43.5"

That's just about the width of a piece of yardage.. it's also the same size as the circumference of my belly..

So at 38 weeks 2 days, I'm feeling big, occasionally uncomfortable (especially when I don't get enough sleep), but generally pretty good. I'm trying to make the most of each day that I've got left. We've been spending tons of quality time just the 3 of us, I've visitied with lots of friends, and I've been quilting, quilting a LOT.

I had some orphan blocks I'd been playing with a few years ago (after this awesome retreat), and thought it was about time to make something out of them.. I thought they might become pillows, but before I knew it, I had a small quilt.

It's a bizzare size-- 51" x 40"(?)  do I stop here or keep adding? I pulled out Gwen & Freddy's book for inspiration and really, the possibilities are endless. We'll see what happens in the time I have..

ETA: I just measured the width.. it's 43.5" 
it's a sign, I guess I'm done.

Guessing time!!

Ok, it's getting close. Time to guess his birthdate, weight, length..
(hints: at the 30 wk sono they said he was measuring about 5.5 lbs, and my due date is January 20th..)

Making

I read two really beautifully written blog posts last week, and they resonated with me in how I feel about quilting and the creative process.  How I feel about being a quilter.  First was this amazing post from Chase  (especially the paragraph under the 5th photo).  And then this one from Little Island Quilting, which I'll quote a bit of here:

"My quilts are all just an expression of who I am and the journey I took to get there."

It’s the end of the year (almost) and people are starting to get reflective.  I want to make more quilts that reflect who I am.  I guess I have been doing that, but I need to feel the satisfaction of having done that once I finish them.. maybe it’s a psychological thing.  But anyway..

I finshed something.
It’s big, REALLY big, but it’s not exactly done yet (they haven’t signed off and paid me yet..)

Oh Daruma, we're almost there!

You have no idea (well, some of you might) what it’s like to be at the end of this year-long journey, and project that seemed impossible from the start, manageable in my daydreams, and harder than anything I’ve ever done in reality. 

It kept me busy.  It made me think.  It brought me closer to friends and made me hone my skills.  I feel—accomplished. 

But it also caused a horrible amount of stress and sleep deprivation, tested my endurance and my marriage.. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? (Costas, I love you.)

And someone asked me lately, “Was it worth it?”  My answer, “I don’t know yet.”

I wanted to write this post to capture how I’ve been feeling this week, at the project’s end, but I really don’t know how I feel about the whole process until I can share it with you.  When it’s DONE done, I’ll let you know (probably by screaming from the rooftops), but until then I guess I just need to let the experience marinate, and perhaps move on to something else?

I’ve got an orphan block quilt up on the design wall.. it’s not what I’m “supposed” to be working on this month, but it’s really speaking to me, so I need to see where the idea takes me..

December Mod Meeting

Yesterday I trekked into the city for the December Metro Mod Guild meeting.  It was the first time in our new location and while we will definitely miss the huge artistic inspiration that comes from BEING in Victoria's loft, I must say that having TABLES was pretty cool. 

Christa and I worked on some EPP, I got to meet and chat with members I hadn't really talked to before, and I won the raffle prize, V's book!

Nice big space!

Here are some of the quilts I could get photos of..

Made by Bernadette

By Helen, from her bee blocks at Two's Company

A bee quilt by Margaret

An awesome scrap quilt by Tina

The one cool thing about the new space is that it has a balcony area, so I climbed up and asked Christa to take a picture of my SV quilt (top done!).  The lighting was off (must play around with this some more), but the space sure does have lots of potential.

White

Of all the modern quilting trends, the concept of needing to use more white in quilts was one I hadn't grasped whole heartedly yet.  Sure, I've used white in quilts, but I think I'm still at that "learning about color and balance" stage in my quilting.  I go back and forth between wanting to do color studies and wanting to just dive in and create with whatever fabric is in my hand.  Let's just say I'm not always so confident in the "planning" stage-- I'm much more of a "Let's wing it and see what happens next" type quilter.  (Incidentially, I'd like to know, which one are you?)

