like to see some of my recent purchases.

These are solids [or something close to it] for the Liberated Amish Get Together hosted by Tonya.  It’s from Michael Miller’s Krystal line.  And yes, I have more than just two neat piles of fabric done on this. . . [I can't believe Firefox just crashed and my almost finished post has almost completely vanished and I have to start over.  Poof!  Can I cry?]

I ordered another tone-on-tone to use with the miscut brown setting triangles described here. Then, since the one Streak of Lightning was becoming two [one with plaids & one with florals], I needed more setting triangle fabric for the first one.  That’s what the black is for.  The brown at the top of the photo is backing fabric.  I also ordered my own Setting Triangle ruler.

Then I decided to experiment with Bold Streak. [partially pictured here] I wondered what it would look like in patterned fabric instead of the solid red, black and white.  These fabrics are some of the Blush collection by Basic Grey for Moda. They seem to have a pink blush to them in the photo but they aren’t that pink nor is the red that bright.

I ordered the fabric on the top right as the center panel for my Jane Austen Patchwork quilt.  Hated it.  Ordered the second one instead.  I think it will work.  We’ll see when I start getting diamonds assembled.  I still need sashing material for that project but I’m going to start printing diamonds.  Oh, the fabric is Aubrielle by designer Marianne Elizabeth for RJR Fabrics.

Lots of fun fabrics to fussy cut for my Patchwork of the Crosses quilt.  There are some border stripes, geometrics, paisleys and more in the pile.

This is Alphabet Flower Fairies by Michael Miller and some fat quarters for a few Christmas projects.  The Flower Fairy fabric has already been cut into 3″ hexagons for a quilt similar to Janet’s quilt designed by Kerry Dear that uses hexagons and diamonds.

And finally, a bunch more fat quarters for another hexagon quilt using Inklingo 3″ hexagons and diamonds.  The fabrics on the bottom right are more Lucy Boston POTC fabrics.

And now you know why I need to reclaim my health. . .  so I can use all this lovely fabric.  LOL

So did I befriend any dragons during my recent absence? [If you aren't really into analyzing life's journeys spiritually, you can just skip right on by this last part.]  As I said, when I’m eating poorly, I’m feeling poorly.  When I know that I should be eating right and I’m not, then the critical voices in my head start beating me up mentally.  They soon have me drowning in mental yuckiness compounded by the physical misery.  [Yup, it sometimes happens when you are used to hearing real live critical voices for a big part of your life. . .]   Critical voices can be like dragons — waiting to breathe their fire on you and fry you to a crisp.  Not a pretty sight. Since it’s not a part of my nature any more to take offense or put up a strong defense, I thought perhaps I should befriend the dragons, err. . . critical voices — you know, listen to what they were telling me and try to take heed instead of trying to slay them.  I thought maybe that’s what was called for as a part of this journey back to wellness. But Someone important needed to weigh in on the matter.

Someone: Erin, you know dragons aren’t real right?

Me: Uhm. Yeah. Right.  Dragons can’t hurt me, can they?

Someone: That’s right!  And those critical voices in your head?  They aren’t real either.

Me: OHHH!  Yeah. Riiight.  And they can’t hurt me either. . .

Someone: Exactly!

And the clouds parted, light shone and the angels sang.  [just kidding]  But it truly was a very powerful moment.

I received the wrong item in my order from Hancocks of Paducah. The wrong item was suppose to be the fabric for Nathan & Koren’s Wedding Quilt–one of my WIPs that *needs* to get done. I had ordered the Oak Leaves and Reel Fat Quarter pack by Terry Clothier Thompson. I think it has about 48 FQs in it. I got the Oak Leaves and Reel Convenience Quilt. Definitely not the same thing–it’s like a cheater cloth panel thing-ey that’s suppose to make a quilt top that looks like appliqué. [sigh] Not at all what I had in mind for a quilt for them. Their’s needs to be something with a more contemporary feel.

I hope this project doesn’t end up being one with quite a story attached. I don’t need “one of those” projects right now! Hopefully a call to customer service tomorrow will get this all straightened out. Quickly!

I found a magnetic bowl to use for my pins at the machine quilting frame. I’ve wanted to purchase one for a while now and read in the latest issue of Love of Quilting magazine where they were available at auto supply stores. I went and checked at one here locally… the guy behind the counter had no clue what I was talking about or why you’d want such an item. LOL Just on a whim, I thought I’d check at Wal-Mart back in the automotive department and I found this one for less than $5. You’ll notice that it’s sitting sideways on the bar and all the pins are holding nicely to the magnetic bowl. :) Another recent purchase was a few items for what I have in mind for April’s 12×12 Portfolio Challenge. The Angelina fibers aren’t quite the color I was looking for–I wanted gray–but sometimes you just have to compromise when you live in a small town and there’s only one place to shop…

And finally, one of my children’s friends was involved in a bad car accident about 6 weeks ago and has been in a coma. He’s recently been moved into a rehab center. The “mom” in me feels that a quilt is in order. Several quilty friends and I have made quilts with scriptures on them and given them anonymously with a “Quilt of Comfort” label attached to the back. So I think that’s what I’m going to do for Josh.

I found a pattern in Evelyn Sloppy’s 40 Fabulous Quick-cut Quilts called “Homeward Bound.” When I saw the title, I knew that was the quilt I had to make. :)

The blues and golds go together to make log cabin squares that are surrounded by red and cream flying geese. You can click the pictures below to get a better look at my fabric choices.

I think the only thing I’ve managed to accomplish this week is to spend all of my extra money at the LQS. I *did* only buy fabric that I needed for current projects. I found backing material for Jessica’s Montana Hugs & Kisses on sale @ $4 a yard. (She leaves on 17 February so I need to get busy on her quilt!) Since she is my missions-minded world traveler, I found fabric that has world famous landmarks & “around the world” printed on it. I got all the material I think I’m going to be using for the Psalm 8 quilt background. I will probably need a few other small bits of fabric for some of the applique figures I have planned but I should be able to get quite a bit done without spending more money. :) I also got the grocery shopping done this evening so I don’t have to worry about that for another 9 or 10 days. Tomorrow, I quilt!

I managed to make it to the grocery store to get the bulk of the shopping done for this week. I made a detour to the LQS while I was out. I bought this: These are my fabrics for the small Broken Dishes Wallhanging I’m making to hang on the wall in the quilt studio. I also bought this: I needed more of the border material (on the left) to make the second small wallhanging for resale that will match the one I’m making for my Mom. The other fabric is the backing for hers. (The picture is a little grainy.) I’ll just use muslin as the backing on the one for resale.