So as my SV quilt progressed, I naturally started thinking I needed a bold or dark border to "tone it down" a bit.  But I don't have a big stash of solids and every dark print I held up just added more to the chaos.  And I began to wonder if I could make the whites in the centers of the A block pop a bit more if I used a "white" border.. This off white mushroom print that I brought back from Japan in '07 (yes, I still have most of that fabric horded..) went perfectly with the blues in the A block, so I decided to go for it.

Once the borders were on, I had a breakthrough-- the white border actually made the entire quilt look brighter.  And I couldn't believe I almost darkened the whole thing with a colored border.  Who would have guessed?  I always opt for a dark border.  I think this may be a breakthrough..
I'm still going to put a pieced outer border on to make it twin size, but I am very happy with it so far.

A little SV?

This quilt has a terrible name, but it's growing on me.

I started last week, before Superstorm Sandy, and made 4 blocks.  I didn't like them.

I hemmed and hawed, thinking I could change the block somehow and have it turn into something I did like.  I played.  I cut more scraps, you know how it goes.

Then I started making several blocks at once (instead of: cut 49 squares, sew 49 squares, feel meh), and by the time I had 10, the pattern appeared!  And my scraps looked good and scrappy!

I've had thoughts of stopping at 12 blocks and adding a thick border, but then I look at my scrap bins (I found another accidentally today, completely jam packed with pieces perfect for this project), and realize I should probably keep going.  I have no idea where this quilt will end up (can't imagine it on my bed), but if I can clear through one bin of scraps at least, I'll love the quilt for it..

The name's gotta go though.. thinking about calling it "hurricane sandy"... for the chaos.  Or for the calm it gave me during the chaos...

Have you made one of these yet?  What were your feelings?  Motivation?  And how did it end up?

Project Patti Recap

On October 28th, while all of the Northeast was preparing for the impending hurricane, 100+ people gathered on the south side of Chicago to attend a benefit for my mother.

It was a huge success, and while I can't get into specifics, it brought in more than double what the family and planning committee had hoped for.  We are all very very thankful to everyone who attended, donated items for the raffle and auction, and made financial contributions online through the website. 
 If you are one of those who made a donation, let me say THANK YOU again.

Patti (my mom) with my sister, Lori.

The money raised will go towards paying for the care that my mom needs.  Mom can finally get an overnight or live-in caregiver and all the family that has sacrificed their time to care for her at home over the past 3 years can go back to sleeping in their own beds.  The physical and emotional stress has been lifted somewhat, and the family is all extremely grateful. 

One month ago, Bonnie Hunter very kindly posted about mom's condition and benefit on her blog, spreading the word much farther than I could have myself, and donations of quilts to be auctioned as well as $ came pouring in.  Thank you, Bonnie!!
Below are the quilts that were auctioned off at the benefit:

The first two were made by the Silver City Quilt Guild in Taunton, MA  (where I served as guild president, 2007-2008, before moving to NY.  You ladies Rock!)

 Both quilts were swiped up by my aunt.
Next up are a quilted table topper and Lime throw made by Janet E. of Janet Ann Creations

 

We also had a very cozy one by Heather B. in Indiana, which I heard there was some fighting over:

This lovely pink and green spinner by Debbie N. of Desirable-Junk in Ohio:

I heard it went home with my cousin's 8 year old daughter.  Perfect!

This blue and white stunner by Lesly of Stitch Literate:
(sorry, no photo, but you can see it on flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wadewoolley/4015476546/in/set-72157622469088329 )
I swiped this one myself, hehe!  Thanks Lesly!  It will be gifted to someone special who has taken care of me a lot recently.

And then the one I made, which you've seen before, but I'll post again:

This one went home with my cousin, Jacki.

Thank you so much to all the quilters that helped make this benefit a success.  We couldn't have done it without you!!